My Lion King Forum

As for me, this film is a childhood classic that I grew up with. I was smitten by the characters. Simba is the child in all of us; likeable, curious, cocky, wants to grow too fast, and yes, disobedient. Mufasa is the father everyone wishes they have/had. Scar is an interesting villain that relies more on using psychological mind games to get what he wants rather than the previous Disney villains that used magic. Nala, while her role is supporting, is a sassy young cub who you can sympathize with since she believes she lost her best friend. Surely, all of us had a best friend who tragically died or moved away that's similar to Nala's situation. Then, as an adult, it's interesting how her life turned upside during Scar's reign, and wasn't influenced by the evil charisma of Scar. Timon and Pumbaa are the Shakespearean fools, and their comedic presence was much needed after Mufasa's death. However, the last few viewings I have found their humor to be rather cheap and come off as annoying, though I still love Pumbaa. Sarabi, while her role is minimal at best, is the most sympathetic character in the entire film that lost her mate and only son, and had to long-suffer through her brother-in-law's reign.

The music is noticeably different from the previous Disney animated films at the time. It retains the structure of a musical, though some of the songs are sung off-screen by an unknown character which wasn't the case in Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. The songs are a mix of African-driven songs and chants such as "Circle of Life" and "Busa" accompanied with the Elton John's pop-driven songs such as "Hakuna Matata" and "I Just Can't Wait to be King". Hans Zimmer's score is one of the best with "The Rightful King" and "Remember Who You Are" as some of the highlights.

The look of the animation was beautiful, sweeping, and David Lean-style epic, and brilliantly merged computer animation with its traditional counterpart. The character animation is impressive given most of the animators had to animate the characters realistically walk on four legs and express human emotion through body language through the use of their hands, the look in their eyes and face, and the tilting of their heads.

While the movie has flaws (which I have deliberately ignored for this mini-review), I still admire the deep themes of the film, its ambition in storytelling and cinematic scale, and its maturity.