The Lion King review and my story

[Jarrett]

Hey everyone, I just want to start out by introducing myself. My name's Jarrett, and I joined MLK around January. I was born just a little after The Lion King came out, but I still love the movie anyway.

I feel the need to do this review because no one has really understood the way I feel about this movie, and I thought if anyone would, it'd be the people here in this community. So I'll start at the beginning.

My parents went to see the Lion King in theaters back in '94. They liked the movie, and when I was born, it would be one of the first movies I'd ever watch. I never fully understood the movie until I was a bit older, but I remember very vividly all the colors, how pretty the animation was, and the songs. I watched this movie nearly every night when I went to bed.

In 1998, The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride came out. This was probably one of the most exciting moments of my childhood. Looking back on TLK2, it can't even compare to the first one. However, I was young, and I didn't really care about the movie itself. Again, I remember loving the colors, songs, and animation.

Eventually through elementary and middle school, I started growing out of TLK, until recently when it was just re-released in theaters in 3D back in September.

Enough about me though, let me get on with the real review.

The Lion King is just one of those timeless classics that not much can compare to. To this day, out of all the movies I've watched, this is the only one that has managed to make me cry. This movie has had the greatest emotional toll on me out of anything I can think of.

The soundtrack is astonishing. Simply amazing. To this day, every time I listen to it, I always get chills down my spine. Hans Zimmer, Lebo M., Elton John, Tim Rice, and the choir truly outdid themselves. All the songs in the movie are perfect. I love every one of them, they're all so fun.

The animation is great. I am always amazed when I see that stampede scene. 3 years to animate. The amount of effort that went into the animation is just great. Although I own the Blu-Ray re-enhanced version of the movie, I sometimes like to pop in the old VHS tape and look at the old animations. They bring back so many memories.

It always amazed me how they managed to make the characters so dynamical, to the point where they really make the viewer care about them. I have never cried in a movie, like I said, but when Mufasa died, I felt like I lost my own father. Simba's transition to king was one of the most inspiring things I have ever seen. I can't really find the words to express that.

In conclusion, no other movie has really touched me like this before. It really is the greatest movie I have ever seen. No one can really understand the way I felt and do feel about this film. If you have any similar experiences with this movie, which I'm sure some of you do, feel free to share them. I'd really like to read them.

Thanks.

tl;dr: This is a good movie.

[TheLionPrince]

Welcome to MLK Forum, Jarrett.

As for your review, it was spot on, and I wholeheartedly agree with you on everything. Even though I usually don't cry during movies (and TLK is one of them) at all, I can relate with you that TLK was among the first films I ever saw, and I occassionally pop in the old VHS to watch the movie even though I own the Blu-Ray.

By the way, I'm interested in your opinion of The Lion King 1½, and how it compares to the first two movies!

[Lauren]

It's wonderful to have a story about how much TLK has impacted a fan's life. Of course, we all have our stories, and so do I. It will always be the best film to me in my life and nothing or no one can change that for me.

[DGFone]

I love your review, JHHster! While I can't really talk about the sequels, which I only saw a few years ago for the first time (on Youtube all the more), I agree with you as well about the original: it really is that great.

If a point of pride or shame, but I have yet to cry over Mufasa's death. I instead cried over another scene. XD To this day, I don't watch The Lion King that often to keep the experience fresh and special every time, but I listen to the soundtrack and other material, such as Rhythm of the Pridelands, just about every day.

The Lion King is a great movie, and we are all here because of it, and its effects resonate through much more.

Welcome to MLK!

[Jarrett]

Thanks for the feedback everyone

As for TLK1&1/2, I like it when it came out. However, I lost my old DVD and I haven't seen it for some time. It was nice to see the gap filled within Simba's cub life and adult life, but I wasn't a big fan of Timon and Pumbaa's "rewind, play, fast forward" in the movie theater antics. However, for what it was, it was pretty good.

[PrincessKiara]

Welcome to MLK! Great post.

I want to share my story as well:

In 1994, when the movie came out, I was 8 years old. My very first encounter with anything TLK was a colouring book my mother bought me. This was before I knew the story or the characters, but I loved them anyway (I`m obsessed with cats, large and small, lol)
Anyway, my mother took me to the cinema to see the movie, and I fell instantly in love. I`ve been obsessed with it ever since. I begged my mother to buy me TLK toys, and I acted out scenes from the movie with friends, played with TLK figurines, both alone and with my cousins, and wore TLK sweaters!
When I was 14, the almighty Internet was introduced in our household, and that`s when I got the chance to share my love for this movie with other fans worldwide. It opened up a world of fan-created stories and art, as well as forums, graphics and countless websites. I made several websites of my own, one of which I`m still running activly.

There are many movies I love, and a couple of Disney movies come close to TLK in terms of how much I love them, but not a SINGLE movie has made such a huge impact on my life, nor such a deep impression on me as The Lion King. I watched the musical in London last summer and shed tears at three different scenes. And I was 25 at the time. That`s saying something about how powerful and magnificent this film is.

Everything about it is so amazing, the charactes, the music, the art, the voice acting, every single minute of this movie is pure perfection.

Fan since 1994. Fan forever.

[Biomac]

Great review . I exactly feel like you, but even harder though