After rewatching the movie today I have quite a few thoughts

[SimbasGuard]

[quote="hey101hey"]Eh, I don't put too much meaning into major film critics anyway.............most of them are too high and mighty to watch animation and or view it like the artform it deserves to be treated as.[/quote]

I wholeheartedly agree with that. However I apply that way of thinking to all movie I like. Because usually critics never see things the way I do.

[Elton John]

My thoughts on the actors and actresses for the English version of The Lion King

Jeremy Irons as Scar.

This is THE big stand out performance in the movie. While Jeremy Irons has starred in a few stinkers he's still a great actor. He can be bone chilling as Scar, or comedic in a dark way. "Simba, it's to die for" A little bit of dark humor is not a bad thing! He has a lot of range in this character.

Rowen Atkinson as Zazu. I know him also as Mr Bean and Edmund Blackadder. Like Jeremy Irons he has a lot of range and nuance put into his performance. He isn't just a snobby bird, he's caring and can be funny at times as well.

James Earl Jones as Dad Vader....I mean, Mufasa. His most Iconic role was as Darth Vader in star wars or as Thulsa doom from conan the barbarian. Like the two above he has a lot of range in the character and puts on a great performance.

Jonathan Taylor Thomas as young Simba

Also known as Randy Taylor from the sitcom Home Improvement. He does as good a job as can be expected from a kid actor. Not as seasoned as the three above but he makes young simba a lovable brat and that's all I can say really.

Niketa Calame as youn Nala.

I'm not too knowledgable about her works outside of the lion king but in all honesty she does a better performance than JTT. She's a lot more nuanced and has slightly more range than JTT.

Madge Sinclair as Sarabi

Her performance as Sarabi is great, probably the best female performance in the movie. Unfortunately Madge died in 1995 of luekemia and.......I get sad when I think about that

Robert Guillaume as Rafiki

A good performance but not one of the better ones. Not much range but there's not much to the character. he's an important character but not because of a dynamic performance.

Zoe Leader as Sarafina

a character so unimportant she only had one line and is only given a name during the credits. Ugh

Moira Kelly as Nala

Does an okay job.....in all honesty niketa calame did a better performance.

That Badger who talked to zazu

I'm sure the actor has a name but I don't know it and as a character he is somehow even less important than Sarafina.

Jim Cummings as Ed

Does a good enough job, not much to say really.

Cheech Marin as Banzai

Not the best male actor in the movie and maybe the least memorable of the hyenas but he's still good in the role

whoopi goldberg as Shenzi

Probably the most memorable of the hyenas and in all honesty she does a great job in the role.

Matthew Broderick as adult simba

Does a fantastic job as a character who is tortured on the inside but pretends that nothing is wrong on the outside. Not much nuance or range but it's not really necessary for the character.

Nathan Lane as Timon

I'm not too keen on comedic relief characters but Nathan Lane does a fantastic job and can make me laugh in spite of that. Two thumbs up.

Ernie Sabella as Pumbaa

Does a good job just not as good as Nathan Lane.


Anyone I forgot?

[SimbasGuard]

I don't think you forgot anyone, It was very in depth review. Now even though it is not credited and I can not prove it. I believe it was Jim Cummings that voiced (What I believe is a Gopher. Not a Badger) That talked to Zazu. Although I could be wrong.

I just checked Lion King Wiki and I was wrong, it is apparently a Mole, but I was right about his voice.
http://lionking.wikia.com/wiki/The_Mole

[Captain Cupcake]

[quote="hey101hey"]When "King of pride rock" starts playing it goes from being great to LEGENDARY. [/quote]

Just to point out, it's more appropriate to call it the ascension rendition/variant of Simba's theme. “King Of Pride Rock” is just the title of the shortened suite of the same track from the original album than a name for a particular part of one cue.

As for the whole negative reaction towards Zimmer's works, it's because during the past decade, he kind of relegated himself to a particular sound and style some aren't too fond of. Additionally, a lot of his recent scores have been approached with more simplicity to them compared to what he used to do back in the 90s and early 2000s.

While he hasn't totally disconnected himself from melodic and complex compositions, score fanatics have grown tired of his minimalistic works relying on unusual yet simple sounds as opposed to complex pieces and desire his rich thematic writing more commonly done in the past. They know he actually isn't a poor composer, they just want him at his best back.

[Elton John]

I'm more of a john williams/alan silvestri fan myself.

I like bombastic memorable tunes. Or tunes that are melodic and memorable. Musical composition isn't really my area of expertise.

I've seen some people describe john williams as someone who does "catchy blockbuster music" and while that is mostly true he's the best at that kind of thing.

[Adofo]

I am also a fan of Zimmer! He's done some great stuff! But to me, the oldies are the goodies. And Elton John, well he's just awesome. That's just a given!

[Elton John]

I'm not zimmers biggest fan, but he can make great music.

As for elton john he's my second favorite after freddie mercury.

[Elton John]

I feel like i'm making too many topics so I will post this here

My thoughts on simbas pride.

In all honesty back when it first came out I hated it. It introduced a lot of characters that shouldn't logically exist and made simba a huge hypocritical jerk.

I rewatched the movie for the first time in over 15 years last summer and in all honesty...it...was....kind of good.

While not being a masterpiece like the original, it had a lot going for it. Kiara is adorable. The actor for kovu did an admirable job. "He lives in you" "love will find a way" and "we are one" are good songs. Zira is arguably a darker, more bloodthirsty villain than scar was.

It also brought back most of the original cast.

My main problems are this

1: Nala has an even smaller role than in this than the original!
2: Vitani is really under developed character.
3: Nuka......I don't have much nice to say about him
4: Where are sarabi and sarafina? If both are dead they could have added a line mentioning that.
5: Upendi. This is a song that I really don't like. The Lion King to me is a mixture of human like drama with, while not completely accurate to real life lions they try to make the pridelands a somewhat believable place within it's own logic and upendi goes against that logic.
6: Simba. He tells kovu that while he might be scars heir he can still be a very different person...errr...lion....and then without letting kovu explain himself he exiles him. Way to go Simba! Maybe you could argue that Simba still felt grief from his dads death but the ending to the original movie implied that he got rid of all that baggage.
7: Yeah, most of the time it feels logically inconsistent with the first movie.

In spite of my complaints it was an entertaining movie that had a strong romantic aspect to it, stronger than the romance in the original. and while most male Disney romantic leads have a bit of blandness to them Kovu has a lot of personality. He feels a bit like Han Solo if that makes any sense.

[SimbasGuard]

I wholeheartedly agree with you about Nala, Vitani, Sarabi, and Sarafina.

As for Upendi, That Song like I Just Can't Wait to be King is a bit of a flight of fantasy, so that explains the less believable parts and hopefully makes the song slightly less annoying to you

When Kovu first came to The Pride Lands Simba suspected that he was up to no good. What everyone seems to forget is that when Kovu first came to The Pride Lands he was indeed up to no good. Yes Kovu changed but that was due mostly to Kiara. Granted Simba did not give Kovu a chance to explain himself, but keep in mind. He was surrounded by a Pride of lions that wanted him dead and then his worst enemy confirmed his worst fears about the lion that he was about to allow into his Pride. Add to that the fact that Zira is Kovu's mother (As far as official cannon goes), after all in most cases would would most mothers lie about their sons like that. I think that it makes sense why Simba didn't want to sit down and have a rational conversation at that moment. He knew he would soon have to fight for his life. As for why Simba exiled Kovu without allowing Kovu to explain. At that point Simba had already made the assumption (Even thought is was wrong) That Kovu had only pretended to like Kiara in order to get him to lower his guard. Simba's decision to exile Kovu was not because of the ambush, but because Simba felt that Kovu had toyed with Kiara's heart. At that point Simba was acting more as an angry father rather than a bitter king.

As for Kovu and Han solo I get it, both are good guys with a bad boy attitude.

[Elton John]

I think the reason why people hold this movie dear to their heart?

Why are people are very passionate about this movie when a lot of other animated films get passing mentions from time to time?

Because it was a true labor of love, they didnt get some forgettable flavor of the month pop star to do the songs, they got the incredibly talented elton john. They didnt get anybody to do the score, they got freaking hans zimmer!

Who did they get to voice the villain? A real actor, not a "movie star" but someone with quality acting abilities. They got a real actor for almost every role.

Even the comic relief characters had heart to them. I normally hate comic relief characters but timon and pumbaa were far from being one dimensional.

The movie wasn't frentically paced, with cuts every two seconds, it often gave breathing time to enjoy the gorgeous animation.

The movie was funny not because it was genuinely witty and sharply written without going for the low hanging fruit. Fourth wall breaking jokes were done with grace, there was a fart joke that had something called SUBTLETY to it. This wasnt some dumb movie made to mindlessly entertain kids, it was made to be high quality entertainment.