Old school LK fans

[Regulus]

I was 115 days old when TLK premiered in theaters, so I'm definitely not an old school fan.

I remember the release of TLK 3 when I was 10 years old, but that's about it. Even back then, I wasn't very obsessive about it, and I don't recall owning any TLK merchandise.

Ironically, I think that's one of the reasons why I was brought into the fandom last year. As a kid, the meaning behind the entire plot of the story completely went over my head, but I get it now. If I had been a fan of TLK when I was younger, I wouldn't have felt like I had been missing out on something last year.

As much as it's marketed towards children, on a fundamental level, TLK is much more than a kid's movie. As a kid, I sure didn't notice that, but now I do. Which is exactly why this is very interesting:

[quote="TheBlackCatCrossing"]^Lion King is one of those films that helps 'define' you, isn't it? I made a lot of fanart for it. i watched a lot of Disney films in theatres as most kids did back then, but LK was "MINE".[/quote]

Yes, it definitely does define me in a lot of ways, but for reasons I can explain. I'm pretty sure, when I was 10 years old, I didn't even understand this at all.

However, I do know that even before I joined the fandom almost a year ago, everytime I was reminded of TLK, I would get shivers down my spine. Why? I'm not exactly sure, but I can make some guesses.

[nathalie]

A bit true about the age.
Being 11 at the time, and when I did tell people I saw it, they all asked me: did you cry when Mufasa died?
And I would be like: hell no!

I was actually a pretty tough kid when I was little, I would only cry if I would have hurt my knee or arm or anything like that very badly.
But cry with a movie or something on TV? No way. That totally wasn't me, even at that age, I was to sober knowing everything in a movie ain't real.

Things changed during the years, and by the time I turned 23, I was crying so much, my room could have been a pool during that year.

So when I did see the movie again in theaters last year (3D) I understood so much more, the music got to me like it never did before, and I did get tears when Mufasa died.
Just because I understood so much more.

And seeing it in theaters is just more special then watching it on TV in your own home, which made those feelings a bit stronger too.

[Kitty]

Sadly, when the first TLK came out I was only 2 years old. My dad has always said he took me to the cinema to watch it when it first came out, however, I would of been too young, do not remember it, and, I am sure he's mixing me up with his other 2 (older) kids. I would have loved to of been part of the new-release hype that I'm sure it would of had back then ^_^

During my peak of TLK obsession (when it was ok for my parents to know I was into it as I was only 6 years old), I very much remember when The Lion King 2 came out. Seeing the trailers advertised on TV was soo exciting~! And I even managed to nab the film a day before its release x3 My parents would buy me all the merchandise from Woolworths and the Disney Store. Ahh, those were the days~

[Akril]

I was ten years old when I first saw it in theaters in 1994. I had just moved to a new home, and that movie was the first big "thing" that I latched onto. I remember seeing all the big displays at Toys 'R' Us before I'd even seen the movie, wondering who this "Mufasa" character I kept seeing mentioned was. I even remember a promotional sticker the movie theater put inside one of its windows of Scar raking his claws down the glass. I don't think I've ever seen that image since then, as a piece of clipart or in a coloring book. (Strangely, though, it wasn't lions that I initially became obsessed with after seeing TLK, but cheetahs. I still have that large Applause TLK cheetah plush I got for Christmas in 1994.)

I wish I'd held onto some more of those toys, though. I had the pocket-sized Pride Rock playset that came with Simba, Nala and Mufasa (I still have a fondness for miniature things); the talking cub Simba plush, the purring Nala plush (I still have the Nala finger puppet), and a few other assorted plastic figurines (mostly Mattel, I think). Just recently I spotted the Nala plush from the original 1994 "Kissing Cubs" set (the ones with the magnetic noses) in a thrift store. I was mildly interested at first, but then, over on the other side of the store, I found Simba...and he and Nala were actually looking at each other. I couldn't resist buying them.

I even made some (pretty horrifying) models of most of the main cast out of FIMO clay back in '94-'95, and even though I wasn't a big fan of SP, I still made some tiny Kovu and Kiara "plushies" of my own for my younger sister back in 1998 (interesting how Kovu was the one who ended up with a..."special" look).

(Oh yeah -- I'm not dead!)

[Timon the great]

I don't remember a whole lot when TLK came out back in '94. Cause like I've said before, I was only 5 years old when it did.

The main thing I remember when I went with my family to see the movie in theaters, was that it was a hot sunny day and that it was the 1990s.

The other thing I remember was that my sisters got a young Simba and Nala plush purring doll (which I slept with the Simba a few times) and then one of them watching TLK 2/SP on VHS back in late '98, I believe. So yeah..

The crazy thing about all of this is that I was more familiar with Simba back then, than I was with Timon. But after the 90s passed on, so did Simba for the most part.

Also, after seeing TLK in theaters, Timon was almost just a dire memory until I saw TLK 3 on the Disney channel back in late 2005/early 2006. So when I saw him on TV that time, I was saying to myself: 'Hey! I know who he is!'. But it wasn't until this year that Timon really hit me on the head when I first saw him again in TLK 1 on television. Yet, even though the experience hurt me inside, I was surprised at the level of acknowledgement I still had towards him.


To me, and the fact that he has already come and gone twice in my life, I have to note that it's just amazing to see that Timon has survived the test of time from 1994 all the way to now . And he's back, stronger than ever.

Why in all of this?
I seriously do not have much of a clue. And I don't know if this was meant to be or not. But right now, it still continues to amaze me. Plus, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here on MLK today.

Now that more time has passed, I really do feel he was "missing". And I hope that since all of this has happened to Timon in my life, he will be here to stay from now on (Yes. In everything and as an LK fan, he means that much more to me now).

[MooLion]

I was about six (omg such a long time ago now ) when it came out. A few things I can remember from then:

- I was excited about seeing it at the cinema and when I did I managed to spill my box of Smarties everywhere on trying to open it. XD
- Loved it and the obsession started from there, receiving tons of merchandise from relations and think might've got the video on day of release, but not sure. It got a free mug with it which I still have.
- Starting junior school (at age 7) at the end of that year when we were going over what memories some people had of the year and things they were renowned for, my being a fan of TLK was one of the things mentioned.

Errr... what was the question again? Probably more to say but can't think right now.

Aww, is so sad to think how long ago it all was now. So many memories...

[TheBlackCatCrossing]

^Yay! Another originals! Awesome!