Rent The Lion King on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Irene Mecchi and Jonathan Roberts and Linda Woolverton (screenplay by), Barry Johnson, Andy Gaskill, Kevin Harkey, Tom Sito, Rick Maki, Burny Mattinson, Lorna Cook, Gary Trousdale, Jorgen Klubien, Larry Leker, Ed Gombert, Mark Kausler, Thom Enriquez, Jim Capobianco, Chris Sanders, Joe Ranft, Francis Glebas (story by)
Directed by: Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff
Starring: Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Moira Kelly, Niketa Calame, Ernie Sabella, Nathan Lane, Robert Guillaume, Rowan Atkinson, Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin
Rated: G
Watch the trailer
Plot
Young lion cub Simba must embrace his role as the rightful king of his homeland and confront the usurper, his uncle Scar
Verdict
It's such a great movie, laying the foundation for and then building to several big story moments. It's not a revolutionary story, but it creates these emotional scenes, translating a young cub's grief and torment to the screen. We understand why Simba runs away. When Simba must confront his past, it's triumphant, but then he must confront the villain. The movie is full of these touching moments, capturing the evolution of a character in such a short amount of time. There's a reason this movie has remained relevant for so long. It's excellent.
Watch It.
Review
Considered to be Disney's first animated film based on an original idea, the plot draws inspiration from several sources including William Shakespeare's play Hamlet as well as Joseph and Moses from the Bible. The development of the movie coincided with Pocahontas (1995), which most Disney animators thought would be more successful.
Even the opening sequence is great, set to music with images of animals on the Savannah. A lion cub, Simba, is born and proclaimed as the future king while the shaman Rafiki holds the cub high into the air. All of this is done with no dialog or exposition.
 |
| Simba and Rafiki |
Young Simba is a precocious kid influenced by his evil uncle Scar to disobey his father Mufasa and go beyond the Pride Lands. For an animated movie, the elephant graveyard is intense. Scar is easily identifiable as the villain with the scar over one eye and his wily ways. Scar harbors disdain for Mufasa and Simba, mad he's not the one in line for the kingship. This doesn't simplify the story for kids. Mufasa saves Simba from the graveyard, but he's disappointed his son disobeyed.
The only shortcut the movie takes is that no one realizes what Scar is doing despite how obviously evil he is. The plot needs Scar to set up the rest of the movie. Scar creates a scenario where Simba is ashamed and runs away. Scar pushes him to flee the Pride Lands, and Simba's pain is heartbreaking. Despondent, Simba meets Timon and Pumba. He grows up with them, but he still regrets the past and misses his family.
 |
| Simba, Pumba, Timon |
With Simba gone, Scar has found himself ruling the Pride Lands, but he's a poor leader. He's given hyenas control and forces the lionesses to hunt. That's how Simba meets his childhood friend Nala. This scene is set up well. When they were young they were told they would marry. At that age their thoughts are yuck. Now reunited, Timon and Pumba clearly see they like each other even if they won't admit it. Nala urges him to return and bring hope back to the land. Simba is concerned about his past and the lies Scar told him. He's scared and embarrassed butconflicted, disheartened that the Pride Lands have devolved.
 |
| Simba |
Simba has to overcome all of those feelings and return home to honor his father, reclaim his birthright, and challenge Scar. Despite his past, his people need him. This is such a great moment, and the movie sets up these big moments so well. We're already rooting for Simba and dislike Scar. What this adds is the emotional foundation. We know how Simba feels, we're rooting for him.
Just as the movie opened with the birth of a lion cub, so the movie closes as it completes the circle of life.
No comments :
Post a Comment