Date: 1994
List of Characters: Simba, Nala, Mufasa, Scar, Timon, Pumba, Sarabi
Ranking in Animated Features: #32
Interesting Trivia:
- The line, "What do you want me to do, dress in drag and do the hula?" was improvised by Nathan Lane.
-A few weeks before the film opened, Elton John was given a special screening. Noticing that the film's love song had been left out, he successfully lobbied Jeffrey Katzenberg to have the song put back in. Later, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" won him an Academy Award for Best Original Song.
-The team working on the movie was supposedly Disney's "team B," who were "kept busy" while "team A" worked on Pocahontas (1995), on which the production had much higher hopes. As it turned out, The Lion King became a huge critical and commercial success, whereas Pocahontas met with mixed reviews and a much lower box office.
-The wildebeest stampede took Disney's CG department approximately three years to animate. A new computer program had to be written for the CG wildebeest stampede that allowed hundreds of computer generated animals to run but without colliding into each other.
-In early drafts, Scar was a rogue lion with no relation to Mufasa. Eventually, however, the story writers thought relating him to Mufasa would be more interesting, a threat within. This is why Scar and Mufasa differ so much; they weren't originally designed to be related.
-During "Be Prepared," the hyenas' marching past Scar on the elevated rock was inspired by footage of Nazis marching by Adolf Hitler on a podium.
-Where you first see Simba as a young cub going to wake up Mufasa, Mufasa says to Sarabi, "Before sunrise he's your son" this is because Mufasa is the ruler of everything the light touches.
-The movie was originally titled King of the Jungle. Disney changed the name when they realised that lions don't live in the jungle.
-The original opening to the film was supposed to be a dialogue-heavy scene. The producers and animators were so impressed with composer Hans Zimmer's score for the “Circle of Life” that they decided to change the beginning to the now iconic opening.
What I like about the film:
-Music: The Lion King is beloved partly in fact because of the incredible score of the film. Music acts as a character separate from the others within the film and is a huge device in progressing the story forward. Elton John's composition fits the tone of the film extremely well and complies to the classic Disney trope of the characters singing about the plot of the film. That said, Hans Zimmer's opening song 'Circle of Life' is breathtaking because it not only conforms to the usual Disney style of storytelling through song but it incorporates African chanting and chorus.
-The Cinematic Nature of the Film: The opening of this film is honestly my favourite Disney opening thus far, I know that's really generic to say but this opening is adored by fans for a reason; the exposition song is so grand and sets up a more cinematic tone for The Lion King than any other Disney film before it. There are some really interesting directorial choices for certain sequences within the film; for example when Simba returns to Pride Rock there is multilayering of two slow motion shots which is quite an adventurous cinematic technique for a Disney film. The colour palette of the film is also fantastic, the use of orange, red and yellow make it visually appealing to the audience.
-Message: I love the message of this film, based off Shakespeare's Hamlet it should be sending a message of vengeance and justice however The Lion King teaches us that bad things happen in life and that time can heal even the worst of wounds.
What I dislike about the film:
-The story- I really struggled to put my finger on what I dislike about this film. It is not my favourite Disney film and often not one that I seek to rewatch and honestly I don't understand why. From a critical standpoint this film is pretty flawless but I just find myself unable to completely engage in the story. I enjoy the overall message of the film but the actual plot is just not completely exciting to me anymore.
My Favourites:
-Character: Pumba.
-Song: 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight'
-Moment: When baby Simba is lifted up during 'Circle of Life'.
-Location: The waterfall
-Quote: “Oh yes, the past can hurt. But from the way I see it, you can either run from it, or learn from it.”
Disney Ratings:
-Humor:7/10
-Moving: 8/10
-Characters: 6/10
-Songs: 8/10
-Aesthetic: 6/10
-Story: 5/10
-Happy Ending Rating: 7/10
-Overall Rating: 6/10
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