Lion King

The final film of the 'Fab Four,' the Lion King is often considered the pinnacle of the 1990's films in terms of animation and it is quite easy to see why. This was, and likely still is, one of the biggest and most popular films in Disney's long history, and will quite likely stay that way even years from now.

The film starts off with perhaps one of the best openings out of all the canon films. It gives the sense of a grand scale, which only continues to remain a present feeling all throughout the entire film. Everything feels vast and open, yet not distractingly so.

From start to finish, the Lion King looks simply gorgeous. While I did view this as a Blu-Ray, it is quite possible that the treatment did fudge with the visuals a bit compared to all of the dvd viewings I have done thus far. With that aside it does not change the fact that this is still a really, really well animated film. Every scene looks vibrant and full of life and there was never a moment where I really went "Hmmm...that looks a little off."

Complementing the visuals is a really great set of songs, all of which are well remembered and still quite popular. While it's a bit hard to really pick a stand out song, all of them are still really enjoyable to not only listen to, but to watch as well. The nostalgia in me does lean towards Can't Wait to Be King as my favourite, however the villain lover in me also leans towards Be Prepared.

The characters in this film are quite enjoyable, though I do have a certain duo where I do feel a bit "Ehhh..." about. Starting with the great however is Scar. This is a villain who gets things done. He kills off his rival, secures power for years and is generally sitting pretty even if the Pride Lands have slowly died from his tyrannical rule. Using manipulation to get what he wants, Scar certainly does a good job of things or else he would not have made it as far as he did. Rather fun to watch are his three henchmen Shenzi, Banzai and Ed who seem to represent the hyena community that Scar has taken under his wing. Mufasa is probably most memorable as being the one character that makes children burst into tears thanks to his death scene, and yet is also really wise and powerful. Zazu, Nala, and Rafiiki are all enjoyable in their scenes and provide the right amount of support for Simba. Our main hero is also really fun to watch. While some people don't like his younger form, I found I really enjoyed young Simba quite a bit, and he only became better as his character gained a story arc that developed him further. Theeen we get Timon and Pumbaa. They aren't as bad as I remember, so I will give them that. However I can't really say I fully enjoy them either. Maybe in time and more viewings they can grow on me, but right now I just go "Ehh..."

Also. Obligatory mention of how Lion King is similar/ a supposed rip off of Kimba the White Lion. I honestly don't care. As far as I'm aware more people know of Kimba -because- of the Lion King instead of knowing about Kimba because it's any good or popular. So thus ends the obligatory mention of that.

I think the only thing that really hampers the Lion King for me, Timon and Pumbaa aside, is that the ecosystem in this film is rather odd to the point of being a bit distracting in the end. I understand that Scar and his hyenas have eaten the animals and scared off the rest of the herds. However that is not any reason to cause droughts or massive loss of vegetation. That is more of an apocalyptic/human error and not something a lion is really capable of doing. So there's that. It just makes me scratch my head a bit and wonder "Why?"


4 1/2/ 5