Review No. 150 - The Lion King (94)

I’ll start this review with a preface. To say I love The Lion King will be like saying Republicans are just a little odd, or that Kelly Brook is quite pretty. I fuckin love everything about this film, the story, the characters, the animation, the music. It’s my favourite animated film, my favourite Disney film, for the first 12 years of my life my favourite film and is about as perfect a film as you can get.

The story is fantastic, taking hints from Hamlet it follows young lion Simba, the prince of Pride Rock, a large kingdom in Africa currently ruled by his father Mufasa. Simba is young an immature and it’s his reckless nature that allows his uncle Scar, Mufasa’s brother, to trick Simba and kill Mufasa. Simba runs away and Scar takes the throne, making life miserable for the lions, Simba knows none of this as he’s living the easy life with his new friends Timon and Pumba and it isn’t until an old friend reminds him of who he is that he decides to go back.

The story is simple but it’s quite dark for a Disney film, this is their first parent kill since Bambi and it sets up this story brilliant. It moves at a fast pace but leaves you enough time to get to know an love the characters easily.

And those characters are all amazing, Simba takes the lead role, voiced by Matthew Broderick as an adult, Simba’s always been childish and irresponsible, he thinks that everything will be handed to him on a silver platter so he’s lost when Mufasa dies. Timon and Pumba offer an escape from life, an easy way of living so that Simba doesn’t have to face his past or his mistakes.

The short time that we’re with Mufasa we get to know him and like him, given strength and authority by James Earl Jones (His second famous father voice), Mufasa is shown to be both a father figure and a friend to Simba, his death hits hard to Simba and the audience.

Jeremy Irons is British so he plays the villain. Scar’s eloquent English voice shows him to be an intelligent and cunning antagonist as well as chilling and brutal. He’s one of Disney’s greatest villain and proves it by killing his own brother and tricking young Simba into thinking he was responsible.

Timon and Pumba are both comic relief characters but thank god they are here, both are hilarious and have a great back and forth. They even serve an essential role in the story, giving Simba a reason to turn back on his past, their Hakuna Matata message is great but flawed and, like Simba, they have to grow up.

And Rafiki, the eccentric old monkey is awesome, whether he’s going off his head nuts or kicking ass he’s fantastic.

The animation in this film is simply timeless, it can be watched for years to come and still look impressive, there’s loads of little details that are all the more impressive given that the film is hand-drawn; stuff like the movement of hair or dust or embers. What’s really impressive is the use of colour, this film has a whole spectrum of them and uses them all to brilliant effect, from the bright browns and greens of friendly Pride Rock, the proud, boasting oranges and yellows of the sun rising and the harsh yellows of the desert to the grey, decaying mess Scar let Pride Rock turn into and the purple hue of Simba and Nala’s - um - date, the Can You Feel The Love Tonight sequence, it’s smooth tint made it feel so much more romantic.

It goes without saying but he music in this film is stunning. Not just the score - which I have talked about - which encompasses the African nature of the film perfectly while still leaving room for action packed sequences, listen to The Wildebeest Stampede, it’s simply amazing.

While I’m on it the Stampede sequence remains one of the greatest animated scenes I’ve ever seen, not just for Mufasa’s death but for the amount of action going on on-screen and the way everything looks and sounds. It’s a perfect moment for a perfect film.

Being a Disney film, this is near enough a musical and all the songs are wonderful, granted there are only five of them but that means that they are enough to each be unique and memorable but not so many that they overtake the story. Starting the film with The Circle Of Life just as the sun rises was a stroke of genius and gets you into that epic feeling, especially when Rafiki lifts Simba in the air.

Young Simba’s ‘I Just Can’t Wait To Be King’ was a colourful cheer to how wanting to be more, it’s the most sing-along of the songs and probably the happiest. It’s in competition for that title from Timon and Pumba’s ‘Hakuna Matata‘, a song everyone knows, it’s a celebration of not caring, not letting worries get you down and just going with the flow.

Scar’s ‘Be Prepared’ is essentially three songs in one as he explains he’s going to kill his brother and nephew. It starts off calm and almost aristocratic, then it turns militaristic with Scar looking very much like Hitler and his hyena/Nazi army marching beneath him. Then finally it changes to be an angry song, a song about want and hate. Amazingly all three fit together beautifully, creating a great villain song.

My favourite, no doubt is the aforementioned ‘Can You Feel The Love Tonight’, both the film’s and Elton’s John’s versions. The film’s near enough creates the romantic feeling for the Simba/Nala scene - thus making one of my favourite scenes of all time - by building up the romance Simba and Nala have from their childhood and Elton’s John’s Oscar Winning classic lets you leave the film with a smile.

Overall, I love this film, I cannot stress that enough, this film isn’t from my childhood it IS my childhood. It’s story gets dark only to come out triumphant, it’s characters are all well written and performed, the animation is timeless and the songs are all fantastic.

I’m not going to recommend this because you should’ve seen it by now. When they say ‘No film is perfect’ point to this and tell them ‘This is.’

10/10

And I’d give it 11/10 if I could.