The Lion King (1994)
Shakespeare meets Disney.
Brief Backstory
1994 was an amazing year (excluding some really bad events such as O.J. Simpson murdering two people) for so much. From the birth of the Sony PlayStation in Japan, to Helloween’s Master of the Rings, Donkey Kong Country, Sonic’s encounter with Knuckles, and Shawshank Redemption, Disney would find themselves in the positives for 1994.
Continuing a nearly perfect hot streak of blockbusters that started with the Little Mermaid, Disney continued to deliver classic after classic with their idolized animation studio benefited by their well-famed CAPS animation system and great storytelling. Taking a short break in 1993 from releasing any major animated movies (not counting Nightmare Before Christmas), The Lion King, their next movie, would immediately end up being another huge success.
Taking inspiration from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, this tale of regicide has often tied with Beauty and the Beast/Aladdin/Mulan for being the greatest Disney movie of the 1990s.
Story
Simba, the heir to Pride Rock, is conned out of being king after Mufasa’s evil brother, Scar sends Mufasa off with a long fall. Blamed for regicide by Scar, Simba lives a carefree life until Rafiki, Nala, and the ghost of Mufasa, convince Simba to return to Pride Rock and destroy Scar for the murder and the multiple attempts on Simba’s life.
Random Facts
On re-releases in the 2000s, the crocodiles during Simba’s song were reanimated, as was Scar looking at Mufasa in fury as Mufasa reprimands Simba for disobeying him. The original animated scenes are only available on pre-DVD copies; meaning that laserdisc or a 35mm print if you’re lucky enough is probably your best bet for seeing them in the best quality.
Some people have mentioned that Hakuna Matata has a similar vibe to the Bare Necessities. Both are latin-like songs and have the tale of being in a carefree life.
James Earl Jones retained his role as Mufasa in the universally hated remake in 2019 (I’ll review those later on). Coincidentally, he used to voice Darth Vader until just recently when he retired from voicing him.
Timon and Pumbaa would later star in a Disney Afternoon series “Timon and Pumbaa” pitting the duo into crazy adventures around the savannah.
If you look carefully when Simba’s plopping down at a cliff after watching the stars with Timon and Pumbaa, the dust spells the letters SFX.
Unlike most Disney villains, Scar commits regicide. This means killing a supreme leader such as a king, but it can also refer to killing a president (the John F. Kennedy assassination in the early 60s is an example of this.)
During Be Prepared, the movements of the Hyenas is identical to how the Nazis moved.
Random Opinions
The scene where Scar warned Simba about the elephant graveyard always confused me. He didn’t sound like he wanted Simba there but of course later onwards he gets furious with the hyenas for failing to kill Simba. However everyone says that this was to set up his scam.
Simba could’ve tipped Scar off to Mufasa but given Scar’s dialogue he likely would’ve been acquitted. Then again Mufasa didn’t really think highly of Scar anyway.
Of all the Disney movies from the 90s, this seems to be the most popular. Mulan and Beauty and the Beast seem relatively very close or equivalent to popularity.
Pros
- Probably the Disney movie with the best songs – no duds. Even the Jungle Book has a dud.
- Roughly every character in this movie is amazing.
- The animation, backgrounds, just everything looks timeless, almost like it was just made yesterday.
Cons
- Changes made in future releases were in my eyes unnecessary.
Rating: 9.5/10 – Amazing
Nearly 30 years later and this still hits hard. The Lion King continues (rightfully so) to be rated as one of the greatest animated features of all time, and it deserves that honor.
One response to “The Lion King”
-
You mentioned Shawshank Redemption. You forgot to mention top-tier films from 1994 like Pulp Fiction, The Crow, Leon: The Professional & Natural Born Killers. You should watch and review one of them.
Leave a Reply