The Lion King

PLOT:

The Lion King takes place in the Pride Lands, where a lion rules over the other animals as king. Rafiki (Robert Guillaume), a mandrill, anoints Simba (cub by Jonathan Taylor Thomas, adult by Matthew Broderick), the newborn cub of King Mufasa (James Earl Jones) and Sarabi (Madge Sinclair), and presents him to a gathering of animals at Pride Rock.

Mufasa takes Simba around the Pride Lands, teaching him about the “Circle of Life”, the delicate balance affecting all living things. Simba’s uncle Scar (Jeremy Irons), who desires the throne for himself, tells him about the elephant graveyard, a place where Mufasa has warned  Simba not to go. Simba asks his mother if he can go to the water-hole with his best friend, Nala (cub by Niketa Calame, adult by Moira Kelly). Their parents agree but only if Mufasa’s majordomo, the hornbill Zazu (Rowan Atkinson), goes with them. Simba and Nala elude Zazu’s supervision and go to the graveyard instead. There, the cubs are met by Shenzi, Banzai and Ed (Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin and Jim Cummings), spotted hyenas who try to kill them, but they are rescued by Mufasa.

Meanwhile, Scar gains the loyalty of the hyenas by claiming that if he becomes king, they’ll “never go hungry again”. Scar tells the hyenas to kill Mufasa and Simba, thus establishing his plan of regicide. Some time later, Scar lures Simba into a gorge while the hyenas create a wildebeest stampede. Alerted by Scar, Mufasa races to rescue Simba from the stampede. He saves his son but is left clinging to the edge of a cliff, which results in Scar flinging him into the stampede below. Scar convinces Simba that he (Simba) was responsible for his father’s death and tells him to flee from the Pride Lands. Scar once again sends Shenzi, Banzai and Ed to kill Simba, but he escapes. Scar informs the pride that both Mufasa and Simba were killed and that he is assuming the throne as the next in line.

Simba is found unconscious by Timon and Pumbaa (Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella), a meerkat-warthog duo who adopt and raise the cub. When Simba has grown into an adult he is discovered by Nala, who tells him that Scar has turned the Pride Lands into a barren wasteland. She asks Simba to return and take his place as king but Simba refuses. Simba shows Nala around his home and the two begin to fall in love. Rafiki arrives and persuades Simba to return to the Pride Lands, aided by Mufasa’s presence in the stars.

Once back at Pride Rock, Simba (with Timon, Pumbaa and Nala) is horrified to see the condition of the Pride Lands. After seeing Scar strike his mother, Simba announces his return. In response, Scar tells the pride that Simba was responsible for Mufasa’s death and corners Simba at the edge of Pride Rock. As Simba dangles over the edge of Pride Rock, Scar whispers to Simba that he killed Mufasa. Enraged, Simba leaps up and pins Scar to the ground, forcing him to admit the truth to the pride. A raging battle then ensures between the hyenas and the lionesses which results in Simba cornering Scar. Begging for mercy, Scar blames the hyenas for Mufasa’s death, but Simba orders Scar to go into exile. Scar pretends to leave but turns to attack Simba, resulting in a final duel. Simba triumphs over his uncle by flipping him over a low cliff. Scar survives the fall but finds himself surrounded by the now-resentful hyenas, who attack and devour him. The film concludes with the Pride Lands turning green with life again and Rafiki presenting Simba and Nala’s newborn cub.

REVIEW:

First of all forget the sequel and prequel, they just skewer the legacy of this great picture. Second, it is important to remember that not much effort was put into The Lion King. They thought that Pocahontas was going to be the bigger and better hit. Boy were they wrong!

As with most Disney films, this is loosely based on a piece of literary work. Originally, I thought this was a total orignal idea, but it turns out that it was loosely based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. I found that quite interesting.

The voice casting here is terrific, though many have been critical of Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Matthew Broderick being cast as Simba, moreso Thomas, instead of African-American actors. I suppose there could be a point to that, but only if you really grasp at straws to find it.

Who else could voice the regal Mufasa than the booming voice of James Earl Jones? The man is so perfect for this that it almost seems like it was written with him in mind. Strangely enough, though, Jones always seems to be married to Madge Sinclair whenever they are in the same movie. Sinclair does a good job of bringing grace and elegance to Sarabi, Simba’s mother.

Jonathan Taylor Thomas fits young Simba perfectly with his youthfully exuberant voice, and the transition to Matthew Broderick as adult Simba really works. Broderick is no Jones, and contrary to popular belief Simba is no Mufasa, and that’s the way it should be.

Jeremy Irons is another perfectly cast character. He already has a villainous voice, and uses it to its full potential as the conniving Scar.

Whoopi Goldberg and Cheech Marin are excellent comic relief as the hyenas, while Nathan Lane, who has this film to thank for his mainstream career, and Ernie Sabella provide two of the most memorable characters in the picture, Timon and Pumbaa.

Musically, it is obvious that Tim Rice is without the late Alan Menken, but collaborating with Elton John, he still comes up with some memorable songs. My personal favorite is “Be Prepeared”…or is it “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King”? As far as the score goes, Hans Zimmer does what he does best, and captures the true essence of the film through the use of various instruments in the orchestra, as well as experimenting here and there.

One of the saddest moments in all of cinema happens when Mufasa is killed. What makes it worse is that young Simba has to see it. The realistic feel of that is what makes it so heartbreaking. There are no magic spells, or pixies, or anything like that to bring him back to life, the king is dead. The moment is reminiscent of when Bambi’s mother gets shot.

There was a time when it seemed Disney could do no wrong when it came to animated features. Unfortunately, after The Lion King, those days seemed to have ended. Hopefully, with the upcoming release of The Princess and the Frog, they’ll have a Renaissance of sorts. In the meantime, we can always pop in the DVD, VHS, Blu-Ray, or download classics such as these that are true gems.

5 out of 5 stars