and now we come to the big one The Lion
King the highest-grossing 2d animated
film of all time when this movie came
out every kid was nuts we were humming
all the songs we were reenacting all the
scenes we were talking about all the
characters it was just a gigantic flick
so is it bad to say I think it's kind of
overrated okay okay just you me well I
don't think it's bad I don't think it's
the strongest of Disney's works either I
don't even know if I necessarily put it
in the top five but that doesn't mean
there aren't some very impressive things
about it or that the film as a whole
doesn't work well here let's start from
the beginning we start with the birth of
the new Prince Simba do I even need to
tell you how they celebrate this
so young Simba is shown around by King
Mufasa how do rule as a good kid but his
uncle Scar is angry because he was next
in line to be king so he constantly
tries to set traps with the hyenas to
kill him off but Mufasa is always there
to save them so there's only one logical
choice kill Mufasa this leads to a very
intense and very well done chasey with a
bunch of wildebeest scar seizes
opportunity and throws him off a cliff
Simba thinking that he started the
Stampede feels incredibly guilty and
scar advises him to run away why he
doesn't just kill him right there I
don't know
but Scylla goes into exile and comes
across a team known as Timon and Pumbaa
they tell him that's okay to run away
from your problems and start a new life
over that's exactly what he does he
spends most of his years growing up with
the two and decides never to go back
that is until his old childhood friend
shows up and tells him that things are
terrible back at home and since he is
the rightful king he's the only one that
can go back and make things better but
Simba doubts himself thinking he still
killed his father until he gets a vision
in the sky his father says nut up and
Simba decides to go back home and fight
his uncle and you know the drill big
climax comic relief get some laughs and
then the final showdown between the two
of them okay so what problems do I have
with a story that actually seems almost
a dolt
and that is stole from the most famous
of adult plays well let's get to my
biggest problem with the film the
message actually the message I really
like and I think it's a very adult
message I especially like it when he
talks to Rafiki about it
ow jeez what was that for it doesn't
matter the gender past yeah but it still
hurts
yes the past can hurt but the way I see
it you can either run from it or learn
from it now that's really clever
and I'm totally behind that what I'm not
behind is that when he does go back to
face his fears his fears start to win
and everything he was taught before
suddenly is working against him nobody
even gets behind him nobody's standing
up for him that is until it turns out he
didn't commit the crime that he thought
he did so I guess the moral of the story
is never take responsibility for what
you've done because nobody will be
behind you unless it turns out you did
really do it yeah how is this
confronting his past it's a past that
never happened so it doesn't matter and
even when he thought it did happen the
movie didn't support him almost as if
the film was saying if he did
accidentally kill his father he deserves
to die look nobody's on his side until
he comes out and says haha
wasn't me and I'm sorry that's a serious
flaw if you think it's something that
just might over analyzing it don't mind
thought of no I was thinking of this as
a kid - this film didn't teach me to
come forward with my mistakes and to
take the responsibility for it
it taught me to convince people that I
didn't do the mistake because that way
I'll have a happy ending okay so good
intention gets totally botched what else
don't I like well the songs yeah yeah I
know but I'm sorry I don't like these
songs well I take it back
be prepared is awesome circle of life is
good though I think a lot of that is
more Hans Zimmer's orchestrations can
you feel the love tonight hated I can't
wait to be king
hated Hakuna Matata holy balls I
hate this song I hated it when it first
came out I was boggled by the fact that
everybody was actually singing this it's
annoying while I was constantly humming
be prepared at school all the other kids
were constantly singing Hakuna Matata
I'm surrounded by you dear on top of
that big shock I think Matthew Broderick
is pretty bland Jonathan Taylor Thomas
is a little bit too but to be fair he's
a kid and he really does sell those
crime scenes the villain well good is a
little too simplistic I don't know he
seems so smart and intelligent but then
when he takes over he seems like a
little child that just sucks out all the
dignity and likability that you have for
a villain it's like if Maleficent after
she got her way suddenly started going
mini and there's also details like how
did the water come flowing back after
Simba took over why did the weather get
better why is it suddenly green but fads
Disney logic I can't complain it hard
about it so ok I've fished about the
movie long enough what do I like about
it well it's big
I mean friggin big if you can see this
movie on the big screen see it when
scars Paul comes down for the first time
it's just massive
I actually remember somebody in the
audience going whoa on top of that the
characters are great but they're good
James Earl Jones is Mufasa is a great
leader Jeremy
Aran's is over the top as the villain
but he's still pretty enjoyable the
hyenas are funny Ron Atkinson has a few
good puns here and there I'm not a huge
fan of Timon and Pumbaa but my stomach
them okay they get a laugh every once in
a while and even though the message is
sort of botched I like the message it's
trying to get across well like I said
what makes this film good is just the
size of it and it doesn't just come from
the animation it does come from the
story it's a big story like I said it's
basically a kid version of Hamlet but
they don't sugarcoat it that much they
don't pull a Bambi's mom where she dies
off-screen no no you see the body that
was a big thing for kids back then to
have a death scene right in the middle
of a big action-packed moment was pretty
unexpected for Disney at least at that
time so overall I do like it
I do wish some of the other Disney films
got more attention and made more money
but that doesn't mean the original film
is bad it's a big film with a pretty big
story and a pretty big message I just
have my own personal issues it's a movie
I was glad to see several times in the
theatres and chances are when they
rerelease it again I'll go and check it
out a few more times