It’s clear Mufasa has been too soft on him. He lies to his parents, mistreats his guardian, Zazu, puts himself and Nala in grave danger and really only wants to be king for shallow, narcissistic reasons. When he’s not romping around the Pridelands, playing with his best friend Nala, he really looks up to his dad, Mufasa, and his uncle, Scar, and eagerly awaits his time as king of Pridelands. Simba (voiced by Jonathan Taylor Thomas) is a spunky, carefree young lion prince. It’s obvious symbolism, but still good symbolism. When Simba and Scar fight for the title of king, they fight with the cleansing fires of hell itself surrounding them, and when the rightful balance is finally restored with the divine prince back in power, the weather relents and the rains return to the Pridelands. After the injustice of Mufasa’s murder and the cruelty of Scar’s leadership, a terrible draught falls upon the Pridelands during his reign. The sense of spirituality running through “The Lion King”, while a bit on the nose at times, is honestly so rich and works so well with the setting of the movie. The Pridelanders can only tend to their wounds and try to move on with their lives. The villain, Scar, actually succeeds in getting what he wanted for longer than five minutes, and even after he’s defeated in the end, it still doesn’t bring Mufasa back or undo the years of suffering he dealt upon everyone in the Pridelands, Simba especially. It represents the point in the movie where literally everything goes wrong. “The Lion King” is one of a very small number of films in the Disney canon where good, supporting characters are actually allowed to die (others include “ Bambi“, “Tarzan”, “ Brother Bear“, and “ Big Hero 6“), and unlike the death of Bambi’s mother (which was quietly swept under the rug and ignored by the narrative for sixty odd years), Mufasa’s death has weight. More than that though, a large part of the reason why “The Lion King” packs so much power is because there are actual, lasting consequences to everything that happens. And having a basic plot isn’t always a good thing because it often equals a thin plot, but in “The Lion King’s” case it works incredibly well in the movie’s favor, because it gives the filmmakers all the time and space they need to give the movie everything in every department. ![]() When you think about it, “The Lion King’s” story is actually pretty simple and basic: a prince is born to a good king, the jealous brother of the good king murders him to seize power and banishes the prince, the prince lives in shame for years until his friends find him in exile and convince him to come home, the prince fights his uncle for his birthright. The Disney Renaissance formula is present in this movie, but it only ever adds to it and never makes the movie feel generic or predictable like it did with “ Aladdin“. So, why is “The Lion King” so awesome? Besides the near flawless 2-D and 3-D animation, and the spectacular soundtrack by Hans Zimmer, “The Lion King” feels well and truly unique, inventive and ambitious in the canon, being a cross between “Hamlet” and “Bambi” with lions in the Savannah. I waited years to acquire my own copy of the film and revisit it, and it was well-worth the wait. ![]() I first saw “The Lion King” in the hazy days of 2003, and it left a lasting impression on me.
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