#32 The Lion King

Title: The Lion King

Release Date: June 24th, 1994

Voice Cast: Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones, Moira Kelly, Rowan Atkinson, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella

Recap: A lion cub, Simba, is born to the king of Pride Rock, Mufasa. Mufasa teaches Simba the values of life and what it's like to be king, as Simba will one day hold the throne when Mufasa passes. Unfortunately, Mufasa's brother, Scar, has other plans for them both. With the help of hyenas, he kills Mufasa and convinces Simba to run away from home. Now, Scar is king, and everything is chaos. Meanwhile, Simba has escaped to the care of Timon and Pumbaa, a carefree meerkat and warthog, respectively. One day, Simba's childhood friend Nala finds him and pleads for him to come back home and assume the throne. Simba refuses, as he cannot find it in is heart to recover from the loss of his father. However, a mystical mandrill, Rafiki, helps him speak to his father: "Remember who you are", Mufasa says, and Simba gains the pride.

Review: For the technical record, The Lion King is the first EVER in the Disney Classics to contain an original story, not one based completely off of another work (ignoring certain allegations of plagiarism...). I, personally, would just love to know why it took them nearly 60 years to do it. Sure, I've said in previous interviews that one of the best things that Disney knows how to do is to take classic stories and make them its own. I certainly don't believe that the mind of Walt Disney was incapable of working from nothing. We know what an "imagineer" he was. But wow. 60 years before an original story. And from that we get The Lion King.

This film... just wow. This film captivates from the very beginning, from the very first (and probably most or second most iconic) scene. What I love most about this film, which is introduced here, is the magical connection between the soundtrack and the setting. Brilliant elements like this are hard to achieve, and in fact I've only seen it done once before now, in The Jungle Book. This case puts that one to shame. The rich blend of traditional African music with the warm-colored, earth tone landscape is absolutely sublime.

What's unique about the music is how it takes that traditional music to a whole new level, adding perfect elements of pop to create a masterful setlist. No doubt, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" is the absolute best-- the shining star of this film. So beautiful, the chorus makes me shudder, similar to "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid. But again, it's those background beats that makes this score take the cake. "Circle of Life" is nearly as epic, and two fabulous upbeat counterparts exist for those who feel like dancing "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" and "Hakuna Matata."

While The Lion King was doing all this, it was also making history as the most philosophical animated feature ever. I applaud an especially deep moment: after getting in trouble, Simba is walking behind his frustrated yet silent father. Simba steps into Mufasa's pawprint and looks down. Without saying anything, he notices the enormous difference in size. 80% of ALL films cannot produce a moment on the same intellectual level as this, symbolizing the entire theme of the movie in a single, resonant moment.

I could go on and on praising this movie. But to be fair to Aladdin, I'll keep it at that. I neither like ranting forever nor raving forever. I'll just leave this rating here...

A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes