Full Movie Plot: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion_King#Plot
The Lion King is just one of those Disney movies you HAVE to watch when you’re growing up; it’s almost a cultural obligation. This movie came out in June of 1994 and the first time I remember watching it was when I was about 7, but my parents told me I first watched it when I was about 4. I remember liking the movie a lot when I was a kid and I am told that my brother and I watched it so many times that we actually wore out the VHS tape. After watching it again I am pleased to report that I still love the movie.
This time around I really noticed how much of a true coming of age tale Lion King is and how it shows how all of us grow up and change over the years. For the first third of the movie Simba is young and carefree, like an elementary school kid. From the song “I Just can’t Wait to be King” it is evident that the only reason he is excited about his eventual role as king of the Pride Lands is because he thinks that when he is king he will be able to do whatever he wants. That song pretty much describes how all young kids feel about adulthood. They can’t wait to grow up because then they will be able to do whatever they want. They envision adulthood as this great stage of this life when you can eat ice cream for dinner, write on the walls, and stay up really really really late, because no one tells a grown up what to do. Little do they know that adulthood comes with these nasty little things called responsibilities. After that, Simba becomes a teenager, and suddenly the only motto he lives by is “Hakuna Matata” (no worries). During this stage of his life all he does is hang out in his own little oasis of delusion with Timon and Pumba (he literally lives in an oasis in the middle of the desert). In the back of his mind he has a vague idea of the responsibilities that come with growing up but he is afraid to face them, so he just ignores them instead. At the end of the movie Simba finally mans up, confronts his past, accepts his responsibilities, and becomes an adult. He even settles down and has a kid of his own.
One thing I also noticed about the movie is that Simba’s selfish uncle Scar, who ends up murdering Simba’s father so that he can be king, has the same philosophy that Simba had as a kid. At one point Scar actually says the words “I am a king, I can do whatever I want,” in exactly the same way that Simba said them in the beginning of the movie. In this way it seems that Scar represents the consequences of never truly growing up and realizing that you have responsibilities to yourself and those around you. This contrasts with the attitude of the older Simba, who eventually realizes that he has a responsibility to the rest of the lions to step up and rule his kingdom.
The last new thing that I noticed about The Lion King is that there are a lot of scenes without dialogue. My favorite of these scenes is the iconic opening of the movie. Everyone who has seen the movie can instantly recognize that opening scene with the sun rising behind the silhouette of an African banyan tree, just in time for “The Circle of Life” to play in the background. This scene goes on for almost five minutes without any words. I know that five minutes may not seem like a long time, but for a movie that is marketed to the only age group with the collective attention span of a small rodent, it can seem like an eternity. I really like these scenes, and I think the fact that I liked them even as a little kid is a testament to the fact that sometimes saying nothing at all says everything.
The opening and ending scenes of the movie: notice how (1) they have no dialogue, and (2) the opening part with Mufasa and the ending with Simba look almost exactly the same, which I guess goes with the whole “Circle of Life” theme
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