We love the Film!

The Lion King is an amazing family movie. Sure, it isn't as good as Airplane, but what is? However, they do share some striking similarities. The doctor in Airplane is similar to Mufassa becuase they are both vital to the understanding of the plot. In both cases, there is one extremely stupid mammal. In Airplane it is Johnny, everyones favorite idiot. In Lion King it is Pumba, the gassing warthog. But enough about Airplane this review is for the Lion King. The Lion King captured my heart as well as my money. After seeing it everyone in my family wanted to buy to Lion king stuffed animals, lunch box, videogame, bed sheets, soundtrack, poster, and lighter (my little brother's personal favoite.) The Lion King is the only movie that I saw seven times in the theater (I saw Zoolander six times). Every time I see the Lion King, I become enthralled in the intense story of a woman being chased by a killer robot from the future. Oh, sorry, that's the Terminator. The Lion King is about an incredibly adorable lion named Simba. Simba is scared to be the Lion King because he is a wuss. But since the movie is called the Lion King, you can guess that he becomes (surprise surprise) the king of the lions, or the lion king. This movie really had an affect on my life. Now when I see little green bugs on the sidewalk, instead of brutally killing them with the bottom of my shoe, I step over them in order to continue the Circle of Life. "Its the wheel of fortune, the leap of faith, the band of hope, till we find our place on the path unwinding. In the circle, the circle of life."

My all-time favorite Disney movie!

I love this movie so much. I remember when it came out when I was just six. A perfectly good timing in my favorite year. That's what I miss about the 90s. I have the Simba plush toy, the Lion King song book with piano, and the umbrella. The movie is very funny especially Scar and the laughing hyenas. The sad part is how that (...) kill Simba's father. I remember being sad and crying in this part. Because it's sad how HIS own uncle would want to kill him and his father. And what's really great about it....is when Simba grows up and he falls in love wih his childhood friend Nala. Simba then returns back to the pridelands and put that (...) back into his place. The movie ends with Simba and Nala adding a special someone to the family... I don't think any other movies could ever take the place of the Lion King...it's just too special that it needs to be cherish forever and forever. I would definately recommend it for those who are not familiar with the movie. IT'S THE BEST!!!!!!!

Perfect in every sense of the word...but a useless 2nd disc.

Let's get something straight right now. The Lion King is a perfect movie. Be it live action or animated, there are few others I can list that reach its level of quality. Seeing it in theaters back in the mid-90s was a great experience. Even if I wasn't old enough to understand some of the darker issues in it back then, I enjoyed the movie, like the millions of other kids. Now, at almost 20, watching the movie really gets to me. This is one of Disney's more grown up movies. I'm not saying that to make it sound like it's too violent or there's any hinting at mature themes, but all the talk about death in the beginning, about the Circle of Life, that's some pretty powerful stuff to be talking about in a family movie. With this re-release of the movie, hopefully more parents or future parents will keep it around and show their kids this piece of movie history.

The movie opens up with possibly the most grand of Disney openings- a sunrise. An African song plays, and the animals look towards something that we can't see. Every type of animal in the area starts heading towards something. Birds, elephants, buffalo, giraffe, zebra, you name it. Soon, we see a great rock formation- Pride Rock. A lion stands atop, overlooking everything in his kingdom. Then, a mandrill makes his way through the crowd of animals that waits. He hugs the lion, and makes his way to the lioness behind him. They've had a baby. The mandrill takes the cub, and holds him high up for all the animals to see. They cheer in unison- they have a new prince. Some opening eh? After this, we're introduced to another lion- Scar. He's the king's brother, and obviously jealous of the whole deal. He didn't even show up to the ceremony. Mufasa, the king, makes a note of this, telling Scar that he should've shown up for his own nephew's birth. Scar walks away, as it's no big deal to him. Time passes, and Simba grows up a little. He's still a cub, but capable of doing things on his own now. Mufasa tells him about the Circle of Life. How all living things are connected. Lions eat the antelope, but when they die, their bodies become the grass, upon which the antelope eat. Simba is also shown his kingdom, which is everything that the light touches. Unfortunately, the light doesn't touch one spot, which sparks his interest...of which Scar helps him get even more curious about. It turns out to be an elephant graveyard. Simba heads toward it with his friend, Nala, and they almost get killed by heyenas. Mufasa saves them, is disappointed that his son disobeyed, but understands. Scar, who's working with the heyenas, is also disappointed, and takes matters into his own hands- since they failed in killing Simba, he's going to kill Mufasa. In doing so (in a very tragic scene), Simba goes into exile, and Scar takes over. Simba finds two new friends in Timon and Pumbaa, who teach him to take life easy. But with time, the true king realizes who he is through his friends, and there will be justice.

As you can see, this is a pretty big movie. It's not complicated by any means, but just the overall picture is a lot to take in. A dad telling his son about life and death, only to die in saving his son who hasn't reached adulthood yet, was always touching. The music playing during that scene adds even more dramatic touch to it. Scar, as I've mentioned, is an absolute treat. He's probably my favorite Disney villain, surpassing even Jafar and Gaston. Sure, some of his lines and movements make you question his orientation, but that doesn't matter. His voice, design and motives are too good. That's how it is with a lot of the other characters too. Disney did a great job with the designs. Zazu, a hornbill bird, is voiced by Rowan Atkinson of Mr. Bean fame. And you know what? Zazu looks freakin' identical to Rowan. I didn't notice it back then, but now, it's hilariously uncanny. Equally great is the soundtrack. When the movie came out, I had the soundtrack. About two years later, it was lost...but I can remember every single track perfectly. It leaves that much of an impact on you. How many animated movies can you say that about, and really mean every track- not just the songs?

The picture and audio quality on this disc are flawless. There's no grain, fuzz, or anything to hinder the viewing experience. If you have a nice sound system, by all means- crank this baby up and prepare to be blown away.

Now why does the rating for this movie that I keep stressing being perfect only come out at four stars? That's easy- the second disc is a joke. I'll get to that in a minute. The first disc includes a "never before heard song", like Disney keeps throwing in its Platinum Edition sets. Though "never before heard song" usually equals "direct to video animation quality and CG overkill" *cough Beauty & the Beast cough*, the song here is very short. It's Zazu giving his morning report to Mufasa during Simba's pouncing scene. While it's funnier to hear Zazu talk about the Pridelands gossip with more character, hearing it in song is still good. There are 3 deleted scenes under the "Elephant Graveyard" section of the first disc, thoug they're all in storyboard and animatic form. One's of Timon and Pumbaa singing Can You Feel The Love Tonight?, which was dropped because Elton John was horrified at how they sang it. It's understandable, but hearing them sing it is just hilarious. Another scene is of Timon's verse in Hakuna Matata. During the commentary, they say it didn't fit in that much, and Pumbaa's was funnier, and they're right. It's mostly about how he was lazy. As for that commentary track, it's with the directors and producer. They talk a lot, and point out some cool info aboud the production. Things like dialogue they wanted to add but didn't feel fit in, a slightly extended ending, and how huge some of the background paintings were. It's mostly geeky stuff, but I feel it's worth at least one listen. These guys had a lot of work to do. Most of the other features on the first disc are minor things, but still better than the second disc, which is aimed at 5 year olds. No joke- almost everything is about animals or what Africa's like. And all of these are in very short segments, usually 2-4 minutes. And, there's a lot of them. Why a "play all" feature wasn't included is beyond me. It made watching the features a chore, and felt rushed. There's also a virtual safari, which felt kinda creepy since it's at night, and a lot of animals attack Timon and Pumbaa's jeep. There are no real special features here: no documentary, no behind the scenes look, no glance at the voice actors during work (except like 4 seconds of Johnathan Taylor Thomas), just tons of the people that worked on the movie talking about going to Africa for inspiration. And that's all it is- talk. I was disappointed, and won't be watching the second disc again.

Overall, The Lion King remains one of Disney's crown jewels. Sure, it may have had a lot of help from the other animated classic: Jungle Emperor Leo, but they really did improve it. It's just sad to know that after this, they didn't put in as much effort into their other animated features. Not to bash the likes of Hunchback or Mulan, but their animation style really changed after this, and it's a shame. As far as I can see, there's not going to be another Lion King from them. Lilo and Stitch came close (in sales and tone), but it's hard to dethrone something this classic.