The Movie That Means So Much More To Me Now.

Rating: 10/10 (5 August 2018)

I did not watch this a whole lot as a kid-at least, not as much as when I watched Toy Story or Beauty and the Beast. As a kid, I think it was too serious and while it was not boring it wasn't thrilling.(Roger Ebert made note of this on his TV show.)
I watched it at age 9 shortly after my father passed away. "Long live the king." Ouch. I avoided it until 10th grade after purchasing one at a Goodwill.
While I don't own a copy now, on VHS or DVD I have seen it about-I kid you not-8 times in a span of about a year or so! Partly that's because I was in a phase of consistently watching kid movies. Another, and the main one I prefer to dwell on, is that it has a deeper impact now than ever.
The movie opens up with the best opening to a movie ever-the song "Circle of Life." This song has a lot of meaning on how every life has purpose. And that's pretty much the whole message-and it touches me now than it could have as a kid.
What else could I praise about it? All the songs are great. (Well, while it's good, I find Can You Feel The Love Tonight to be the weakest song.)
I always think that I would hate animating this movie-there are no humans, just lions, birds, elephants, a warthog, a lemur, hyenas, etc. The fact of that factor being accomplished is a success in itself. (Sorry, that was hard to write grammatically!)
The voice talent is effective. Johnathan Taylor Thomas is the Young SImba while Matthew Broderick is the adult. James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair, the king and queen of Coming To America, are the king and queen here. Rowan Atkinson is Zazu, Whoopi Goldberg is a hyena, Scar is Jeremy Irons, and many more are flying through my head.
The Lion King is a favorite Disney movie of many, like my Grandma, my youth Pastor, my cousin(who names it as his favorite movie,period),and also my actress crush(along with Let It Shine.)(It's actually 13th for me right now-but I love a lot of Disney movies.)
Anyways, The Lion King is well loved-and that love is well earned.