Hands down the most overrated Disney film, and one of the top ten most overrated films ever

Rating: 5/10 (23 April 2003)

Best film ever? Disney at its best? Animation's crowning achievement? Well, I'm sorry to bust 99% of the world's bubble, but this is an EXCEPTIONALLY overrated film that in the past I would have thought good, but now think of as easily the worst animated "masterpiece" ever made by Disney.

It's plot is so weak, it can be summarized in at most one paragraph. Every moment is stretched as far as it can go, and more time is filled with irrevelant material, such as songs (which are some of the weakest ever created by Disney, but I'll get to that later) than with actual story. People claim this gives it an "epic" quality. The only way that this could possibly be true is through epic boredom.
The characters are shallow and unmemorable. Zazu, Timon and Pumbaa, and the Hyenas are comic relief that are sorely missing comicality (If you want a truly great example of Disney's comical relief, look at the Genie and Iago from Aladdin, or Kronk and Kuzco from The Emperor's New Groove). Simba is an unadmirable hero who I couldn't care less about, and his love with Nala is anything but inexistent. Scar is one of the weakest of the modern Disney villains, and does not make you hate him like Gaston or impress you with his evil so much that you like him like Jafar. The only characters I can pass off as even half-decent are Rafiki and Mufasa.
The music I will give merit to as being okay and somewhat enjoyable, but still, it isn't within a hundred miles of the attractive Arabian dances of Aladdin or the Broadway style melody of Beauty and the Beast or the fun Tropical tunes of The Little Mermaid. Only the Circle of Life (even I have to admit that the opening number is magnificent) is as good as any of the songs in the aforementioned films, and just barely. The rest are simply radio-friendly pop tunes.
However, one thing I will stop at no ends to give this film credit for is its animation. I will say right now that no other Disney film has backgrounds so richly detailed or characters so well designed. Indeed, the art quality is definitely the most astounding ever created Disney. But art quality alone cannot save this movie from all its other weaknesses, and besides, art quality is probably the least important of the four major aspects of an animated film (the other three being story, characters, and, in the case of Disney, music).
This movie does not deserve to be praised as if it is the best Disney can muster. The people who think this is true have probably never seen any truly great Disney films, or just can't realize one. Aladdin, for example, is in my opinion the greatest film, animated or otherwise, ever made (And I am a film buff, to those of you questioning my merits). Beauty and the Beast is in my top 10, and many others would probably crack my top 100. The Lion King, however, is depressingly mediocre, and deserves at most a 5. I give it a 2 only for the art quality.