Not Disney's best movie, I ought to tell you

Rating: 6/10 (22 December 2012)

So I didn't give this movie 10 stars, are you fans all mad at me? Anyway, this movie is often a fan favourite of many of my friends. Ever since one of my classmates in English class began singing Hakuna Matata, often to annoy me, I have been analyzing this movie and trying hard not to make any fan of this movie mad at me.
But I'm getting sidetracked. While the animation (and artwork in general) is astounding and clearly had a lot of effort put in, I find that the story seems to have not as much effort put in.
Based on the Shakespeare play Hamlet (and Kimba the White Lion, but I'll get to that later), this film revolves around a lion who, after losing his father to his envious uncle Scar, is convinced to remember his past and that HE should rightfully claim the throne. I like the message that the past can hurt and you can run from it or learn from it, but I feel a lot doesn't work for me.
For example, the plot (as I mentioned before) is derived from two great works of fiction. It wouldn't bother me as much if the end credits said "Based on Hamlet by William Shakespeare and Kimba the White Lion by Osamu Tezuka" or if Disney didn't tout it as an original story.
Then there's one of my biggest issues with this movie, this movie doesn't know if it wants to be for younger children (3-6) or older children (7-12). While it does deal with mature subjects such as the death of a loved one, responsibility, handling guilt etc, there's too much other stuff in this movie that's immature.
It goes without saying that when a protagonist experiences a tragic turn of events, the first thing we want is something that will cheer us up afterwards... for many, Hakuna Matata comes to mind, but... for me, I think there could have been a better way of accomplishing that.
Speaking of which, I find only three of the songs from this movie worth listening to, Circle of Life (kudos to Hans Zimmer), Be Prepared (who doesn't admire a song as awesome as this?) and the end credits version of Can You Feel the Love Tonight? (Gotta listen to more Elton John, though). As you might have guessed, Hakuna Matata, while it may have appealed to me some 6-7 years earlier, is now the song I hate the most from this movie. It just blows my mind that a movie like this goes from a lion cub witnessing the murder of his father by a jealous uncle to one of the most annoying and whimsical songs I have ever heard as well as belching and flatulence jokes... see what I mean when I say it's not very clear on the audience it wants to appeal to? I am in disbelief that the guy who wrote songs for Princess Diana's funeral actually wrote a song as annoying as that.
Also, there are scenes in this movie that are too intense for younger children, such as the death of Mufasa, the hyena chasing Simba and Nala, Simba and Nala (grown up, and before they recognize each other) fighting and the climax. I would strongly recommend waiting until your kids are 6 or 7 years old, or if they understand how hard it is to handle the death of a loved one.
But what I really like about this movie is the father-and-son connection between Simba and Mufasa, which is one of the reasons why you're supposed to find it sad when Mufasa dies, just like why we're supposed to sympathize with Bambi when his mother dies. Whenever you watch Mufasa and Simba conversing happily, you just know there's a connection between the two.
Overall, this movie is not bad, but not everything is flawless, and this is no exception. For any fan seething with anger at this review, I see some good stuff in this movie!