One of the greatest animated movies ever!

Rating: 10/10 (23 September 2011)

Some movies just aren't as good as you remembered them when you were a kid. Others actually get better with age. The Lion King falls in the latter category.
Based on the play Hamlet, The Lion King is the classic story of a young cub Simba, who is the son of the proud Mufasa. Simba eagerly wants to follow his father's footsteps and become a great king of the pride-lands like him - until tragedy strikes, which Simba blames himself for, and runs away from the pride-lands, where he befriends Timon and Pumba and follows their carefree "Hakuna Matata" way of life. However, he's about to learn that while you can't change the past, you can't run away run away from it either.
If there is any animated film that could be considered epic, The Lion King would be a top contender. From start to finish, The Lion King is practically one great scene after another. The epic beginning, the trip to the elephant graveyard, Simba and his dad bonding, Scar's plan, the stampede, the tragedy, Nala finding Simba the romance between them, Simba confronting his father, his return to pride rock, his battle to reclaim the throne, and the ending; All of these could have been highlights of a lesser movie. Here, if I had to pick my favorite scene, I would just pick the whole movie.
Not only that, but almost every aspect of the film is great. The story, as I said before, is classical with a great theme to it (face your responsibilities, don't run away from them) while the characters are just as good. I'm sure many kids can relate to the cub Simba, from him wanting to be just like his dad to him being so hyper active, waking up his parents before the sun even rises (something I used to recall doing when I was little) Even as an adult, Simba remains appealing (I'm sure deep down, a lot of us would just love to live a care and responsibility free life) Also, like the best of Disney's movies, we have a rich variety of supporting characters, from the prim and proper Zazu to the wise and kind of weird Rafiki the hilarious Timon and Pumba (normally, adding a warthog with a bad smell for humor would hurt such a dramatic story, and yet the filmmakers manage to get enough laughs out of Pumba without being too crude or hurting the story)
The characters are helped by a great cast. Rather than simply going after big names, the filmmakers brought a talented cast that fit the characters perfectly.Matthew Broderick is extremely likable as Simba, while James Earl Jones gives off all the power, authority, fierceness, and occasional warmth as Mufasa, who is arguably one of the greatest dads in cinema. Too often, when making a tough fatherly figure, the filmmakers will give him a total lack of care or emotion, yet here, despite all his fierceness, Mufasa can still manage to feel like a big teddy bear when he plays with Simba. Jeremey Irons, meanwhile, is one seriously underrated actor, and here he shines as the cunning and conniving Scar. Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Martin, Jim Cummings, Nathan Lane, Rowan Atkinson, and Robert Guillaume round off the rest of the incredible cast.
The film is also incredibly heartfelt, with some truly touching scenes. Chief among them (those who don't want spoilers should skip to the next paragraph) is the tragic scene of the death of Mufasa. I've seen reviews that have compared that scene negatively to the death of the mother in Bambi, calling it secondhand compared to that scene. Personally, as a kid the death of Mufasa was much more upsetting to me than the death scene in Bambi. Nowawdays, I think both are powerful, but in two different ways. With Bambi, the tears comes from Bambi running through the forest calling for his mother, not even knowing she's dead. With The Lion King, the tears come from Simba seeing his dad lying there lifeless, and refusing to accept it. Him running around asking for someone to come help still brings tears to my eyes to this day.
The score, meanwhile, is done by Hans Zimmer, who is one of my favorite composers, and the score for The Lion King is one of, if not his absolute best. The songs are also incredible. The Circle of Life is an epic and powerful opening song for the film, I Just Can't Wait to Be King is both fun and practically bursting with high energy, Be Prepared is a great villain song, Hakuna Matata light and humorous (it's arguably the weakest of the songs, and it's still a classic), while Can You Feel The Love Tonight is a perfectly touching romance song and completely deserved its Oscar.
Like most of Disney's animated films, the animation here is top notch. Some of the scenery is absolutely gorgeous, while a few of them are almost scary (the elephant graveyard and the canyon where the stampede occurs are two prime examples)
I'm writing this review less than a week after the 3-d re-release of The Lion King scored a big 30.2 mil opening weekend. This shows just how popular The Lion King has remained after all these years, and it's not hard to see why. It's a success on practically every level, with a classical story, memorable characters, epic scenes, beautiful animation, great songs, occasional humor and some truly tear-jerking moments. It's not just one of my favorite animated films but one of my favorite films period.