Not bad but highly overrated.

Rating: 5/10 (4 February 2016)

The Lion King gets much praise. Of course one can see why. The movie has great animation. Most of the characters are put together well and of course it has memorable music. Two of the songs were big hits in the 90's.
So before I get on TLK's faults I will start with the good. The Lion King has great animation. It was Disney's best animation to date and most 2D movies never came close to surpassing TLK style animation.
Now for the characters. I love Timon and Pumbaa. These two were great comedy relief for this film. I loved Mufasa and I hate that he had to die, but I realize that it was an important part of the film, involving the theme of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Rafiki is also quite funny. And those loathsome but lovable hyenas. The only characters I don't like are the main ones. Simba is annoying as a cub and even more as an adult. He's so stubborn as an adult that he has to have sense knocked into him about his past, instead of just finding out his destiny for himself. And the villain Scar, comes off as too weak.
I guess my biggest problem with TLK is that, it is simply overrated. All the merchandise that was pumped out for this movie and its sequels was massive. I don't think Frozen could come close to the explosion of Lion King toys.
On a whole TLK is not a horrible movie, I just don't think it is Disney's best. Most people do and that's fine. I think Beauty and The Beast is better than TLK. But don't take my word for it if you feel differently.