Over 20 Years Later, Still A Crowning Achievement!!!

Rating: 10/10 (1 January 2015)

I have to say is probably my all-time favorite film Disney has ever made. Yeah, there's allot of stuff I really enjoy, but The Lion King was in many ways my childhood.
The characters are fantastic, my favorite being Adult Simba. Yes, I know he's voiced by Matthew Broderick, and I have seen his acting as kinda dull. But WOW! This is his best performance! He turned this character into a noble BADASS. And I'm really glad he still does the voice in several other pieces of work. I can't see anybody else voicing him. I love the characters design, Simba really started the idea of a young teenage/young adult warrior, leading his comrades and friends into adventures.
The villain, Amazing and Memorable! And you can totally see how Disney based there version of Loki later on.
How does the story hold up now? Well, when watching it several times growing up, I thought it was its own original thing, which made me love it even more. But it wasn't till I became a bit more curious in the making of the film that I bought the Special Edition DVD, and found out it was based on stories like Hamlet and Moses.
Of course we can't leave out the Elephant in the room. No not The Elephant Graveyard. I'm talking of course about when Simba's father Mufasa died. This scene still gets to me emotionally, even more than when I was a kid. You watch this scene and you might even think of your own Father. You wanna find him and hug him. I don't know why, but when a parent, or pet dies in a movie, its always an urge to me to find my own and hug them.
The animation? What can I say, its Disney at its finest hour. The designs, the backgrounds, the environment. It's absolutely beautiful to view from the eye. Its almost like Africa came right out of the painted lines.
However, one of the best pieces in the film is the music! This is some of the best music I ever heard in a motion picture. So many talented people made the soundtrack unforgettable. Hans Zimmer, this is when he really gave his scores different characters, you know, before he made everything and Inception BRWONG! This is defiantly one of his best pieces.
Then there's of course the songs by Tim Rice and Elton John. We all know these songs by heart and is part of our collective minds. Every song is ear loving. My favorite honestly, is not Be Prepared, not Hakuna Matata, not even The Circle Of Life, its Can You Feel The Love Tonight. Elton's and Disney's version are an example of Musical Beauty. This is Disney's crowing achievement in there Love Song category.
But honestly, the majority of the credit to the films music is Lebo M. Allot of people don't know much about him, and its kind of sad considering that he had such a troubled life. But he made this score work 1000%. He brought in the African part to the score and I honestly don't think the score would be nearly as amazing without his contribution. The quire, the drums, the chants. Its so entrancing. He's even gone on to do more work for Disney, including extended albums and musicals.
With the music and animation, this movie really sparked my interest in African culture. I can't tell you how much I want to go the Africa because of this film's art form.
The ending is also an amazing feat. The BIG EPIC BATTLE is of course amazing, as well as THE FINAL BATTLE with Simba and Scar, which is just so GOD DAMN AMAZING to watch. Seriously, buy the largest TV possible, turn off the lights, turn up the volume and enjoy the best cat fight you'll ever see. And to see the films happy ending is almost tear dropping to watch. Simba's climb to his throne still gives me the chills, and his roar. WOW! Blows me away.
Throughout my life, I've seen the film numerous times on several formats. The VHS is the one we all grew up with as kids and the Blu Ray is pretty good with its cleaned up prints. But if you want the perfect version of the film with enough bonus material to last a week, I'd say get the 2 Disc Special Edition DVD from 2004.
But by far the best version of the film I've seen was when it was re released in 3-D a few years ago. I did not expect it to be as amazing as I thought it would be. Not only did it make me reflect on my youth, but HOLY SH**! THE 3-D, PICTURE AND SOUND WAS INCREDIBLE!!! It was so crystal clear that I saw things in the background that I never noticed before. You could swear that they added stuff in, but no. It was there from the beginning. The Sound was loud and larger than life. Some of the best sound work I saw in a theater, and when the songs were on, everybody got up, danced and sang along. It was so much fun. And the 3- D? Some of the best 3-D I've seen, almost Avatar 3-D. When Scar jumps out of the fire, Jesus was that close.
So with all this amazing pieces of talent, art and its 20 year legacy, I still think the film holds up after 20 years. Its childhood, its culture, it has character connections, the music is incredible. Its defiantly one of my favorite films and to me, Disney's crowning achievement. It's defiantly going to go on to hold up for generations to come, even after we die and become connected to The Circle Of Life. 10/10