The Beginning of the End

Rating: 3/10 (1 May 2007)

I am simply amazed at how much positive response this emotional hodgepodge has received since its release back in the summer of 1994. As a young teenager back then, I saw it opening weekend on the big screen and remember thinking that it was a very visually engrossing film. In terms of capturing realistic movements and sweeping scenery, the animation in THE LION KING had easily surpassed any of its animated predecessors, and for that I found the movie fantastic. As an adult now, I realize just how superficial my initial attitude toward the film was. If there's one thing that today's overabundance of CGI has taught me, it's that there's more to a film than just "looking good". You need story, compelling characters, an original and well-defined conflict, and, especially in the case of animation, an artistic hand with which to draw. There's no denying that many talented artists were at work on THE LION KING, unfortunately too much effort was put forth in animation achievements and too little in developing a solid story and a clever script. Like many other IMDb users, there's no denying that this film was adapted from Shakespeare's HAMLET, just as Disney's 1988 film OLIVER AND COMPANY was adapted from Dickens' OLIVER TWIST. I wonder why Disney did not acknowledge its blatant robbery of subject matter. This is unfortunately just a minor detail in my dislike for THE LION KING. This was, in my opinion, the first in a series of many films that signaled the deterioration of Disney's traditional hand drawn animation department. No doubt about it, they were in a definite slump in the 1980's: THE FOX AND THE HOUND, THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE, THE BLACK CAULDRON (ugh!), but with a fresh new crew in their animation department and a galvanizing reinvention of the formula for animated musicals in THE LITTLE MERMAID, it seemed that Disney had gotten back on its feet. Alas, THE LITTLE MERMAID, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and ALADDIN were merely Disney's Indian summer, for with THE LION KING came a completely new generation of animated films. With THE LION KING and its followers, viewers were bombarded with a predictable stories, numerous pop culture references, an obnoxious slew of celebrity voices, dated 90's pop songs, campy humor, and heaping spoonfuls of sugary melodrama. Don't get me wrong, many of Disney's previous efforts had many of the same deficits and only a handful of them would I consider near-perfect, but the animated flicks of old never attempted to sell out their audiences in the way that THE LION KING did. Yet somehow all of these flaws are what made THE LION KING the most successful animated film in Disney history. Call me old school, but I do not think that Walt would have approved of this. Since THE LION KING's release and the replacement of traditional animation with CGI, animation I feel has lost its art. I dare you to re-watch LADY AND THE TRAMP, BAMBI, SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, or anything made pre-1960 and compare it to such 90's fares as THE LION KING. You will notice that the films today no longer resemble moving paintings as they once did and as was the original intention of animation. Still, my opinion of THE LION KING, as well as the rubbish that followed (POCAHONTAS THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, HERCULES...okay, MULAN was not bad up until its pop-music ending..THE EMPEROR'S NEW GROOVE???!!!) seems to be the minority. None of these later Disney flicks were works of art, they were just another form of advertisement---predictable story with the feel-good moral of an ending, comic relief sidekicks, a pop song rolling during the end credits, etc. Yes, they all have very admirable morals (what makes a true hero???...it is important to embrace diversity...who's the real monster here???)but (gasp!!!) that's unnecessary political propaganda. Disney wasn't always that wholesome (Does anyone remember the Siamese Cat song from LADY AND THE TRAMP or "What made the Red Man Red" from PETER PAN?) and, even when they did take America's sensitivity into consideration, it never overwhelmed the entire project. Oh well, censorship is a completely different subject that needs not be addressed in this review. The point that I'm trying to make is that somewhere along the road animation was no longer considered art but simply cheap entertainment guaranteed to make money. And when I hear praise for films like THE LION KING for merely manipulating the general population with special effects, melodramatic plot twists, pop songs, and cheesy one-liners (not to mention lame attempts at comedy via ninja-fighting), I think back to when an animated film was not just a movie, but an idea, a seed, a creative project, an event, and and art form, and I am saddened.