The Lion King

Rating: 8/10 (21 February 2014)

Casey Cox English 1030 February 21, 2014 Project Two: Synopsis A young lad, destined to be the king, runs away after he was tricked into believing that he killed his father. The Lion King, released in 1994, was directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. The estimated budget for the film was around $45,000,000 (imdb.com). Starring the voices of Matthew Broderick as Simba the lion, Nathan Lane as Timon the meercat, and Ernie Sabella as Pumbaa the warthog. The film received many nominations for awards, and it won an Oscar for the song "Can you feel the love tonight". It won Golden Globes for best soundtrack score, best original song for "Can you feel the love tonight", and best motion picture in the Comedy/Musical category. The plot revolves around a young lion named Simba who is next in line to become the king of the Pride Lands. His best friend is a young lioness named Nala and they are to be married when they are old enough. His father, Mufasa, is the current king and is happily married to Sarabi, the head lioness. Mufasa has a hornbill for an adviser named Zazu, and a younger brother named Scar. Scar is friends with the hyenas, and together they make an evil team. Scar is jealous because now Simba will become the king instead of Scar. He wants his revenge, so he comes up with a plan to get rid of Mufasa and Simba for good. The movies starts out with the wise baboon Rafiki showing off Simba to all of the animals in the Pride Lands. One day, Simba and Nala go to an elephant graveyard, despite being forbidden to go there. They are attacked by three of the hyenas; Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed. They are about to kill the lion cubs when Mufasa, being warned by Zazu, shows up and saves them both. Simba is then reprimanded and he promises his father that he will become more obedient. A short while later Scar decides to get his revenge. He leads Simba down to the gorge and tells him to work on his wimpy roar. The three hyenas are at the top of the gorge and they cause a stampede of wildebeests into the gorge, putting Simba's life in danger. Zazu then warns Mufasa of Simba's whereabouts and Mufasa rushes to save him. Mufasa saves Simba, but is injured by the stampeding herd. When he tries to climb up the gorge, Scar digs his claws into Mufasa's paws and throws him back down killing him. Scar then blames Simba for Mufasa's death and tells the cub to "run away, and never return" (The Lion King, 1994). Simba runs away and is quickly found by Timon and Pumbaa, two good natured friends who want to help Simba with his problems. The three live together for many years and base their lives on the slogan "Hakuna Matata" which means "No Worries" (The Lion King, 1994). One day as the friends are out and about, a female lioness spots Pumbaa and tries to hunt and kill him. Simba, now a grown lion, attacks the lioness and the two struggle. Simba then recognizes her as Nala, his childhood friend. The two catch up and Nala tells him that Scar has ruined the Pride Lands, allowing the hyenas to rule with him and that Simba needs to come back and claim his place as king. However, Simba is still overcome with the guilt of believing that he killed his father and he refuses to go back. He is then reminded by Rafiki that his father lives within him and wants him to go back to his home and take his rightful place as king. Simba returns to his home to find it in ruins. It is dark and grey, there are hyenas everywhere and everyone seems sad and broken down. When Scar sees Simba, Scar's first thought is that Mufasa had risen from the dead since Simba looked so much like his father. Scar tries to humiliate Simba by telling all of the lions that Simba killed his father. Scar and Simba then start fighting and lightning strikes starting a fire. Scar almost overpowers Simba and he holds Simba off a cliff in the same manner that he held Mufasa off the cliff. Scar then leans over and whispers to Simba that it was actually he who killed Mufasa and it was not Simba's fault at all. Simba is filled with anger and he gains the strength to attack Scar. He throws his uncle over a small cliff, where the hyenas attack and kill Scar. It promptly starts raining putting out the fire, and Simba takes his place as king of the Pride Lands. A while later the Pride Lands have been restored to their previous natural beauty. Simba married Nala and the two have had a son. Rafiki then comes and shows off their son to the animals in the kingdom, just as he had done before with Simba.