a bit mundane

Rating: 5/10 (22 February 2001)

The Lion King, while being consistently entertaining, ends up being kind of disappointing by the end. The reasons for this are many and varied.
First off, the film is very short. Only 88 minutes. I do not know why, but I thought that this film was supposed to be about 2 hours long. I think it is because I have always heard how much of an epic quality the film had. This is simply untrue. The film has very little in the way of script. Not much really happens in the film. You could probably sum up in only a couple of sentences.
The characters and situations of the film are somewhat trite. It is unfair to dismiss this category of criticism because this a children's cartoon. The heroes and villains of other Disney films are much less formulaic, as well as the challenges they encounter (e.g., The Little Mermaid, Pinnochio, Beauty and the Beast). Simba's challenge was a bit interesting, but, as I complained above, it is brought up and resolved in a half-hour's time. The only characters I found really interesting were the villains, and not Scar, but the Heyenas.
It is this third complaint which actually pushed me into the realm of disliking this film: the music. I've always felt that the music of Disney's animated fare was bad. There are three exceptions I can think of offhand: The Little Mermaid, Pinnochio, and the Jungle Book. All other Disney animated films have a collection of some of the worst music that has ever been produced. I think The Lion King takes the cake for general rottenness in the music department. There was not one song that did not make me cringe.
All in all, surely the Lion King is okay for kids, but there are so many better films, even from Disney's canon, that one should expose their children to. My suggestions are any of those Disney films I've listed as good above. As for non-Disney films, I think My Neighbor Totoro (age range 2-10, I would say) and Kiki's Delivery Service (age range 6-18; the best lessons ever of responsibility and self-reliance are found in this film), both from Japan but also both easily available in any video store dubbed into English, are the two best films for children ever made. Also, The Prince of Egypt is pretty good for slightly older children (I would put The Lion King in the 3-8 age range and The Prince of Egypt from 9-13). I give The Lion King 5/10 = good for children, pretty uninteresting to adults.