A brilliant, magical movie.

Rating: 10/10 (24 June 2004)

After The Aristocats in 1970, Disney studios went into a long period of indifferent features, particularly their animated films (though the live-action productions - like Popeye - weren't so hot either!) However, their fortunes turned with a series of four major winners in a row. The trend was set by The Little Mermaid in 1989, and rapidly followed-up with Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. The Lion King may well be the best Disney film since the early masterpieces like Dumbo and Pinnochio.
Story deals with young lion cub Simba, the heir to a great, thriving animal community in Africa. Consumed by jealousy, Simba's sinister Uncle Scar murders the current king Mufasa, cleverly making the death look accidental, and encourages Simba to run away. Years go by, during which Simba befriends a couple of free-spirited animals (Timon and Pumbaa), while Scar's newly inherited kingdom falls apart under his tyrannical and inept leadership. Eventually, Simba figures out his rightful place and returns to challenge his treacherous uncle.
The animation is quite breathtaking at times, but The Lion King is much more than 80 minutes of pretty pictures. It has a simple but totally engrossing story, which builds to several powerful and emotional climaxes. It also has terrific voice acting, with James Earl Jones lending true gravity to Mufasa, and Jeremy Irons doing a splendidly slimy job as the despicable Scar. On a comedy level, Timon and Pumbaa are wonderful and actually provide some good adult humour to keep the grown-up viewers tittering (a tactic which was used even more successfully in the 2003 hit Finding Nemo). The Lion King is an exhilarating animated film - fabulous characters, fabulous story, fabulous songs.... fabulous entertainment!