'I can't marry her... she's my friend..."

Rating: 7/10 (1 April 2020)

Certainly not one of Disney's better animations from a technical perspective - the artwork lacks the vibrancy and detail of many of their earlier stories; but the combined efforts of Sir Tim Rice, Elton John and Hans Zimmer make this an enjoyable fantasy adventure. It is told in two parts - the first sees a son "Simba" born to the king "Mufasa"; a curious little fella who, alongside his friend "Nala" is inquisitive and mischievous - a real pain in the neck to the king's major-domo "Zazu". One fan the new cub really doesn't have, however, is the king's rather unimpressed brother "Scar" who hatches a plan to depose his brother and take over the kingdom. He manages to achieve exactly this and to get the youngster to blame himself and head off, alone, into exile. The second part is much more fun; he falls in with a warthog and is soon eating colourful grubs and living a peaceful, jolly life far from home. That idyllic existence is not to last long, however - "Nala" discovers he is still alive and races to alert him of the disaster that has befallen the kingdom under the rule of his uncle and his trusty band of hyenas. The musical numbers help it build to a gripping denouement, with clever, quite witty dialogue from some good - though not great - voice talents from the likes of James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick and Whoopi Goldberg to keep the pot boiling. It is an enjoyable film to watch but I wasn't captivated by it.