The Lion King review

Rating: 9/10 (2 February 2020)

"The Lion King" is an incredible movie. I first saw "The Lion King" in the hazy days of 2003, and it left a lasting impression on me. I waited years to acquire my own copy of the film and revisit it, and it was well-worth the wait. So, why is "The Lion King" so awesome? Besides the near flawless 2-D and 3-D animation, and the spectacular soundtrack by Hans Zimmer, "The Lion King" feels well and truly unique, inventive and ambitious in the canon, being a cross between "Hamlet" and "Bambi" with lions in the Savannah. The Disney Renaissance formula is present in this movie, but it only ever adds to it and never makes the movie feel generic or predictable like it did with "Aladdin". When you think about it, "The Lion King's" story is actually pretty simple and basic: a prince is born to a good king, the jealous brother of the good king murders him to seize power and banishes the prince, the prince lives in shame for years until his friends find him in exile and convince him to come home, the prince fights his uncle for his birthright. And having a basic plot isn't always a good thing because it often equals a thin plot, but in "The Lion King's" case it works incredibly well in the movie's favor, because it gives the filmmakers all the time and space they need to give the movie everything in every department.
More than that though, a large part of the reason why "The Lion King" packs so much power is because there are actual, lasting consequences to everything that happens. "The Lion King" is one of a very small number of films in the Disney canon where good, supporting characters are actually allowed to die (others include "Bambi", "Tarzan", "Brother Bear", and "Big Hero 6"), and unlike the death of Bambi's mother (which was quietly swept under the rug and ignored by the narrative for sixty odd years), Mufasa's death has weight. It represents the point in the movie where literally everything goes wrong. The villain, Scar, actually succeeds in getting what he wanted for longer than five minutes, and even after he's defeated in the end, it still doesn't bring Mufasa back or undo the years of suffering he dealt upon everyone in the Pridelands, Simba especially. The Pridelanders can only tend to their wounds and try to move on with their lives. The sense of spirituality running through "The Lion King", while a bit on the nose at times, is honestly so rich and works so well with the setting of the movie. After the injustice of Mufasa's murder and the cruelty of Scar's leadership, a terrible draught falls upon the Pridelands during his reign. When Simba and Scar fight for the title of king, they fight with the cleansing fires of hell itself surrounding them, and when the rightful balance is finally restored with the divine prince back in power, the weather relents and the rains return to the Pridelands. It's obvious symbolism, but still good symbolism.
The Lion King Simba and Nala
Simba (voiced by Jonathan Taylor Thomas) is a spunky, carefree young lion prince. When he's not romping around the Pridelands, playing with his best friend Nala, he really looks up to his dad, Mufasa, and his uncle, Scar, and eagerly awaits his time as king of Pridelands. Simba is quite frankly a little brat. He lies to his parents, mistreats his guardian, Zazu, puts himself and Nala in grave danger and really only wants to be king for shallow, narcissistic reasons. It's clear Mufasa has been too soft on him. It's hard to hold this against Simba though, because one, he's really only a small boy who doesn't know any better for the most part; two, Simba growing out of this childish notion of what being a king and an adult means is an important part of his character arc and is meant to contrast with his evil, manchild uncle, who never does the same; and three, anyone who's ever seen "The Lion King" knows real life is going to hit Simba hard soon and he's gotta enjoy that blissful innocence while he has it. Despite being a chronic troublemaker, the one thing Simba hates is disappointing his dad, because Mufasa isn't just his father, he's also the boy's hero. Perhaps I spoke too soon when I said the Beast and his servants have the most messed-up backstory in the Disney canon, because Simba's backstory is also extremely dark. Scar arranges for Mufasa to be brutally killed in a stampede and afterwards he blames it all on Simba, because he hates him with a passion. The guilt that would come from thinking you got your own beloved father trampled to death would warp and crush an adult man, think of what it would do to someone who looks to be the lion equivalent of eight. And Simba spends most of his life living with this shame (Matthew Broderick takes on the role of Simba for the second half of the film).
After meeting some drifters, Timon and Pumbaa, Simba takes their well-meaning but ultimately unhelpful advice of burying his guilt, his doubts and his trauma and turning his back on his past. But by doing so, he also turns his back on his people for years when they need him the most. What's more, Timon and Pumbaa's advice still doesn't fully work, he's still haunted by his memory of his father even into adulthood. With a coup against the tyrant Scar starting up, Simba is faced with the choice of remaining a troubled hippie without purpose forever, or going home and doing what's right for his friends and family, even if it ends badly for him - facing his own demons as well as the ones Scar crafted for him. After some stern talkings-to, Simba does the latter of course, and by doing so and fighting his uncle, he proves himself worthy of being a king - as well as finally getting some justice when he learns his uncle set him up. Having conquered his demons for the time being, put his mind mostly at ease and been accepted again by his family, Simba brings his friends with him to his new life and brings peace and virility back to the Pridelands. Later installments of "The Lion King" franchise reveal that Simba would still have some leftover PTSD and some major trust issues, which is to be expected. Trauma like Simba's doesn't heal overnight, but it doesn't have to consume your entire life either. It's not uncommon for Disney coming-of-age stories to end with the protagonist having kids and continuing that circle of life ("Bambi" laid down the template), but I think Simba's case is the most satisfying. After everything he had to endure and everything he overcame, it's great to see Simba eventually emerge with a loving mate, great friends, and two wonderful cubs (dat adorable Kiara cameo at the end).
Prince Scar is a villain that you seriously love to hate. Scar, at first glance, seems pretty similar to Jafar from "Aladdin". Jeremy Irons chews plenty of scenery as Scar. His dry, sarcastic performance as the immature, compulsively lying royal feline - who spends his days lazing around the den, antagonizing his big brother and the help - calls to mind memories of the scheming vizier from the last film. But "Be Prepared" makes it clear Scar is an even more vicious, loathsome and dangerous character than Jafar was - driven by envy, hatred and an ungratefully privileged mindset. A subtle but fundamental difference between the two is that Jafar stole power and status because he wanted it, while Scar feels he's owed it, he's entitled to it, that it's his birthright, and the latter is a much more personal and vindictive feeling. Scar has spent years stewing in quiet, passive-aggressive jealousy and resentment towards his older brother, Mufasa, and his family, and now that he has nothing left to lose (he's never going to rule now that Mufasa has sired an heir) he's decided he's just going to try to get rid of them all. Like Frollo from "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", Scar is one of the more disturbing Disney villains because he lacks a magical fantasy element, and he's the sort of evil that can actually exist in the real world. Sometimes people who are mentally unstable bottle up their feelings in an unhealthy fashion for years or even decades until they just snap, and that's one of many ways that you can get murderers. Underneath a seemingly calm, droll and apathetic exterior, Scar has a festering vindictive and sadistic streak, aimed at the people around him, that's first hinted at when we're introduced to him 'playing with his food'.
He doesn't just want Mufasa and Simba to die, he hates them so much he wants them to suffer before they do. He stabs Mufasa through the paws and lets him know full well he's betraying him before he throws his brother to his death. He pins Mufasa's murder on Simba and sends the cub away before sending the hyenas after him, because he wants him to die thinking he killed his father. He later attempts the same thing by 'secretly' telling Simba he killed Mufasa before he tries to do him in. Basically, Simba and Mufasa were extremely unlucky to have a psychopath in their family that they trusted. Like cub Simba though, Scar has a narrow and immature idea of what to do with power once he gets it. Since he only ever wanted to be a king for the title, he never bothered learning what it actually entails and the responsibilities that come with the position, causing the tribe as a whole to suffer, but his pride and spitefulness forbids him from correcting his course once it all goes wrong. He drags the Pridelands to ruin (which should give you an idea of how Ursula and Jafar's respective reigns would have gone, if they hadn't been immediately dealt with) and his already tenuous sanity takes a large hit as he's subsequently haunted by the memory of his brother. Lastly, I like how much of a complete and utter bad this lion is, with no redeeming qualities to him besides his trademark wit. He does everything he possibly can to make you hate him, and when his two biggest flaws (his vindictive streak and two-faced nature) finally catch up to him, he gets one of the most satisfying Disney villain deaths ever. He couldn'