Excellent animation and storyline

Rating: 9/10 (1 November 2014)

The Lion King is a film that teaches us about nature's circle of life, as a lion cub born in the Pride Lands of Africa, learns what responsibility means as he grows up. Simba (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) is the cub of King Mufasa (James Earl Jones) and Sarabi (Madge Sinclair) who is a typical curious youngster. His uncle, Scar (Jeremy Irons), is not happy with being replaced as future king and develops a plot to eliminate both Mufasa and Simba. In the meantime, Mufasa is teaching Simba about the circle of life and how we are all intertwined in it. This theme is seen in the Disney movie Pocahontas during the song, Color of the Wind, where Pocahontas (Judy Kuhn) sings to John Smith (Mel Gibson) how everything in nature is connected together.
The Lion King's cinematography is very well done with the close-up shots of Simba showing his various emotions of curiosity, being scared, and sadness as his father, Mufasa, dies. The close-up shots, along with the superb visual effects, allow you to feel those same emotions. I found it very difficult not to cry when Mufasa dies. The special effects in the elephant graveyard with the fire, and perfect sound effects, allows you to feel how scared a young Simba and Nala (Niketa Calame) may feel.
After Mufasa's death, at the hands of Scar, Simba runs away from his life at Pride Rock and grows up in the jungle with two friends, Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella) and Timon (Nathan Lane). They live by their carefree motto Hakuna Matata, as Simba becomes a young adult (Matthew Broderick). Just like anyone else, Simba knows he cannot live that carefree life anymore and must return to Pride Rock after finding out that Scar has broken that circle of life and destroyed the lands. Once Simba, Pumbaa, Timon, and Nala (Moira Kelly) return to the Pride Lands and win the battle in the climax of the film, the rain comes in and washes away the past, allowing the circle of life to begin again. Simba takes his place on top of Pride Rock as the new king.
In the final scene we see the same as the beginning of the film, with the presentation of a cub lion, but this time that cub belongs to Simba and Nala. The circle of life has come full circle.