'Remember who you are'

Rating: 9/10 (16 August 2019)

After watching the remake of The Lion King (2019) from Disney it encouraged me to come back to the original version and leave my very first review. I am one of the many people who first saw this film as a child and then technically saw it numerous times as I grew older. Watching the film again after so long helped me see it from an adult point of view and I explain below why it is one of the best Disney films ever made.
Where should I start? One of Disney's original story not based from a fairy tale. The depiction of the amazing landscape of the African savanna and the diverse wildlife it contains. The use of African music in songs with meaningful and symbolic lyrics. Inspiring and captivating characters along with a story-line full of humor, suspense, emotions and educational messages. These messages are embedded in children's minds unconsciously. As an adult though, I can know go deeper and critically think what the film is trying to teach to all of us, both children and adults. Messages about friendship, love and family, but also, deeper concepts from a sociological and political perspective.
The Lion King teaches us first of all the value of mother nature and all the resources that it provides to us. As living beings on this planet we have rights and responsibilities towards this land by utilising with respect and sustainability these resources. In the film Mufasa explains this clearly as part of his lesson to his son and future King, Simba. Also, the film is a great example of illustrating 'good' leadership' in comparison to just being a King. Although monarchy is a conventional concept, Mufasa and his kingdom can be used as a metaphor of how any kind of leader should act and the principles and qualities they must carry. Being a leader involves responsibility and respect towards your people, the land and of course yourself. It is about maintaining balance in nature. A perfect way to educate young people about sustainability not only for the environment but also sustainability for societies. The biggest issues that our world is facing is because of greediness and the inability to equally distribute resources that a fare and justice for all. An example of this can be observed in the film when Scar takes over the kingdom and he has consumed most of the lands resources too fast resulting to having not enough food. Also, whatever food was available he was the only one to have access to it. No social justice in the distribution of the resources.
Lastly, I would like to also mention the beautiful son and father relationship the movie presents. The way Simba is learning from his father, the love he has towards him and of course the pain of his father's lost is something that most of us will relate to. Even the fact that he is not always physically present in Simba's life he still has a huge influence in the decisions Simba makes. 'Remember who you are' is my favourite line from the movie because it shows how easily we as humans forget who we are and what our rights and responsibilities are towards nature, society and of course, towards ourselves.
I hope you all enjoyed the film and saw the deeper messages the way I did. 'Hakuna Matata'.