The Lion King is magical, it is
dramatic, it is scary at times, it is sad, it teaches needed life lessons, it
is a DREAM of a movie. Timon and Pubmaa tell us to remember Hakuna Matata, “It
means no worries, for the rest of your days.” Scar teaches us about greed and
the evil desire power can bring. Simba teaches us about fighting fears, being
confident, and letting your heart lead you. What a dynamic story. Now, with
dynamic stories there are always bound to be a few missteps along the way.
There will never be a “perfect” movie where everyone in the world is pleased or
where there are zero errors made because the people making these movies are
human. One of the things I have gathered from blogging and writing about these
Disney films it is that even with the best teams in the world, errors will
still be made and people will not be pleased because we do make mistakes. Now,
even with the Lion King’s mistakes, the majority of the movie is filled with so
much greatness.
The things I LOVED: The animation with the bold colors, the songs,
the cute depiction of baby Simba, the LOVE of Nala and Simba (come on it is a
literal rom in an animation film), the adventurous life of Timon and Pubmaa,
and finally, when Simba comes and saves the day.
The reasoning on why I LOVED these
moments of the movie: Well, the animation is pretty spectacular and made
the film that much more brilliant. The songs are an iconic part of this film as
well. You cannot tell me that about 60% of students at Duke students have not
heard the “Circle of Life” song in the film. I was singing so loud in my dorm
room when I watched this film a few days ago (I think people thought I was
crazy). Lastly (my favorite part), to talk about… Nala and Simba. From
best-friends as young cubs to lovers later on with age, these two keep the
Disney magic alive with the boy gets girl, the prince wins’ hearts act.
The things I DO NOT LOVE: The generalization that Africa is only the
pride lands, desert, and the savanna.
The green-eyed evil hyenas were kind of scary (lol). The death of Mufasa was
pretty stinking heartbreaking and finally, the portrayal of females being
beaten by men when Scar hit Mufasa’s wife (lioness).
The reasoning on why I DID NOT
LOVE these moments of the movie: The
two mishaps which were pretty obvious issues were the generalizations about
Africa and the assumption women are beaten by men. The portrayal of Africa in
this light is an issue because those watching will begin to assume that all of
Africa is savanna and animals because they do not know any different. Films
sometimes portray incorrect things on different countries and/or people groups
in which people then begin to assume those incorrectly displayed things.
Second, women were looked at as servants to the King and hurt if they disagreed
with or shared their own opinions with Scar. This is an issue in regards to
gender subordination.
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