The Lion King is a very highly regarded Disney movie; some may even call it legendary. I grew up watching this movie probably at least once a week on VHS (that’s the predecessor to DVDs for younger readers). There were numerous other movies I watched just as much as a kid, such as Small Soldiers and Antz. The difference between these movies though is that I’ve never heard a kid from today’s generation go on about how much they love Antz or Small Soldiers. They will go on about newer movies I’ve never seen such as Frozen or Inside Out- and oh yeah, The Lion King. This movie has managed to stand the test of time as an undisputed classic across generations. Its sequel, The Lion King 2, not so much, though that’s not to say I didn’t find it to be a decent movie with a good message.
Here’s the thing about The Lion King though: I could rant about it for hours if I’m talking to the right person. There are so many things about the first movie alone that can be said, and even more if we go ahead and throw in the second. For starters, I don’t think many people realize how accurate of a depiction of these animals’ lives the first movie depicts. Sure, they personify them a bit to make it entertaining for kids to watch giving each animal a colorful voice and personality (Matthew Broderick, anybody?), but it gets so much deeper than that
Recommended for you
A group of lions is called a pride, and a pride of lions is led by one dominant male lion. This male lion leads the females, and fends off other male lions that may come along to try and take lead of the pride. Young male lion cubs may be in a pride together in the younger years, but by a certain age split off to find their own prides. This is very accurately depicted in The Lion King. Scar and Mufasa are two adult male lions hanging about the same pride, led by Mufasa. This is unusual at first, but (spoilers ahead) is soon nixed as Scar plots out Mufasa’s downfall and successfully takes his place as the head of the pride. Simba (Mufasa’s young son) flees, and doesn’t return until he is an adult, at which point he overthrows Scar and takes the pride for himself. Twice in this film Disney shows nature taking its natural course as one Lion overthrows another for the pride; at no point two adult male lions truly living together in harmony.
The second movie takes more of a stance on not judging others based on their backgrounds and whatnot. It’s still a decent movie with a good message for kids, but doesn’t portray that same kind of realism that accompanied the story of the first movie. Simba’s daughter befriends a male lion from another pride (the son of the first movie’s antagonist, Scar), and he is shunned by Simba’s pride due to his family history. By the end of the movie most everyone learns a lesson and accepts he’s not a horrible person (lion?) just because of who his father is, and Simba lets him into the pride. That’s all well and dandy, and as a child I never thought twice about it, but it’s just kind of an odd follow-up to the first movie that told a story so well while still adhering to the laws of nature.
I have had some really deep conversations with people in the past about The Lion King, the things mentioned above being the subject several times or discussion about how the other Lions shouldn’t have actually blamed Scar for the drought. There is also a huge topic for discussion in how the song “Be Prepared” and its scenes in the film slightly mirror depictions of the Hitler march, but that’s a-whole-nother can of worms. Rewatching old Disney movies with adult eyes can really conjure up some interesting thoughts and conversations though, in the same vein of rereading a book as an adult that you had only read as a child, and it might just be worth your time.
