Thursday 8 February 2018

The Lion King

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                                                              Image result for disney the lion king poster
Although it’s a cliché, there’s only one word I can use to describe the Lion King: epic. First of all, the animation is of course spectacular. The backgrounds are beautiful and although it’s unusual in animation, the use of shots also adds to the grand scale of the whole thing. This is also helped by the fact that the music is some of the best in any Disney animated film. I’m not just talking about Elton John’s iconic songs, although they are of course brilliant – but another unusual bonus is the score, which adds an extraordinary amount of atmosphere.

Of course, all of this serves to make an already great story even better. There is a sense of gravitas in the plot which is rather rare for a Disney film, probably due to it’s Shakespearean influences, but they are also able to balance this out pretty well with more light-hearted segments, such as the songs Hakuna Matata and I Just Can’t Wait to Be King (Hunchback of Notre Dame, take notes). It’s a little jarring moving from Mufasa’s death into Timon and Pumbaa’s first entrance, but both segments are so well done that I can’t really fault the movie as a whole for it.

The characters are all iconic and I also admire the fact that the protagonist has to essentially learn to grow up and take responsibility, as opposed to many of the main characters of previous Disney films, as it makes for a more dynamic story overall. Scar is of course one of Disney’s best villains and Jeremy Irons does a spectacular job, as his voice is perfectly suited to the character. And I don’t normally point out the performances of specific voice actors, so that’s very high praise. I also love the way that on a thematic level Simba grows out of Scar’s childish worldview that a King can just do whatever he wants with no consequences and no regard for nature, as it sets up a very nice parallel between the hero and the villain.

The sense of sheer scale created by all these elements is truly what makes the Lion King not only one of the greatest Disney films of all time, but one of the greatest films ever made.

Ratings

Good guys: The iconic main characters of this film get 9/10

Bad guys: Scar is up there with the best Disney villains, so he gets 9/10

Animation: Some of the best animation that Disney has ever done gets 10/10

Music: Some of the most iconic songs in the canon get 10/10

Plot: The spectacular story gets 10/10

Overall score: 48/50

Next review: Pocahontas 
Image result for disney pocahontas

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