Title: The Lion King
Writer: Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts
Directors: Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff
Actors: Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones,
Release year: 1994
Summary: A jealous and weak lion (Scar), is the brother of the Alpha Lion (Mufasa). Scar wanted to be “King of the Pride Land” but knew it wasn’t possible while his brother was still alive. He utilized Mufasa’s son (Simba) to lure him into a stampede where Mufasa was killed. Scar made Simba feel guilty and told him to run away and to never return. Simba took off and abandoned his family. Simba ran until he couldn’t run anymore. He passed out and was found by a meerkat (Timon) and a hog (Pumbaa). They taught him to live life with no worries, “Hakuna Matata”. He then started thinking about his past and thoughts of doubt continued to cloud his judgement. He then decided he is going to return to the Pride Land. As he returns he realizes Scar has basically destroyed the Kingdom with his evil hyena’s and all of the animals are starving and running out of water. He is welcomed by his family and Scar tends to become very nervous about his return. They end up facing off against each other. Scar puts Simba in the same spot that his father died (on a cliff). As Scar is getting ready to throw Simba’s paws off the cliff, he wispers to Simba that he was the one who killed his father. Simba then gets a burst of energy and pounces back up on the cliff. Scar ends up falling off the cliff and the hyena’s end up running away. Simba regains the throne and is the new King of Pride Land.
Plot: A jealous lion tricks his nephew into thinking he killed his father in which he flees “the pride”. The jealous lion then becomes King.
This movie occurs in a chronological fashion. The movie first begins with the birth of Simba. He goes through quite a bit as he grows older. Once he is an adult lion, he returns to the Pride Land to regain the crown stolen by his Uncle.
The aesthetic choice in this film is unique due to the film being animated. However, the animators did a fantastic jobs with all of the shapes and colors of the movie. There were a few times when the color of the movie changed the tone of the movie. For example, when Scar was in his cave and began singing the song to his hyenas. The colors, the background effects, the noises all contributed to a scary/dark type of tone.
The character development in this movie is impacted by the storytelling method because we as the audience get to see how Simba started from a small cub and grew to be a very strong lion. We witnessed the struggles he went through in his life. By building his character throughout the movie, it made me want to cheer him on when he faced Scar for the final battle.
It is hard to say how the film would have turned out if it would have followed a different presentation style. I think The Lion King was truly ahead of its time. It was an instant classic.
References:
IMDb. (1994). The Lion King. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110357
Minkoff, R. & Scar’s ConfessionAllers, R. (1994, June) The Lion King – Scar and Mufasa (English) HD. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8wgXRNYcPM
Movie Review written by: Robert Burwell
robertburwell36 