Most likely the best of the modern disney films - The Lion King Reviews

After Walt Disney?s death in 1966, movies were still made in his honor. ?The Lion King?, made in 1994, is most likely the best of the modern Disney movies. The wonderful characters, the top-of-its-form animation, and the magnificent story are responsible for this. Even if the critics didn?t quite love ?The Lion King? (besides Rolling Stone), I won?t ever forget it. As a 3 year-old boy in 1994, I saw ?The Lion King? twice in theaters. It begins at a place in an African savanna known as Pride Rock (which is like two gigantic slanted rocks connected together), where the lion king Mufasa (James Earl Jones) and his wife Sarabi (Madge Sinclair) have just had a newborn lion cub son named Simba (Jonathan Taylor Thomas). Simba is then taken up to the top of Pride Rock by the baboon Rafiki (Robert Guillaume) and held up high so that all of the animals at the bottom can see. Simba is then destined to be the future king of Pride Rock. Unhappy about Simba?s birth is Mufasa?s brother Scar (Jeremy Irons), who longs to be king. In an attempt to get rid of Simba, Scar tells him much about the shadow lands that Mufasa has told Simba never to go to. Scar reveals that it?s an elephant graveyard, tempting Simba to check it out. Simba and his female cub friend Nala (Niketa Calame) trick Mufasa?s messenger bird Zazu (Rowan Atkinson) into thinking they?re going to a water hole, and then they make they?re escape. When Zazu finally catches up with them and finds them at the graveyard, however, it?s too late. The three animals are caught by three hungry hyenas, which almost devour them until Mufasa comes to their rescue. The fearful hyenas run off, but Mufasa is very angry with Simba. After Zazu and Nala leave, Mufasa and Simba have a talk, but Mufasa quickly forgives Simba and it becomes clear that it would be painful if ever they were separated. Sadly, Scar and the hyenas are on the same team, and this time they hatch a plan to kill Mufasa by launching a buffalo stampede. Mufasa ends up climbing a rocky cliff and about to fall. Scar is at the top, and Mufasa pleads for help. Scar grabs Mufasa?s hands, gazes into Mufasa?s eyes and with an evil grin says, ?Long live the king?. Then Scar throws Mufasa off the cliff, watching him fall to his death into the stampede. Simba sees his father?s death from another angle; not seeing Scar at all, and believes Mufasa accidentally fell off the cliff and that Simba made no attempt to save him. Scar makes Simba think that it?s his fault and tells him to run away and never return, before the animals believe that Simba is responsible for Mufasa?s death. And that?s exactly what Simba does. He runs off into a desert and wishes to die, full of guilt and belief that he himself is a murderer. But then Simba, nearly dead, is found by two other kinds of animals. One animal whose species I?m unaware of is Timon (Nathan Lane), and Timon?s big warthog friend is Pumba (Ernie Sabella). Timon and Pumba quickly become friends with Simba, and like the bear Baloo taught Mowgli about the Bare Necessities in ?The Jungle Book?, Timon and Pumba teach Simba about something called ?Hakuna Matata?, which is a ?problem-free philosophy? that ?means no worries for the rest of your days?. Simba then lives with them in a huge jungle paradise, and he enters a life in which he?s never been happier. Simba lives with Timon and Pumba until he?s fully grown (now he?s played by Matthew Broderick), when suddenly; he meets up with Nala again (she is now played by Moira Kelly). Nala has traveled far from Pride Rock to find help. Scar, who?s now the king, has made the mistake of allowing all of the hyenas from the elephant graveyard to take over Pride Rock. Now the place is a wreck. The hyenas are complaining about how food and water has run out; Sarabi says that there?s no choice but to leave the land; and Zazu has become Scar?s miserable prisoner. Nala tells Simba that if he doesn?t return to Pride Rock and take the throne, every animal will starve. So, Simba has to make a choice: return to his home and face his past, or live in paradise while all of the animals he grew up with die. We know what?s best, but does Simba? Almost great about ?The Lion King? is the cast. Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella are hilarious as Timon and Pumba, James Earl Jones is powerful as Mufasa, and Jonathan Taylor Thomas is energetic as young Simba. The best performance of the movie comes from Jeremy Irons, who delivers all of the fear and power that is needed for the role of Scar. As for Matthew Broderick, he is OK as the older version of Simba, but I strongly believe that somebody else could have played him better. When the 21st century struck, it became clear that Walt Disney Pictures was triumphing more in its computer animated department (AKA Pixar), and its regularly animated films were beginning to dim. ?The Lion King? is a symbol that Disney?s regularly animated films are still strong. The good news is that Pixar is departing from Disney, and now Disney?s regularly animated films can be strong again. Whoever doesn?t believe me should see ?The Lion King? if they haven?t already, and then maybe the truth would appear. There is a chance that of all the modern Disney movies, Walt Disney may have loved this one the most. By Adam Zanzie (icebox482000)