The Lion King: the 30th Anniversary
The Blind Eternities forum
Posted on Jan. 13, 2024, 9:36 a.m. by DemonDragonJ
This year is the 30th anniversary of The Lion King, the thirty-third animated feature film from the Walt Disney Company and a film that many audiences and critics regard as not only one of Disney's greatest films, but one of the greatest films ever made.
Although the Walt Disney company had been producing animated films for several decades at that point, many of which had already been enshrined by popular culture as classics, The Lion King set a new standard for storytelling in an animated film, with its cast of well-developed characters and epic storyline. The story of the movie was very reminiscent of Disney's earlier film Bambi, but also drew inspiration from William Shakespeare's classic play Hamlet, and also featured numerous very talented voice actors, including James Earl Jones, Madge Sinclair, Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, and Jeremy Irons. Of course, no discussion of The Lion King would be complete without mentioning the epic songs that emphasize key moments of the plot; with only five songs altogether, The Lion King had fewer songs than what most Disney movies have, but the writers of the film went for quality over quantity, as each song is a masterpiece, and equally memorable, in its own way. The only minor complaint about the movie that I have is the flatulence-related humor when Simba first meets Timon and Pumbaa, but, even then, such references thankfully were very brief and did not impact the story in any way.
However, even a film as epic and grand as this was not free from controversy, as many people noticed that the story was very similar to that of Kimba the White Lion by Osamu Tezuka, but the Walt Disney Company denied that the similarities were intentional, and Tezuka's estate chose to not purse any legal action, not wishing to involve Tezuka's works in a legal battle, and the issue has largely been forgotten, today.
Today, The Lion King remains one of the Walt Disney Company's best-known films, and its legacy has been most impressive, indeed, as it has produced two sequels, two television series, and numerous other pieces of merchandise, so I fully expect that Disney shall celebrate this movie's 30th anniversary in some way.
How does everyone else here feel about this year being the 30th anniversary of The Lion King? Are you excited about that? I certainly am eager to hear what you have to say about it.
DemonDragonJ says... #3
Caerwyn, I am deeply sorry for forgetting to mention Sir Elton John, the composer of this film's music, so I thank you for mentioning him, because he definitely deserves to be recognized for his contributions to it, and the fact that Disney was able to convince a distinguished musician such as him to compose music for the movie is further evidence of how amazing a movie it is.
Caerwyn says... #2
I think saying that The Lion King “ set a new standard for storytelling in an animated film” does a disservice to the other Disney Renaissance-era films which came before it. The Little Mermaid is really what set the new standard, utilising more relatable characters than the traditional more-perfect or more-evil than real life characters of classic Disney Princess films, then combining those with a more Broadway style soundtrack. Rather than necessarily doing something new, The Lion King roared into theatres continuing the dominance Disney set under this new model, the fourth in a series of exceptional films which also included Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin.
None of which is to say the Lion King is not an equally exceptional movie, and it really speaks testament to Disney’s domination of the ‘90s to think that a movie as truly outstanding as the Lion King was not an outlier, but one of many equally fantastic films.
Also, as a note, I think it does the film a bit of a disservice to talk about how good the writers did with the music… without mentioning the music’s writer was none other than the divine Sir Elton John.
January 13, 2024 1:46 p.m.