Disney's The Lion King

Even after all these years, The Lion King is a delightful story that is both amusing and captivating. The animation for the movie is also quite  incredible even now with all of the new advances in almost realistic animation. Over all I have always enjoyed the film, from the enthralling plotline to the quirky characters like Timon and Pumbaa. I like the realistic life lessons throughout the story, such as that bad things happen no matter what or that sometimes even the bravest people have fear when it comes to those they care for. I like that it also addresses the reality of family life in that there are sometimes issues stemming from jealousy, envy, anger, etc. This makes it much more relatable than some of the previous Disney movies.

There are only a few things that seemed to stand out as odd. One being that the females of this movie did not come off in a great lot.

Although Simba’s friend/lover Nala will and did grow up to be a powerful huntress that can fight, a large portion of the movie is showing Nala and the other women of the pride as helpless. Specifically, Nala is the one that falls behind and slips when they are running from the hyenas in the “elephant graveyard” and then stays behind the big protector, Simba, when the hyenas corner them. This is also seen later on in the movie when Nala, Simba’s mother, nor none of the other female lions try to stop Scar until Simba shows up (where are the other lions? Why do they wait for a male lion?). For goodness sake, Scar himself admits to Mufasa at the beginning of the movie that he did not get the brute strength of the family, and you are telling me that nobody thought to come up with a plan to murder him at some point?

Another thing, is that some of the other characters also come off in a bad light, the first being

Ed. Ed never says a word although his friends (or brothers?) can form complete thoughts and sentences. The movie is also constantly harping on Ed’s disabilities through pretty much every scene with him in it. A separate character that also does not come out of this looking great is actually Pumbaa.

Timon is constantly putting Pumbaa down, or Pumbaa himself makes a self-deprecating comment. It is strange and sad dynamic between Timon and Pumbaa, because even though Timon makes biting remarks towards Pumbaa he is the only one that is willing to be his friend and so Pumbaa stays with him and puts up with it. This is honestly a tiny bit depressing to watch.

These portions, while subtle, are still there in the movie like in a large majority of earlier Disney films. These subtle hints, could potentially shape a child’s viewpoint if they do not know any better. However, I believe it is an enchanting story that children should still watch. Even with these not so wonderful portions, The Lion King was and still remains one of my favorite Disney films even today, with its beautiful soundtrack and its debatably new plotline.