The Lion King - Response

   In a similar way to Aladdin (1992), Disney's The Lion King (1994) takes place in a somewhat ambiguous and certainly manipulated setting. Of course, the viewers are aware that the story takes place somewhere in Africa, but we are unaware of where exactly in the continent it occurs. Some evidence suggests that the film takes place in Kenya, although it does not seem definitive. Furthermore, there are a number of jokes and some animation that contributes to an unrealistic, "Disneyfied", and Americanized setting. For instance, although I hesitate to point out anything wrong with the song "Hakuna Matata", there is dialogue within it that is quite confusing given that the story takes place in Africa, and the characters are talking animals. In one conversation, Simba asks, "What's a motto," to which Timon responds with a typical Italian-New York accent and hand-gesture: "Nothing. What's a motto with you?". Here, the reference to New York takes away from the African setting. The African setting feels less authentic, and the accent seems to place it in a sort of magical location where animals are aware of geographical stereotypes. 

Additionally, Timon also makes use of a common, American, saying when he says, "Tastes like chicken," to describe the flavor of bugs to Simba. Again, Timon's comment attributes a sense of incorrectness to the setting -- as he is making use of another American phrase. Furthermore, it seems somewhat illogical here, as Timon's diet consists of bugs and there are not any chickens in the African safari -- so beyond knowing the phrase, there is little chance that he would even know what chicken tastes like. Lastly, the transformation of the Pride Lands back into a flourishing environment occurs quite quickly and somewhat unrealistically. As such, a sort of traditional "fairy tale magic" is attributed to the movie. In an article from Tor, Mari Ness goes into some detail on this scene and other inconsistencies in the plot and setting of the movie. Her claim also relates the transformation of the land to older tales: "That folklore connection becomes even stronger in a later scene, when, after the false king Scar takes over as king, the lands around him become barren and dead. Even the rain stops falling. This is not natural, and although the hyenas get blamed for this, they can’t exactly be blamed for the lack of water. That has happened because the true king isn’t present". When the evil character is in control, the land is dark, has little life, and no water. When Simba, however, becomes king again, the land magically turns colorful and somewhat Utopian. The combined effect of these ideas results in the creation of an otherworldly and magical setting -- one that is typical of Disney movies.
    Additionally, while I often focus on problematic content in my blog posts, I do also want to discuss issues I have with the plot and plot devices that are used in the movie. At certain points, the timeline within the movie seemed to advance rapidly, where meaningful material could have been added. The first example of the rapid advancement of time is, perhaps, the most obvious one. During the singing of "Hakuna Matata", Simba becomes a full-grown lion in a matter of about 10 seconds -- the transformation occurs while Timon and Pumbaa are walking with him across an elevated log. The aging of Simba here could have been achieved in a way that deepens the plot or Simba's character. There are a number of points in the movie that move slowly or are simply meant to be comedic -- for example, the majority of Timon and Pumbaa's screen time. Some of the time spent in these scenes could have been used to help show the growth of Simba. While I do recognize that some of the jokes made in the movie do help contribute to Simba's character development, and they certainly help to make the movie great, it may have been nice as a viewer to help watch Simba grow up. Later, when Nala first finds Simba after he runs away from the Pride Lands, their love for each other is almost immediately apparent. Shortly after Timon and Pumbaa leave the two lions alone, Nala intimately rubs her head against Simba's and says, "I've really missed you" -- of course, the two also sing a love song together a few minutes further into the movie. Here, I do note that in the story the pair must eventually fall in love (as they will marry each other), but the way in which they do so feels manufactured. In the movie, Simba leaves home while he is still a young cub, who denies any romantic feelings he has for Nala or females in general. Therefore, it seems unlikely -- and unnatural -- that the two lions would have such strong feelings of romantic love after only seeing each other for about 30 seconds. Now, I do want to emphasize that in these examples, I understand the necessity of speeding up the plot. I am simply suggesting that the plot of the movie could have been strengthened by spending a few more minutes on the development of certain characters and relationships.