1994 - 89 minutes
The
latest in a line of animated musical blockbusters from Disney that began in 1989
with THE LITTLE MERMAID and continued with BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and ALADDIN, THE
LION KING boasts animation as spectacular as any the studio has ever produced.
However, this tale of a lion cub's coming of age in the African veldt offers a
less memorable song score than did the previous hits, and a hasty, unsatisfying
dramatic resolution.
On the African
plains, several species of wildlife congregate to welcome the birth of the lion
cub, Simba, son of the Lion King Mufasa (James Earl Jones). As Simba (Jonathan
Taylor Thomas) grows, Mufasa shows him the Prideland, the area he oversees, and
warns him not to venture beyond its borders. Mufasa's jealous brother, Scar
(Jeremy Irons), manipulates young Simba into making a trip into forbidden
territory. Accompanied by Nala (Niketa Calame), a she-cub to whom he is
betrothed, and Zazu (Rowan Atkinson), an anxious hornbill who is Mufasa's
majordomo, Simba visits the Elephants' Graveyard, a desolate landscape of rocks,
caves and skeletons. They are set upon by three hyenas, Shenzi (Whoopi
Goldberg), Banzai (Cheech Marin), and Ed (Jim Cummings), confederates of Scar,
who harass and taunt the cubs, before Mufasa appears on the scene and rescues
them. Mufasa scolds Simba for disobedience and reminds him of his
responsibilities as the future king.
The next day, at
Scar's direction, the hyenas instigate a wildebeest stampede which threatens to
engulf Simba. Mufasa rushes out and rescues his son, but loses his own life.
Scar quickly places the blame for Mufasa's death on Simba and urges the
guilt-stricken cub to run away and never return. With Simba gone, Scar declares
himself the ruler of the Prideland, announcing a new era in which lion and hyena
will co-exist in peace. Overcome by heat exhaustion in the desert, Simba is
rescued by Timon (Nathan Lane), a meerkat, and Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella), a
warthog, who take him to a jungle paradise, where they sing the praises of
"Hakuna Matata" (a carefree life).
Years later, a
lioness on the prowl attacks Pumbaa, but is stopped by the now-grown Simba
(Matthew Broderick), who recognizes the attacker as Nala (Moira Kelly). She is
overjoyed to see him and urges him to return and take his rightful place as king
of the Prideland, which has become a wasteland under Scar's rule. After much
prodding, Simba looks up to the stars and sees the face of Mufasa, who tells him
that he, Simba, is the true king.
Accompanied by
Nala, Timon, Pumbaa, and Rafiki, Simba returns to the Prideland and confronts
Scar. Nala rallies the lionesses, and they join Timon and the others in taking
on the hyenas in a pitched battle which culminates in Scar dangling Simba over a
cliff, ready to dash him on the rocks below. Scar gloats over his role in
Mufasa's death, enraging Simba enough to bound up and force Scar to admit this
to the other lions. Scar blames the hyenas and then breaks free of Simba's grip.
However, the hyenas have overheard his treachery and give chase, exacting a
horrific revenge. Simba takes his rightful place as the Lion King and soon a new
cub is born to him and Nala and displayed before the throngs of wildlife which
have repopulated the once-devastated Prideland.
An
"original" story--reportedly devised by then-production head Jeffrey
Katzenberg--THE LION KING obviously draws on several previous Disney hits,
including BAMBI, THE JUNGLE BOOK, THE LITTLE MERMAID, and ALADDIN. The real
inspiration for the film's oddly anachronistic story line, however, seems to lie
in Shakespeare's histories; in particular, the extended meditation on the nature
and responsibilities of kingship found in Henry V and the two parts of Henry
IV. (It's no accident, then, that one of the characters is called "Timon.")
Although monarchy as such may have little relevance to modern American life, its
connotations in the context of family life are clear. Like so many recent
Hollywood epics of fatherhood (FIELD OF DREAMS, LEGENDS OF THE FALL), THE LION
KING makes the most sense as an attempted redemption of patriarchy--a call upon
contemporary males to resume their "natural" role as all-wise,
all-powerful guarantors of the social order. Seen in this light, the film's
extraordinary box-office success--it earned $300 million domestically--could be
seen as symptomatic of the same backlash that allowed proponents of "family
values" to dominate the American political agenda in 1994.
On a more
practical level, the film has some of Disney's most spectacular animation
yet--particularly in the wildebeest stampede--and strong vocal performances by
the likes of Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones, Moira Kelly, Nathan Lane, and
Robert Guillaume. However, it suffers from a curiously undeveloped story line.
The climactic confrontation with Scar has few surprises and is disposed of
rather quickly in the final minutes of the film. The events leading up to it,
however, are well-told, exciting, and suspenseful, set against a series of
exquisitely detailed background tapestries, depicting the Prideland at its lush
peak and after its devastation; the dark, treacherous landscape of the
elephants' graveyard; and the convivial, colorful jungle paradise.
Maybe
too convivial. Set in an environment where animals routinely eat each
other, the film offers only one scene showing animals eating--when Timon and
Pumbaa noisily pop juicy grubs and beetles into their mouths. Lions have to eat
meat, yet we never see them doing so. This issue is briefly addressed when young
Simba asks Mufasa, "Don't we eat antelopes?" to which Mufasa offers
the specious justification--akin to the bogus environmentalism of much recent
Hollywood kiddie fare--that when lions die, their bodies become grass, which in
turn feeds the antelopes. Had the film been a little more realistic about life
in the food chain, it might have been more convincing, albeit more shocking to
family audience sensibilities.
