Movie Review: The Lion King
What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that the death of Mufasa by trampling
is genuinely scary. So are some fights among the animals.
Families can talk about facing your problems instead of running from them. Why doesn't the idea of "hakuna matata" or "no worries" always work? Can anyone get through life without a little worry and conflict?
Common Sense Media Review
Sort of a cross between
Richard III and
Hamlet
, this is the story of Simba (voice of
Jonathan
Taylor Thomas as a child,
Matthew
Broderick as an adult), the cub of Mufasa (
James
Earl Jones), the king of the jungle. Simba "just can't wait
to be king." But his evil Uncle Scar (
Jeremy
Irons), bitterly jealous of Mufasa, wants to be king, so he
arranges for Mufasa to be killed in a stampede and to have
Simba think he is responsible.
Simba runs away, and finds friends in Pumbaa the warthog ( Ernie Sabella) and Timon the meerkat ( Nathan Lane), who advise him that the best philosophy is "hakuna matata" (no worries). Simba grows up thinking he has escaped from his past, but his childhood friend, Nala finds him, and tells him that under Scar's leadership, the tribe has suffered badly.
Not just a movie, but a marketing phenomenon, this blockbuster was the highest grossing film of 1994. Amazingly, it made even more money in merchandise than it did at the box office, a fact for which audiences have been paying ever since, as each subsequent Disney animated movie seems to be designed primarily as a commercial for teeshirts, lunchboxes, and action figures. The score, and the song "Circle of Life," with authentic African rhythms and instruments, won Oscars for Elton John and Tim Rice, and the movie later became a Broadway blockbuster.
Fans of this movie will also like the TV show spinoff Timon & Pumbaa , The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride , and The Jungle Book .
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