Disney. No one name holds as much power over business and the world of Animation as much as Walter Elias Disney. Whether it was making the first animated motion picture in the English world, further revolutionizing the field of animation, or making one of the most powerful media companies in the world, Disney managed to become a titan of industry and media. Nowadays, we joke about the House of Mouse and its’ lasting impact in today’s world…but without Disney, much of the animated world today…well…wouldn’t be.
The Lion King: Bless the film down in Africa
Sing it with me, everyone…NAAAAANTS INGONYAAAAAAMA BAGITHI BABA
Sithi uhm ingonyama…Now that we’ve got that out of our system, fresh off of the success of Aladdin, the Lion King would become Disney’s most successful film…until Frozen and Zootopia came out. A ton of research was done on the wildlife of Africa to get the film just right, and it shows, for the most part. Another title for this that the fans have is “Hamlet in Africa”…and to be honest…it is pretty close to it…among one other thing that was pretty controversial for its’ time.
The Plot: We begin with our epic chorus pointing out that on this day, a new lion was born (they mean it literally in IsiZulu. ” Here comes a lion, Father. Oh yes, it’s a lion.”). Everyone turns out for the big ceremony of the birth of Mufasa and Serabi’s son, Simba…except for Mufasa’s brother, Scar. Scar is rather put off that now Mufasa has an heir, he’s being passed over for the throne that he believes is rightfully his. Mufasa knows that Scar is dissatisfied with this, but can’t bring himself to do anything to his own brother. Simba grows up, excited to be the future king, and Mufasa does his best to educate Simba on the delicate balance between everything in the Circle of Life…at least until Mufasa’s second, Zazu informs them of hyenas in the pride lands.
Simba is disappointed that he couldn’t take part in kicking them out of the pridelands and goes home, visiting Scar, completely unaware that Scar only barely tolerates Simba because he’s Mufasa’s son…and informs Simba of what is beyond the shadows of the pridelands: an Elephant Graveyard. Simba takes his childhood friend, Nala, over there after losing Zazu in a big musical number…only to run afoul of three hyena: Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed. They barely escape with their lives thanks to Mufasa intervening and giving Simba a very stern talking to. Meanwhile, Scar is disappointed that the hyenas couldn’t kill two young lions he sent over to them, revealing his plans to dethrone Mufasa and Simba, taking their place and, despite the many subtle insults to them, letting the hyenas have their fill of the pridelands. Scar succeeds in killing Mufasa by having the hyenas cause a wildebeest stampede that nearly kills Simba…were it not for Mufasa saving his life with Scar pushing him off a cliff into the stampede, then laying the blame at an already grieving Simba…before exiling him…and sending the hyenas to kill him anyway.
The Hyenas don’t do a good job finishing him off, but it doesn’t matter much. Scar gives a tearful eulogy to Simba and Mufasa before taking the throne. Simba, meanwhile, is saved from vultures by Timon and Pumbaa, a merecat and warthog who live as outcasts. They teach Simba their way of Hakuna Matata, living life with no worries, and Simba grows up with it. Meanwhile, the pridelands become a desolate wasteland with no food, and Scar has no real desire to do anything to improve things…he’s just interested in doing what he pleases…with no mention of Mufasa ever.
Simba is content to do things with Timon and Pumbaa until Nala tries hunting them…faced with the link from his past, he turns going back down because of the guilt he feels for everything with his father, despite his falling for Nala. It takes a bit of a pep talk from Rafiki, the baboon who held him at the very beginning…and some words of wisdom from Mufasa from beyond to get him to reconsider. He confronts Scar at Pride Rock and nearly loses before Scar gloats that he actually killed his father. The furious Simba then kicks him off Pride Rock after Scar blames the hyenas and is offered exile (Scar, being the pragmatist, decided to attack Simba anyway). Scar is eaten by his former allies, Simba takes his rightful place, and the circle of life begins anew.
Believe it or not, Jeffrey Katzenberg thought this movie would do horribly and wanted to emphasize better work on Pocahontas. A giant part of the animation department disagreed, and Katzenberg attempted to campaign to have the production of this film shut down. As mentioned above, this film drew comparisons to another film that was released around the same time called “Kimba, the White Lion.” The similarities were so…well, similar, that you’d almost wondered whether Disney lifted it or the other way around. The studio that did Kimba didn’t sue though. After all…who’d want to get into a legal battle with the House of Mouse? It’d end with Disney squashing them rather easily.
Believe it or not (again), the scene with Mufasa’s death was a bit shorter at first. Katzenburg turned to the animators with his eyes dry and said “I’m not cryin’!” As a result, they worked on the scene to the point where it still has its’ emotional impact today.
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