The Lion King - Kid Movie or a Deeper Passion?

Disney tends to be infamous for putting out movies that spike the heart of viewers and keep young children at the TV set, watching the movie over and over again - or at least from what I’ve experienced with my two young cousins, who gave me a distinct taste in the movie. But something about the movie twisted my feelings. Sure, as a ten year old I was obsessed but just watched the movie for the pure entertainment of it all, not focusing on what the movie was saying to me. When I hit the older age I am now, however, I realized there’s more to the movie than just the plot and dialog as itself.

The movie opens up with Mufasa (voice of James Earl Jones) and Sarabi’s (voice of Madge Sinclair) lion cub’s; Simba’s birth. Simba (young voice of Jonathan Taylor Thomas) is destined to trail in the footsteps of his dad and become the king of The Pride Lands, the section of the wilderness that this pack of lions and other animals live in. But as his vengeful uncle, Scar (voice of Jeremy Irons) comes into play with the movie, he makes a fateful twist in the story plot by killing Mufasa, blaming Simba for his father’s death and causing Simba to take the impact of all the blame of a death in his life, leading to him running away, where he’s eventually spotted by a meer-cat and a warthog, who take Simba into their small family. Those particular scenes show the beauty in the birth of a new family member, how one person can cause huge corruptions in one’s life, and that people can offer a strong kindness to others, even in a situation where you find a lost lion laying on the hot ground.

The most powerful scene in the movie, also the ending scene, is the part when Simba regains enough courage to return to his true home in the Pride Lands, the place that’s falling into shambled while it’s ruled by Scar and haunted by the rumor that Simba’s been dead for a very, very long time. He makes his stunning appearance, admitting it was his fault his dad died, not knowing it was scar that convinced him to think it was his own fault Mufasa was now dead. Finally, after a war between the two tribes of lions break out, Scar has Simba hanging off the edge of a rock, ready to let him fall to his death into the flames that have started spreading, showing the anger and uselessness in war, and how it affects the emotions of everybody. In the end, Scar admits he’s the one who killed Mufasa but the hyenas made him do it. Listening from afar, the hyenas hear what Scar said and rebel against Scar, devouring him for their rare share of food, as he’s still alive. With the end of Scar, Pride Rock is once again home to the Pride Landers.

The very ending of the movie finishes with Simba and his new wife, Nala’s baby cub being raised in the air on the date of his birth. Life in Pride Rock is now beginning to start again…