The Lion King

The Circle of Life

 

The Lion King

Writers: Irene Mecchi and Jonathon Roberts

Directors: Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff

Main Actors: Jonathan Taylor-Thomas (as the voice of young Simba), Matthew Broderick (as the voice of Simba), James Earl Jones (as the voice of Mufasa), Jeremy Irons (as the voice of Scar), Moria Kelly (as the voice of adult Nala), Robert Guillaume (as the voice ofRafik)i, and Rowan Atkinson (as the voice of Zazu)

Released 16 June 1994

The Lion King shows the journey of a lion cub from cub to adulthood.  He has to accept his royal destiny to become King of the Pride Lands.  In the beginning Simba is an honored prince, the son of King Mufasa.  As a rambunctious cub he gets into trouble leading to the death of Mufasa.  Scar, the evil uncle, murders Mufasa and drives Simba away so he can become King.  After Simba runs away he befriends Timon, a meekrat, and Pumba, a warthog. They all grow up with not a care in the world. Yet they give Simba wisdom along the way.  An older almost adult Simba is visited by his father’s, Mufasa, spirit. The purpose of the visit was to reclaim his title of King away from the evil Scar. As he returns to the village he finds it abandoned and run by hyenas. The truth comes out about the murder as Scar tried to kill Simba as he did with his brother.  A new King emerges, he rightful King.

The Lion King was basically written in chronological order from the day Simba was born, except in a few places where Simba has flashbacks of his father’s death.  The atheistic choice fits this movie well as it keeps the audience involved with the growing up of young Simba into the shoes of his father he has to fill.

The character development is strong as it shows the stages of Simba’s life through the chronological order.  It allows the audience to see how he had grown and the responsibilities he has to accept.  When he returns to the Pride Lands after seeing Nala the strong adult Simba is the one that reappears to face the evil Uncle Scar.  Foreshadowing is used in the very end when Scar is telling everyone it was the hyenas that running everything.  This led to the moment they took care of Scar in the end as he said they were the enemy.

The Lion King if written in another format may have given the audience a better dose of intrigue.  Since this is more a movie for children then the chronological order made more sense.

References

http://putlocker.is/watch-the-lion-king-online-free-putlocker.html

Mecchi, I & Roberts, J. (2011, Mar 31). The Lion King-The Circle of Life. Video file Retrieved from: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zLx_JtcQVI