Tuesday, November 15, 2011

The Lion King

So they've just re-released it onto Blu-ray so of course the day it came out I bought it because I've been waiting to own it on dvd for a while now. 

The story is just as amazing and saddening as I remember it when I first watched it. From the beginning of the film with Simba's birth to the end where he takes his place as king at Pride Rock. It's such a beautiful and magically told story of family, love and tragedy.

The soundtrack to the film is brilliant, Elton John songs perfectly written and chosen for the story. The Circle of Life is perfectly suited when discussing animals and especially their living in such close quarters. It's one of those films where it's impossible not sing along and where you end up knowing all the words of the speeches. (Admittedly I still remember a lot of the words and I have no idea how!) The music for the film is incredible and it's odd how you never forget the voices of the actors. James Earl Jones and Jeremy Irons have such distinctive voices that are suited perfectly to each of the characters they play. I think it's film that you appreciate with age, I think I love it more as an adult than I did as a child. But that might have something to do with my degree...

One thing I did think when I was watching is they seemed to have added more colour in to the film. I know remastered the film to make it look better but personally I would of loved as much just the way it was originally. But when you think that the film is from 1994, 17 years old, the standard of animation has dramatically changed to looking shiny, flawless and full of life. So I can understand them trying to show that they can make it modern and current in todays industry, not that people of all ages would love it any less.

I have an appreciation for the way Disney deal with death, they manage to address the subject so cleverly. In the Lion King they deal with it by showing Simba running away and trying to hide from his guilt and pain. But then later on they show when they show him return to Pride Rock they reveal that the underlining message is just to face your fears and to 'remember who you are'.

If you haven't had chance to re-watch this film since you were young, I recommend you do. It's such a timeless and classic film, like all of the Disney's.

No comments:

Post a Comment