The Lion King-The Lion King (1994)

Directed by: Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff | 89 minutes | drama, animation, comedy, adventure, family, musical | Original voice cast: Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Moira Kelly, Niketa Calame, Ernie Sabella, Nathan Lane, Robert Guillaume, Rowan Atkinson, Madge Sinclair, Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, Jim Cummings, Zoe Leader, Frank Welker, Cathy Cavadini, Judi M. Durand, Daamen J. Krall, David McCharen, Mary Linda Phillips, Phil Proctor, David Randolph | Dutch voice cast: Jurrian van Dongen, Piet Hein Snijders, Ryan van den Akker, Dewi Douwes, Coen Flink, Paul van Gorcum, Arnold Gelderman

For many, ‘The Lion King’ (1994), Disney’s 32nd full-length animated feature, remains one of the greatest films ever made. The story of the young lion cub Simba, who is destined to become the new king of the animal kingdom, attracted so many visitors when it was released that the film still tops the list of high earners (it was not until the advent of Pixar’s computer animations that animated films began to attract attention). even more visitors). ‘The Lion King’ has everything that makes a film compelling and memorable: a captivating story, appealing characters and a delightful villain. But also catchy songs and beautiful, colorful animations. For a Disney movie, the themes are pretty serious (guilt and forgiveness), but there’s plenty of room for fun and merriment. As part of the release of the Diamond Edition of ‘The Lion King’, both on DVD and Blu-Ray, Disney decided to re-release the film in theaters. This re-release is a very special one: the original hand-drawn film was converted into 3D, to meet the wishes of the (demanding) contemporary audience.

It offers (young) viewers a great opportunity to admire this timeless story on the silver screen. Because ‘The Lion King’ is still a great movie. The overwhelming opening scene alone, in which the birth of the young lion Simba is announced to the other animals of the savanna, makes this film worthwhile. The story then unfolds as an alternate version of ‘Hamlet’, starring Scar, the jealous brother of lion king Mufasa, Simba’s father. Scar wants to take control of the animal kingdom himself, but now that Simba is born, he moves one more place in the line of succession to the throne. The wily Scar then devises a plan to take out both Mufasa and Simba. The poor cub is banished and ends up in the jungle, where he must save himself. Fortunately, he soon runs into Timon and Pumbaa, a comedy duo of a meerkat and a warthog who teach Simba some valuable life lessons. But of course he can’t just shake off his past.

‘The Lion King’ is a film with a smile and a tear. Sometimes it can also be frightening for the little ones. The death scene is heartbreaking, which certainly manages to equal the death of Bambi’s mother in tragedy. The blossoming love between Simba and his girlfriend Nala forms a sweet subplot, which should make way for Simba to deal with his demons, deal with the responsibilities of coming of age and his true nature must show. A colorful arsenal of animal characters is reviewed. The way the African savannah is portrayed here is still a technical masterpiece, even though the animation world has not stood still since 1994 and we have now been spoiled with the perfect animations from Pixar and DreamWorks. The music, by Elton John and Tim Rice, is still rock solid (but let’s not forget the charming ‘Hakuna Matata’). Last but not least, a great voice cast has been assembled for this film to give shape to the animals, with names such as James Earl Jones, Matthew Broderick, Rowan Atkinson and Whoopi Goldberg. But it is mainly Jeremy Irons who makes a deep impression as Scar, partly because of that one of the best villains in the entire oeuvre of Disney.

At the time of the release of ‘The Lion King’ the concept of 3D already existed, but after a number of flops people lost confidence in it. Almost twenty years later, what had not been thought possible in 1994 has happened; a 3D version of the movie was made. Layer by layer (and sometimes a scene consists of a hundred different layers!) the film was given an extra dimension. You can bet that a lot of time, money and energy went into this! Actually, Disney could have saved itself blood, sweat and tears, because the 3D element doesn’t really add much (except for extra depth, but you simply expect more than that). Nevertheless, ‘The Lion King 3D’ is drawing full houses in the United States (already good for thirty million dollars in its opening weekend!) And let those people be wrong: how many times do you get the chance to see a seventeen-year-old animation classic in all its splendor? and splendor on the silver screen? Precisely! So book those tickets!