Before I get universally castigated for what I'm about to write, let me just say that my viewing this week of THE LION KING (Roger Allers, Disney, 1994) was indeed the first time I have ever seen the film. I am not a fan of animated movies, nor do I particularly care for Disney films. When the film was first released I had no desire to see it, and honestly, had it not been listed on AFI's Top Ten Animated films list I more than likely still would never have seen it.
The narrative to this film is pedestrian at best, basically being an amalgam of bible stories, Greek mythology, fairy tales, fables, legends and Shakespeare. This technique of pastiching everything together, very postmodern, is fine with me. I think that the hype that accompanied the film prior to my seeing it made me expect so much more. One of the most common elements of postmodern films is the use of pastiche, combining previously used source material and reinventing it as your own. For a film with such acclaim I expected more of a striking narrative, something substantial. Finally, as Disney stories go, I didn't feel this film came close to other Disney incarnations,
Of course the soundtrack to the film is outstanding, and I seem to recall a time when Elton John was seemingly doing every song for Disney. The only thing about the film I truly despised was the conversion to 3D. This trend is utterly pointless. It adds nothing to a films value, if anything it often detracts because the obligatory 3D shots often seem forced and completely unnecessary to the plot of the film. THE LION KING was no exception here, and just as in on of 2011's worst films, THOR, I watched the second half of the film without the glasses. When will the trend towards 3D releases end? Not soon enough!
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