People are often surprised when I tell them it's my favorite movie. They suspect me of some kind of silliness, which I grant, is not a huge leap. But it's legitimately a great movie. When we begin, we are witnesses to either a baptism, or an anointing, and it isn't clear which. We see the ray of sunlight fall upon the boy who would be king, and we are invited to draw the obvious conclusions from what is left of our religious heritage.
We meet King Mufasa, who remains the moral center of the film throughout, and from whom all the good characters derive their authority and example. As I like to say, the morality play is straight up; we identify with the good characters, and are repulsed by the bad ones. When Simba gets in trouble, his father calls to him in the darkness; he steps into the huge footprint left by his father. There's a whole commentary about fathers and sons written into those wordless seconds.
The problem of the film is gut-wrenching; if you have never seen it, it will move you.
Simba finds two funny friends in the desert, and I can't say it better than Simba: "Timon and Pumbaa; you'll learn to love 'em." Simba and his friends learn that we can't stay where we are, even when it's comfortable.
It's funny when it needs to be, and it's serious when it needs to be. Everyone has duties to perform, even when we must face the past to perform them.
It's the Joseph story with lions. You get a little Shakespeare, political intrigue, and great songs. You need to see it, if you haven't.
We meet King Mufasa, who remains the moral center of the film throughout, and from whom all the good characters derive their authority and example. As I like to say, the morality play is straight up; we identify with the good characters, and are repulsed by the bad ones. When Simba gets in trouble, his father calls to him in the darkness; he steps into the huge footprint left by his father. There's a whole commentary about fathers and sons written into those wordless seconds.
The problem of the film is gut-wrenching; if you have never seen it, it will move you.
Simba finds two funny friends in the desert, and I can't say it better than Simba: "Timon and Pumbaa; you'll learn to love 'em." Simba and his friends learn that we can't stay where we are, even when it's comfortable.
It's funny when it needs to be, and it's serious when it needs to be. Everyone has duties to perform, even when we must face the past to perform them.
It's the Joseph story with lions. You get a little Shakespeare, political intrigue, and great songs. You need to see it, if you haven't.
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