I chose to do Disney’s “The Lion King” for nostalgia’s sake. It’s been ages since I’ve seen it, however, and so I decided to focus on what remains to be one of my favorite Disney songs, “Be Prepared.” It’s a fun sequence that made no sense to me as a child, because the words were all too big.
I like that this sequence, and this movie, doesn’t really hold back on the idea of death and killing. Scar saying that he’s going to kill the king and all that stuff is not something that you could get away with in a children’s movie today. As such, I applaud this movie for finding ways to be entertaining to children and tolerable to adults. The animation and mise en scene in the movie is also well done. There are many very well composed shots throughout the “Be Prepared” song, for instance.
If had to pick something that I’d say is problematic with this movie, is that it’s aimed at children and yet uses words that are simply beyond their age range. It took me years to figure out more than that Scar is a bad guy from this song, due to the use of the words and phrases like “coup,” “quid pro quo,” and “meticulous.” I had no idea what those sorts of things meant when I was five. However, for what it’s worth, the movie makes up for this lack of understanding by providing a clear atmosphere for each scene, so even if children might not understand all the logistics of what’s going on, they’ll at least catch whether or not something good is goin’ on.
I wish more movies like this were made for children these days. Too many of them are simplistic and stupid, taking out the ideas of death and many elements of real story telling. Movies like this, that have reasonably complex ideas and death within the movie, are probably better for children to be seeing, rather than things like, oh, say, “Kung Fu Panda.”
Love love love love The Lion King )) I watched many many times and pretty much know the whole script and songs by heart. I think it’s a great movie for both kids and adults. The way it’s made makes it very touching, entertaining and memorable. I don’t think I can mention all of the techniques used to make this movie, but every scene is a product of deliberate choice and thought process. I agree that “Be Prepared” is one of the nicest parts of the movie. The symmetry is used to strengthen the feeling that there are thousands of hyenas that are ready to follow Scar. Dark colors and shades are used for a more scary effect. At the end a high angled shot of Scar makes him stand above everything in the world streesing his desire to be the King.
I can go on and on about this movie. It’s very well made with a great story line.