Simba’s Pride is one of the best Disney sequels on the block, a great follow up to the first film. TLK 1 1/2 is pretty good too, even though it ranks last in the film franchise in my opinion.
I watched the second one more than the first when I was little. I still really love it. Zira's villain song and the song between Kiara and Kovu are my favorite. I used to kind of crush on Kovu because of his voice. He has the same voice as Binx in Hocus Pocus after all.
Another comment sorry: Scar says “I’m the king I can do whatever I want!” I love that Scar’s ruling as king is a clear reflection of what Simba thought being a king was as a kid. Had he not taken Mufasa’s wisdom to heart, he would have turned out like Scar. Also Sarabi is such an incredible character. She loses her husband and (supposedly) only child in one day, and still remains regal and proud-not letting Scar intimidate her! A badass!
Exactly why I think mufasa dying was really a good thing for Simba's character because the way he was being raised he would have turned out to be an spoiled and entitled king. Him losing his father and getting raised by Timon and pumba really humbled him and I truly don't think you would have turned out that way if he grew up with his father
@@mylittlebrony2130 It wasn't how Simba was being raised, it was his youthful ignorance and idealization about his title. You see how Simba was being raised by his actual talks with Mufasa. It's only when he starts to rely on what he was actually taught that he becomes a king. Scar was never taught to be King so he had his own fantasy of what it would be like and that's why he couldn't do the job.
@@deehines5750 I agree and disagree I don't think Simba would have ever completely understood if his father raised him I still think he would have been spoiled for example when he went to the elephant graveyard he got a little bit of trouble but honestly he didn't really get punished in a kind of way like him being grounded to the den or something else like that he just got a few words and it was over , it's the same as with a lot of rich kids even if they have good loving parents they end up still being spoiled entitled ( in most cases ) Simba going through those hardships and being raised by ones who are technically lower than him humbled him and losing his father made his words and philosophy a lot more meaningful
@@mylittlebrony2130 From a sociological standpoint being punished is not the same thing as learning a valuable lesson. He learned the lessons he needed to from his talk, everything doesn't need to be reinforced with a punishment. That would be like the equivalent of punishing a toddler for touching a hot stove after you told them not to touch it. That doesn't benefit anyone. In most cases additional punishments when not necessary make you less likely to admit your mistakes and doesn't teach a lesson in anything other than how not to get caught and face the consequences of your actions. I also disagree about being humbled. His time with them was not supposed to be a real humbling experience. His living conditions minus the food was always great. He was only with Timon and Pumba because he was ashamed of himself so much that he started to lose who he was. When he remembered he tried his best to be the most like Mufasa he could. I didn't watch Lion King 1 1/2 but I know a few details and Timon and Pumba were also supposed to be running away from their families. So their time together is really more like the absense of responsibilities and expectations. Duty and responsibility is what made Simba go back home. If Mufasa imparted no wisdom on him he would've been a coward like Scar.
James Earl Jones and Jeremy Irons were phenomenal in this movie. Their voices compliment each other *PERFECTLY.* James’s voice is deep, strong, powerful, and dominant, whilst Jeremy’s voice is smooth, slick, stern, and grim. Having them play 2 complete opposites was a genius move. Well done on the casting director.
@@morganspider-manmarvelfan6110 It hindered the film. Chiwetel Ejiofor is a great actor, but his voice could not match James Earl Jones in the remake. Anytime they spoke to each other, Mufasa completely overshadowed Scar in every scene they were in together.
@@TCT24 They could/should've casted Joseph Morgan for Scar he can do the soft villain voice like Jeremy, and he makes a great villain, check him out in The Vampire Diaries and The originals
The score that plays as he climbs Pride Rock always lifts my heart. After all the pain and suffering, we get to share in this triumphant moment with him. It's so satisfying.
@@whitenoisereacts Hans Zimmer worked with an African composer, Lebo M., on a different movie before this. (The older movie was "The Power of One", which focused on the apartheid in South Africa.) So the African flavor is authentic, down to the Zulu chorus singing in the background. It's awesome, and some of the lyrics sung by the chorus in Zulu add to the movie when you know what you're looking at! For instance, when Simba is running back to Pride Rock (and again at the end of the movie), you hear the chorus singing Busa le lizwe [Rule this land] Busa le lizwe [Rule this land] Busa lomhlaba wethu [Rule this land of ours] Busa ngo xolo [Rule with peace]
_Be Prepared_ is the best Disney villain song, fight me. Jeremy Irons went so hard into this song as Scar that he threw out his voice and Jim Cummings (Scar’s additional VA as well as the VA for Ed) had to do the final verse. It’s ripe with excellent vocabulary, perfectly displays Scar’s intentions, and validates him as a genuine threat to Mufasa and Simba. Plus he friggin earth bends with his voice - an earth bending lion with an army hyenas. Awesome.
Regarding the Animation: The effect with the whole herd being on screen, Lion King was the first animated movie which did this, and while it is still impressive today, back then it was absolutely groundbreaking. Also the beginning...it is hard to describe how it is to sit in the dark theatre and then the "sun" comes up. Everything about it was extremely impressive...ironically, the film which all animators wanted to work at was Pocahontas back then, because that was the project the leadership paid most attention to. But in the end, this "Lion movie" was so much more successful.
@@mikaku The first movie which combined CGI and Classic animation was actually The Black cauldon, though that was so minimal, that usually The First Mouse Detective is cited as the first, with Rescuers Down under being the first one which explicitely used CAPS. Beauty and the Beast built on it with the impressive Ballroom scene, because it showed that the "camera" didn't have to be static anymore. What Lion King did was working with computer modelling in order to create mass scenes, the stampete being the most impressive example of the technique. Those are actually just a few models, but they are told by a computer to move differently.
CG-animation was still in it's "infancy" during this time. I believe they had to develope their own program for the stampede scene specifically because there was no program at the time capable of making that number of CG assets that could move through the scene and not clip through one another. They had to MAKE the program that allowed the Wilda beasts to run close together but not collide or pass through one another. This movie was a mile stone for not only 2-D animation but CG animation. But, being a little kid when this came out, that aspect went clear over my head. I remember just being in absolute awe seeing that stampede closing in on Simba. Still gets my heart racing as an adult lol!
Hans Zimmer won his very first Oscar for scoring this movie. SO glad he won recently for Dune. With this, Kung Fu Panda, and Prince of Egypt, he NEEDS to do more animated movies! Zimmer is a titan in the music industry and deserves all of the respect. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Don't forget Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. The soundtrack and the songs are AMAZING! Just watch the scene when Spirit grows up. The music is epic. (I can't find the name of the track, but it's the scene where he narrates "And so I grew from colt to stallion. As wild and reckless as thunder over the land. Racing with the eagle, soaring with the wind. Flying? There were times I believed I could.") Also, the track "Young Hearts" is my favourite. It's a beautiful cover of the song "Brothers Under the Sun". Man, the songs are awesome.
To answer your question about hyenas, yes they can crush through bone. Hyenas have a bite force of 1100 psi, for comparison lions have a bite force of 650 psi. Hyenas aren't the stupid evil villains Disney made them out to be, they are extremely smart. Hyenas have outperformed chimpanzees in collaborative problem solving experiments. Some fun facts about hyenas: while they will scavenge, they will also hunt their own food. Lions do the same thing and will steal food from others. Hyenas have a strict matriarchal hierarchy meaning the females are the leaders. The lowest ranking female ranks higher than the highest ranking male. They are amazing animals and quite cute.
And the fact that usually slips people’s minds because for some reason society at large had lumped hyenas in with dogs simply on appearance I guess?, but they’re actually closer to cats!
I love the whole scene of Simba's ascent to the "throne" (in ancient Greek it was called the "Parousia"). The villain has been vanquished; his old, painful world has been burned away and the ashes are washed by the cleansing rain. Especially when you see the skulls and bones washed out by the rising floods as the music swells, and ending with the new king's triumphant roar. Long live the King.
4:27 The animators studied the live animals as they worked on the film. They even brought a full grown male lion into the studio. 26:05 The Lion Sleeps Tonight by the Tokens (1961) And Rafiki is absolutely my favorite character.
Mufasa and Simba's conversation after the elephant graveyard is one of my favorite scenes because you really get to see what a good father Mufasa was. He was angry, but he recognized that came from a place of fear and took a breath before talking to Simba more seriously about it. I think he recognized when Simba genuinely felt guilty and internalized what he was saying, so he didn't go on longer than he had to to make him feel worse, and said exactly what Simba needed to hear. He even showed vulnerability and admitted he was afraid, which is a very important lesson for kids; that the grown-ups aren't invincible. And then ending the conversation by playing to let them both decompress and show Simba he still loved him. It wasn't an easy conversation, but it was handled about as well as someone could.
Simba trying to get his dad to get up after finding him dead will always make me cry. Whether when I was a child, or 29 going on 30. Mufasa's death will always make me cry.
Fun fact, the stampede scene took around 3 years to get right. Because 3d animation was so new, the animators basically had to invent a method to get it right without going through and individuallly animating every single one. There's a great interview with Scott Johnston, a VFX artist, about how he programmed all the models to interact with eachother whilst also making it look as natural as possible.
Fun fact: Hans Zimmer didn’t want to make music for this movie. He said that when he heard it’s Disney he thought that it’s gonna be another movie about princesses. Then he realised it’s a story about child losing his father and he thought about his own father who also passed away. He also said that he thought it would be nice to take his daughter to cinema so that she can see how dad works. And then he got an Oscar for this soundtrack. Or i rather should say “his team” because he never says “I”, he always says “we”. He also didn’t want to compose for the “Pirates” and now it’s like the most recognisable movie theme.
This film is incredible. And it’s an incredible portrayal of trauma, childhood wounds and PTSD, and healing from them as an adult-great exposure to those themes for both kids and adults. Finally, Hans Zimmer’s score is one of his best! Thanks for reacting to this!
Lion King, at least for me. remains to be the gold standard in Disney animated musicals. The hand drawn animation, the color palette, the voice acting, the songs, everything about this movie is top tier, regardless of the source material being a mix of Hamlet/Kimba the White Lion.
Actually, the inspiration for The Lion King had nothing to do with Hamlet & goes back farther than that. Check out Jon Solo's RUclips channel for the messed up origins of The Lion King. He does a TON of research on everything from mythology, folklore, Disney movies, urban legends & even nursery rhymes, then he breaks it down for us viewers.
@@sakurakittynoir1400 Invoking "Archetypal Storytelling" can make NUMEROUS amounts of past works to be the "inspirtaion" for The Lion King. HOWEVER, in an early cut of the film, Scar would've said the line "Goodnight, sweet prince," which is one of the most ICONIC lines from Hamlet, pointing to the fact that writers had a more PG version of the play in mind.
Sweetie? Did I strike a nerve? I leave a positive comment. You reply I'm wrong because of X & Y reasons (a quite literal argument), and then promote another YT channel in the thread. Honey. Grow up.
Fun fact: Until Elsa and Anna came in 2013, the Lion King was the highest grossing animated movie of all time period. But it is still the highest grossing hand drawn animated movie of all time with a box office total of over $987 million.
The score for this animation as well as *'The Prince of Egypt'* always gives me goosebumps, they're so beautiful. Hans Zimmer will always be a legend to me Also the scene of little Simba trying wake his dead father......... 😢😢😢
I think the animation was pretty classic but I have to say, after seeing Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin on the big screen recently, The Lion King was the best. I don't know if you get the full impact on a smaller screen but Lion King just blew me away in terms of the colours and any scenes with the stars. I was in complete awe. The scene with Mufasa in the clouds had me speechless too. This film was the most immersive and cinematic so I hope if you guys ever get a chance to catch a screening of this one day, then I highly recommend it :)
Young Simba's singing voice was Jason Weaver, who was personally selected by Michael Jackson himself to play the younger version of him in the Jacksons mini series in the early 90s... and he *nailed* it!
Scar's weakness is that he likes to play with his food/prey, like letting Simba run and the Hyena's give chase, or when he couldn't resist telling Simba that he was responsible. It was foreshadowed with the mouse that escaped when he played with it.
34:49 The line about Timon "Dressing in drag and doing the hula" was improvised, but it was so funny and in-character that they actually threw it into the script and animated it. The animated bloopers for this are also HILARIOUS! You can find them on RUclips, they made me laugh til I snorted!
Seen it on Broadway. In my opinion it could even surpass the original. They include some additional songs and the costumes are absolutely breathtaking.
26:00 In case nobody else mentioned it, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” was first an old South African song written in 1939. The English version that super-popularized it was released in 1961, and reached #1 on the Billboard Top 100.
Jeremy irons also blew out his vocal cords.... Singing be prepared.... And the sequel is another one of my favorites. The stampede scene took three years to complete and as I've previously stated the animation teams were on separate ends of the country
I watched this beautiful movie when I was 4 years old. I always played it on my VHS, its plot and score made me feel inside the movie. Today was my first time watching it after... maybe 15 years. I know every frame and dialogue that I can use my mind to "play" the movie.
Fun Fact young Simba is played by Jonathan Tayler Tomas and Buzz Lightyear is played by Tim Allen. They played father and son on Home Improvement and during the run of the show they would make jokes about each movie
The Lion King is the greatest Disney film in my personal opinion! I am grateful that I was able to experience this film back in 1994. With it’s wonderful animation, story, memorable soundtrack, and great cast of characters, The Lion King had impacted me so much to pursue a career in animation! I cannot express how much I love The Lion King, it truly is a phenomenal animated film!
It's definitly top 5 now...it's a question of taste but Up, Beauty and the Beast, Fantasia, Finding Nemo, Inside out, Coco, Zootopia and the Toy Story movies sure give it a good challenge for 1st place !
I went to see this on Broadway about 3 months ago and honestly I cried at the start, I would recommend it to anyone who loves this movie. its expensive but SO worth it🥰
We've had the soundtrack of the Broadway version in our household since I was a kid, but only now, this year, did I finally go to see it with my Mom. We were blown away by it! 10/10, can whole-heartedly recommend! ♥
Fun Trivia: James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair voiced Mufasa and Sarabi, King and Queen of the Pridelands. In "Coming to America" (1988, six years before The Lion King) they portrayed Jaffe Joffer and Aoleon, King and Queen of Zumunda.
Yes, the Broadway show is absolutely incredible; I highly recommend going to see it if you can! I’m hoping to see it again next year when it comes back to LA. Beautiful costumes and music…love it. 🦁
The only Disney adaptation that deserves to be on Broadway imo. They were able to take the movie and completely adapt it to the stage and make it it’s own thing. Whereas most Disney plays just feel like the movie on stage with small, sometimes confusing, tweaks to try to make them their own.
@@fightingfaerie I agree. Seeing Julie Taymor’s work alone is worth going to the show. ^_^ But yeah, I don’t trust too many movies-first-turned-musicals…I saw one or two and they completely ruined it for me. Some things are just meant for one medium.
The guy that sang as young Simba is Jason Weaver. He’s been in numerous movies and shows. He even played as young Michael Jackson in the Jacksons movie in 92.
Jonathan Taylor Thomas was nine when he did the voice over of little Simba. He also played Randy Taylor, the middle child, in the TV series Home Improvement. Jason Weaver was Simbas singing voice. The Lion Sleeps Tonight (song) was released in 1961 by The Tokens.
I love this movie with a passion. "Be Prepared" is my favorite villain song out of all of Disney's villain songs. Out of the non villain songs in this movie, I would have to say my favorite would be "Hakuna Matata". And that bit of music where Simba is chasing Rafiki in the oasis is a song that was later added to the Broadway version of The Lion King titled "Endless Night". As sad as the song is, it perfectly showcases Simba's anguish and grief over Mufasa's death.
Mufasa has raised Simba very well, and teaching Simba these great life lessons. And Simba will do a great job rulring the pride lands as an adult, and caring on in his father's footsteps.
Technically Timon and puma raised him which I don't think they get enough credit for because even though mufasa was a great king and a great father if he did in the raising Simba , Simba probably would have turned out to be a spoiled and entitled King not too much different than scar himself there's a chance that he would have turned out different but I really think mufasa's death and the fact that he was raised by Timon and pumba really made him turn into a great humble King
The Broadway production is "to die for." It is a beautifully produced show. Mainly because it was done by someone who understood that they had to completely rethink how to do it, and accomplished it by incorporating African themes into the costumes and showing the human actors at all times while showing the characters they represent.
With the exception of the ending, this is almost a retelling of the Shakespearean play Hamlet. Simba's parents, voiced by James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair, played similar characters in Coming to America. Young Simba was voiced by Home Improvement star Johnathan Taylor Thomas, while adult Simba was voiced by Ferris Bueller star Matthew Broderick. Besides the Broadway adaptation, there are two more animated films and a computer animated remake
I love how the sequels follow the Shakespearean trend with Simba’s Pride being inspired by “Romeo and Juliet” and 1 1/2 being inspired by the meta-play of Hamlet “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead”.
The animation in this is stunning. I love how stylized it is, when the film it at its most philosophical it almost trends towards realism with the landscapes, but then utilises really cartoon type emotions for the characters and OTT colours for the musical numbers. And the infamous bedroom eyes with Nala 😂 they really had some animator be all "Now, draw a lion but... you know, make it sexy!" 😏 I have to chuckle at you commenting on how sleazy Scar is... have you seen the cut scenes for be prepared reprise, and how scar wanted to force nala to be his queen? Uncke Scar was creeping! Those little dark moments really pop in this family friendly movie! That idea also resurfaced in the musical... you know, for the kids!
I saw the off-Broadway version of "Lion King" in Toronto about 20 years ago on a school trip, and I'll say...it was very affecting. We were lucky enough to have a Q&A/ singing lesson from a couple of the actual performers. I remember one of the actors was a South African who's brother was in the NYC(full Broadway) production. The actor we met was Simba and also the puppeteer for the mouse in the Toronto show. Something I'll never forget. Highest recommendation 😊
Fun Fact: in the middle of recording "be prepared" Jeremy Irons' (Scar) voice went out. So legendary Jim Cummings who is the voice of the hyena Ed in the movie (and numerous other Disney characters) stepped up and recorded the second half of the song. Can you hear the difference?
First movie I watched at the cinema, I continue to be amazed ღ I watched it in Spanish, as all my childhood movies, and Mufasa's voice is iconic too. You can ask anyone in Spain about voice acting and Constantino Romero (Mufasa and Darth Vader amongst others) is the first name that comes to our minds. 3:56 he was a rug in Hercules, remember?
Saw this in the theater for a 7th grade field trip. I cried and laughed along side my best friends. This movie has always held a special place in my heart. Many years later, my husband surprised me with tickets to the stage production and I started bawling the moments the characters sing the opening song as they are coming down the aisles and stage. It was so beautiful. I will never forget it. ❤
This is my favorite Disney movie of all-time! Besides James Earl Jones and Jeremy Irons, there's also Jonathan Taylor Thomas from Home Improvement as the voice of young Simba and Jason Weaver as the singing voice for young Simba. And Rowan Atkinson, (Mr. Bean), was Zazu. Nathan Lane as Timon, Matthew Broderick is adult Simba. Just so many great, well-known actors in this movie. Please, please watch The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride. I know Disney sequels are not always that good, but the The Lion King 2 is amazing, imo. The songs and music in that movie are so epic that they rival the songs in the first one, which is saying something. One of the songs from The Lion King 2 is actually included in the Broadway musical. They also brought back the same actors to do the voices, and the animation and art style are just as incredible as well.
Fun fact about the song "Be Prepared". Jeremy Irons' voice gave out about halfway through singing it, so the second half, after the "You wont be able to sniff without me" line, The voice of Winnie the Pooh, Jim Cumings, took over for the rest of the song.
One of the all-time Disney masterpieces. From the animation, the score by Hans Zimmers, the songs by Elton John and Tim Rice and the voice cast, like Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Jeremy Irons, Rowan Atkinson and James Earl Jones. A pure classic.
I don't know if this was in the original cut of the movie, but it was on the dvd cut that I used to watch as a child. That pouncing lesson scene at the beginning was a whole musical sequence called "The Morning Report"
In terms of the Broadway version of "Circle of Life"...yeah, with what I've seen, there is no better introduction to a musical. It takes what this movie dies and makes what was already a 10-outta-10 opening into a 15-outta-10 opening. The entire first minute and a half is just the most powerful combination of human voices and it's not until they start getting into the first English verse when the music kicks in to underline the already incredible sound. I honestly don't know how not to cry through sheer joyful and powerful emotions projected through my soul when listening to the Broadway version of "Circle of Life."
Hyena has a bite force of 1100psi which is incredible! A Lion is around 650psi. Great white shark 4000psi In comparison to some common dogs. Mastiff 552psi Rottweiler 328psi Pitbull 235psi German Shepherd 238psi
I actually saw this on Broadway earlier this year. It was FANTASTIC! Fairly close to the movie with some additions. If you ever get the chance to see it, I highly recommend it. Also, when i saw it, instead of Zazu singing "Small World" He started singing "Let it Go". Scar flipping out makes more sense in that context
so the tream for this movie went to Africa to study the animals and plains. I think specifically one shot in the opening song with the gazelles bouncing through the fog was an actual scene they witnessed and decided to use it. This movie also introduced (I forget the technical term) but its a type of effect where it can predict motion and the physics of group movement (in their case it was the stamped which took them 3 years to do) they used the 3d technology to map out how the group of wilderbeasts would gather, bounce off each other and move around the area. they then animated a few cycles and input them into the scene and randomized it to make it look more organic. its a shot worth remembering and honouring with all the work that went into it. and it paid off so well.
Young Simba sounds like a kid because he was voiced by a kid, Jonathan Taylor Thomas. He played the middle brother on Home Improvement TV series and did several Disney movies during that time.
Fun fact since it was brought up in the video. Most people recognize "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" from it being used in this film but it was not written for the film. The song actually dates back to 1939 when it was originally recorded in the Zulu language by a south african acappella r&b/doo-wop group Solomon Linda and the Evening Birds. The english lyrics were written by George David Weiss, and I think most are familiar with the recording done by The Tokens, which is the version Timon is singing in The Lion King. This film makes me cry every time. Also would love you to watch Lion King 2 for sure, 1 1/2 is... okay, not great imo. But would be interested in your thoughts on The Lion King remake with realistic cgi and the changes they made to it, especially since you comment so heavily on the expressiveness and personality of the character's faces in this film and it was one of the biggest critiques of the remake.
You can see why so many people prefer this to the live action remake. Compare this version of Be Prepared to the live action, and you see a world of difference. Everything from Scar seated high above while watching the hyenas march to rising above everyone via a volcanic geyser going off symbolizes that Scar is pushing himself to the top while bringing everything beneath him to ruin. The hyenas marching was supposed to be a nod to the goose stepping of the Nazis, and the crescent moon (rather than using the classic full moon) was supposed to represent the sickle used in the Communist symbol, further showing that Scar's reign was more like a regime. If you missed the goose stepping, watch Be Prepared in German and skip to the part where the hyenas sing, "It's great that we'll soon be connected to a king that'll be all time adored." That must have come across so well in German movie theaters. XD
A couple of details about Scar: His claws are never retracted, unlike the other lions. When felines aren't actively using their claws, they're pulled into their slots in the toes so they don't get clogged up with dirt. Scar's claws are always out, though. It's to make him look more evil. IRL, lions with darker manes are considered more attractive by lionesses. However, to convey Scar's "dark evil energy," he was the only one with a dark mane. And while IRL males with dark hairdos typically get more mates, they also tend to overheat faster than fair-maned lions. Win some, lose some, IG.
Also I’m not sure if you guys notice but Zazu is the voice of Rowan Atkinson, the guy who plays Mr. Bean. Such a phenomenal actor. If you haven’t watch the Bean Movie you guys should react to it. It’s hilarious
Remember when Frozen was overplayed in all theater for so long and always brought back for more viewing...This is the version of that but in the 90's ! This movie is great, but was in theater for so long and was so everywhere in terms of marchandise...it was insane. Seeing it later without that noise feels very different...It's not perfect by any means, the turn of the story at the end kinda kills the movie moral but in term of animation, it was a master class ! Also the voice acting is insanity good !
@@mylittlebrony2130 The whole kinda moral of the story is face your past and learn from it...the thing is, when he face his past, his past is winning and then it doesn't matter, so it kinda goes against his own moral. It just a little clunky thats all...
@@jean-philippedoyon9904 Dude wouldn't you be in shock if you believed you killed your dad for years but then it turns out the uncle you loved did it? Simba still beats it in the end.
It's such a different experience watching this movie as an adult vs. when I watched it as a kid. I loved the movie when I was a kid and I even got emotional during Mufasa's death scene. But watching it as an adult, I've been able to appreciate the themes within the narrative so much more. I love that Mufasa was such a good role model and tried his best to teach Simba how to be a good, fair, and intelligent leader. And I think Simba had a really good character arc throughout this film. He started off a bit naive, entitled, and bratty(understandable because he was a kid). He ended up renouncing his duty/responsibility to be king out of shame because Scar made him think what happened to Mufasa was his fault. Then eventually,when he saw what Scar had done to the Pridelands, he realized he needed to step up and be a leader like his father was. It was just really good storytelling IMO. Good characters, good animation, and really good themes throughout about family, responsibility, and being a gracious and humble leader.
Little Simba was voiced by Jonathan Taylor Thomas who was in Home Improvement. Subsequently Tim Allen of course, who played his dad on HI was Buzz Lightyear 😊 one of the hyenas was Whoopi Goldberg.
The Broadway show is AMAZING. I saw it in New York, and my home state. It's beautiful, and gave me chills both times. Especially the end of Circle Of Life. I love love love the costumes too. If you ever get a chance, see it!
I've been to the Serengeti amongst other African wildlife preserves, they're breathtakingly beautiful with the best skies and sunsets I've ever seen. These animated landscapes are pretty accurate.
This is my favorite Disney movie!!!!!!! My boyfriend took me to see The Lion King on Broadway for our first date. It was beyond amazing, I cried lol So beautiful.!!!!
I still remember how shocked I was when I realised that Zazu was voiced by Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) and that Mufasa was Darth Vader when I was a kid 😂
upon rewatching this movie with you guys.... i just noticed that at 39:26 scar is trying to pin simba, but simba thwarts him. this makes nala the only lion whos ever successfully pinned simba! and it could be representative of how simba is finally no longer running from his past - now he's willing to learn and confront his past.
I use to sing the songs to get my son to sleep, as he got older he started watching them and now sings the songs all the time. "He lives in you" and "be prepared" are my favs oh and no worries.
This was the movie that got me as a kid to listen to a movie's soundtrack beyond just the musical numbers, and to this day is still one of Hans Zimmer's master works and is still my favorite of his.
I never noticed it until I saw someone say it somewhere that Simba always got pinned down from above by Nala and in the end, when Scar jumps through the fire and is about to pin Simba down from above, Simba pushes him off with his hind legs. It's a subtle way of showing how he's become wiser and learned from his mistakes like Rafiki said. Such a great movie!
Hamlet for children. my sister was lucky enough to see the Broadway version in New York on her 8th grade field trip when it first came out (and was then booked for the next 7 years). my grandparents (r.i.p) took me to see it at the Pantages Theater in California about a year later, and it did not disappoint. this is where I learned about the deleted scene where scar wanted nala to be his queen, and she rejected him, hence the whole reason she left pride rock.
Fun yet Sad Fact for "Lion Sleeps Tonight" It was originally performed and recorded by Solomon Linda (A South African Artist) in the 1930s. Initially titled "Mbube". It was then "adapted" and recorded by The Weavers then, later the Tokens(with many artists making covers before and after them). Although he and his group sold 100,000 records of Mbube in GB, Solomon still unfortunately died a poor man with only $22 accumulated to his name. His wife was not even able to afford a gravestone for him. After "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" had its explosion in popularity due to Lion King and it's Broadway successor Disney only gave Solomon's estate $17,000 in royalties. His credit to the foundation of what the song is today needs to be even more recognizable than it currently is.
This is my all time favorite Disney movie. And I'm sad Nala always gets left out of the Disney princess lineup. She's a better example for young girls to look up to than most of the human princesses. She's smart, strong, kind, resourceful, took the initiative to go out looking for help. And her prince was someone she *knew*, not a random guy she'd spent a few hours/days with having an adventure. I honestly think the big reason she isn't right up there with Jasmine/Ariel/Belle/etc, is because she's not human. Half as tall, so she'd ruin the tidy line of similar-height pretty ladies... and the toy options are way more limited when your princess doesn't live in a house, ride a horse, or wear clothes. Actually, now that I think about it, that last point seems to me like it was probably the big deciding factor.
Yeah. But don't trash talking about the other princesses. Like yeah some of they're princes are lame but they're character are great. And it's refreshing seeing strong princesses because of they're kindness.
It’s cool that the two of you are reacting to the lion King which is also one of my favorites growing up, if you like watching the lion king you might like watching lion King 1 1/2 and Lion king 2 Simba‘s pride. I know these two films are sequels and people say sequels aren’t as good as the original but I think they are funny and just as good as an original.
Hey guys, love your reactions and hanging out with you! The musical stage version of the The Lion King had its world premiere in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1997 before heading to Broadway. I was lucky to be in the audience. The costume design had created a lot of buzz for its innovation. But it was the opening number that truly blew everyone away. The music was so powerful. Everyone in the audience (including grown men) were overcome with emotion. I don't think there was a dry eye in the theater.
I saw it in the Netherlands in and the costume design for the Musical was amazing. Another thing Disney does very well is translate songs and still make them sound good. I usually prefer the english language cause not everything translates perfectly but with the Disney musicals its always very good same was so for the Mary Poppins and Tarzan musicals.
I've seen it 4 times as it's traveled around the US. The Lion King was my favorite as a child and I was maybe 13 when I saw the play and honestly we were blown away by the opening act. Like we could have left after that and been satisfied with the 3 hour drive and hotel and ticket cost it was that good. I loved the costumes and the other songs like "Shadowland", "He Lives in You" and "Lioness Hunt". I bought the soundtrack immediately, and I have the book about the costuming too.
This is an iconic movie! Also, I cannot believe that you’re watching this for the first time. I thought every Millennial has this watched the film and wept.
What are your thoughst on the Lion King sequels??
Second movie is good actually
The second movie is great, one of the best Disney sequels. But Lion King 1 1/2 was just okay for me.
Simba’s Pride is one of the best Disney sequels on the block, a great follow up to the first film. TLK 1 1/2 is pretty good too, even though it ranks last in the film franchise in my opinion.
The 2nd was good but not as good as the 1st, and 1 1/2 was the least good
I watched the second one more than the first when I was little. I still really love it. Zira's villain song and the song between Kiara and Kovu are my favorite. I used to kind of crush on Kovu because of his voice. He has the same voice as Binx in Hocus Pocus after all.
Another comment sorry: Scar says “I’m the king I can do whatever I want!” I love that Scar’s ruling as king is a clear reflection of what Simba thought being a king was as a kid. Had he not taken Mufasa’s wisdom to heart, he would have turned out like Scar.
Also Sarabi is such an incredible character. She loses her husband and (supposedly) only child in one day, and still remains regal and proud-not letting Scar intimidate her! A badass!
Exactly why I think mufasa dying was really a good thing for Simba's character because the way he was being raised he would have turned out to be an spoiled and entitled king. Him losing his father and getting raised by Timon and pumba really humbled him and I truly don't think you would have turned out that way if he grew up with his father
@@mylittlebrony2130 It wasn't how Simba was being raised, it was his youthful ignorance and idealization about his title. You see how Simba was being raised by his actual talks with Mufasa. It's only when he starts to rely on what he was actually taught that he becomes a king. Scar was never taught to be King so he had his own fantasy of what it would be like and that's why he couldn't do the job.
@@deehines5750 I agree and disagree I don't think Simba would have ever completely understood if his father raised him I still think he would have been spoiled for example when he went to the elephant graveyard he got a little bit of trouble but honestly he didn't really get punished in a kind of way like him being grounded to the den or something else like that he just got a few words and it was over , it's the same as with a lot of rich kids even if they have good loving parents they end up still being spoiled entitled ( in most cases ) Simba going through those hardships and being raised by ones who are technically lower than him humbled him and losing his father made his words and philosophy a lot more meaningful
@@mylittlebrony2130 From a sociological standpoint being punished is not the same thing as learning a valuable lesson. He learned the lessons he needed to from his talk, everything doesn't need to be reinforced with a punishment. That would be like the equivalent of punishing a toddler for touching a hot stove after you told them not to touch it. That doesn't benefit anyone. In most cases additional punishments when not necessary make you less likely to admit your mistakes and doesn't teach a lesson in anything other than how not to get caught and face the consequences of your actions.
I also disagree about being humbled. His time with them was not supposed to be a real humbling experience. His living conditions minus the food was always great. He was only with Timon and Pumba because he was ashamed of himself so much that he started to lose who he was. When he remembered he tried his best to be the most like Mufasa he could. I didn't watch Lion King 1 1/2 but I know a few details and Timon and Pumba were also supposed to be running away from their families. So their time together is really more like the absense of responsibilities and expectations. Duty and responsibility is what made Simba go back home. If Mufasa imparted no wisdom on him he would've been a coward like Scar.
@@deehines5750 but never as evil
James Earl Jones and Jeremy Irons were phenomenal in this movie. Their voices compliment each other *PERFECTLY.* James’s voice is deep, strong, powerful, and dominant, whilst Jeremy’s voice is smooth, slick, stern, and grim. Having them play 2 complete opposites was a genius move. Well done on the casting director.
Yet James Earl Jones was the only original cast member who returned for the remake.
@@morganspider-manmarvelfan6110 It hindered the film. Chiwetel Ejiofor is a great actor, but his voice could not match James Earl Jones in the remake. Anytime they spoke to each other, Mufasa completely overshadowed Scar in every scene they were in together.
@@TCT24 They could/should've casted Joseph Morgan for Scar he can do the soft villain voice like Jeremy, and he makes a great villain, check him out in The Vampire Diaries and The originals
They are phenomenal in the movie lol 😂 I like James earl jones and Jeremy irons
Should have had Jeremy Irons return. They didn’t even ask him. The dude is iconic and sounds the same.
The score that plays as he climbs Pride Rock always lifts my heart. After all the pain and suffering, we get to share in this triumphant moment with him. It's so satisfying.
AGREED!!!
@@whitenoisereacts Hans Zimmer worked with an African composer, Lebo M., on a different movie before this. (The older movie was "The Power of One", which focused on the apartheid in South Africa.) So the African flavor is authentic, down to the Zulu chorus singing in the background. It's awesome, and some of the lyrics sung by the chorus in Zulu add to the movie when you know what you're looking at!
For instance, when Simba is running back to Pride Rock (and again at the end of the movie), you hear the chorus singing
Busa le lizwe [Rule this land]
Busa le lizwe [Rule this land]
Busa lomhlaba wethu [Rule this land of ours]
Busa ngo xolo [Rule with peace]
@@whitenoisereacts done bride of chucky 1998 pls
I like the score
@@whitenoisereacts yes agreed
_Be Prepared_ is the best Disney villain song, fight me.
Jeremy Irons went so hard into this song as Scar that he threw out his voice and Jim Cummings (Scar’s additional VA as well as the VA for Ed) had to do the final verse.
It’s ripe with excellent vocabulary, perfectly displays Scar’s intentions, and validates him as a genuine threat to Mufasa and Simba. Plus he friggin earth bends with his voice - an earth bending lion with an army hyenas.
Awesome.
For me its Hellfire by Frollo or In the dark of the night by Rasputin (I know Anastasia wasnt made by Disney but for animated villains its great)
And most people can't even tell it's two people singing or when it changes
@@artsysabs
Ooh, that’s a nice pick. _Hellfire_ was also amazing, it’s an exceedingly close second place for me.
Hellfire, but Be Prepared is my second favorite
“One of us” from The Lion King 2 is actually really up there for me. Don’t knock it till you try it
Regarding the Animation: The effect with the whole herd being on screen, Lion King was the first animated movie which did this, and while it is still impressive today, back then it was absolutely groundbreaking. Also the beginning...it is hard to describe how it is to sit in the dark theatre and then the "sun" comes up. Everything about it was extremely impressive...ironically, the film which all animators wanted to work at was Pocahontas back then, because that was the project the leadership paid most attention to. But in the end, this "Lion movie" was so much more successful.
The herd animation? You mean the CGI stampide?
Because 3 years before, Beauty and the Beast already combined CGI and clasic animation.
@@mikaku That was just CGI backdrops and still models. Lion King actually implemented 3D animation.
"Bambi Hamlet"
@@mikaku The first movie which combined CGI and Classic animation was actually The Black cauldon, though that was so minimal, that usually The First Mouse Detective is cited as the first, with Rescuers Down under being the first one which explicitely used CAPS. Beauty and the Beast built on it with the impressive Ballroom scene, because it showed that the "camera" didn't have to be static anymore. What Lion King did was working with computer modelling in order to create mass scenes, the stampete being the most impressive example of the technique. Those are actually just a few models, but they are told by a computer to move differently.
CG-animation was still in it's "infancy" during this time. I believe they had to develope their own program for the stampede scene specifically because there was no program at the time capable of making that number of CG assets that could move through the scene and not clip through one another. They had to MAKE the program that allowed the Wilda beasts to run close together but not collide or pass through one another. This movie was a mile stone for not only 2-D animation but CG animation.
But, being a little kid when this came out, that aspect went clear over my head. I remember just being in absolute awe seeing that stampede closing in on Simba. Still gets my heart racing as an adult lol!
Hans Zimmer won his very first Oscar for scoring this movie. SO glad he won recently for Dune. With this, Kung Fu Panda, and Prince of Egypt, he NEEDS to do more animated movies! Zimmer is a titan in the music industry and deserves all of the respect. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
I like Hans zimmer lol 😂💖💖💖💖💎💎💍💍
Don't forget Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. The soundtrack and the songs are AMAZING!
Just watch the scene when Spirit grows up. The music is epic. (I can't find the name of the track, but it's the scene where he narrates "And so I grew from colt to stallion. As wild and reckless as thunder over the land. Racing with the eagle, soaring with the wind. Flying? There were times I believed I could.")
Also, the track "Young Hearts" is my favourite. It's a beautiful cover of the song "Brothers Under the Sun". Man, the songs are awesome.
To answer your question about hyenas, yes they can crush through bone. Hyenas have a bite force of 1100 psi, for comparison lions have a bite force of 650 psi. Hyenas aren't the stupid evil villains Disney made them out to be, they are extremely smart. Hyenas have outperformed chimpanzees in collaborative problem solving experiments. Some fun facts about hyenas: while they will scavenge, they will also hunt their own food. Lions do the same thing and will steal food from others. Hyenas have a strict matriarchal hierarchy meaning the females are the leaders. The lowest ranking female ranks higher than the highest ranking male. They are amazing animals and quite cute.
And the fact that usually slips people’s minds because for some reason society at large had lumped hyenas in with dogs simply on appearance I guess?, but they’re actually closer to cats!
They are also really good to their cubs, animalistically speaking.
They also eat their prey alive which is why they scare me so much 😰
Female hyenas also possess a pseudophallus, which they use to grape male hyenas and establish dominance.
That's pretty messed up, in my estimation.
And apparently it's very difficult to differentiate the males from the females
I always cry during Mufasa's death scene, it's the most heartbreaking Disney moment of all time.
Same! That scene has always hit me hard, but even more so after I lost my own father a few years ago...
I love the whole scene of Simba's ascent to the "throne" (in ancient Greek it was called the "Parousia"). The villain has been vanquished; his old, painful world has been burned away and the ashes are washed by the cleansing rain. Especially when you see the skulls and bones washed out by the rising floods as the music swells, and ending with the new king's triumphant roar.
Long live the King.
Agreed!!! Love the green literally reference. I enjoy learning that stuff
@@whitenoisereacts me too
We all know what the Parousia refers to, and this moment is a great nod to that, man. Ave Christus Rex!
4:27 The animators studied the live animals as they worked on the film. They even brought a full grown male lion into the studio. 26:05 The Lion Sleeps Tonight by the Tokens (1961)
And Rafiki is absolutely my favorite character.
26:05 When they said that it made me feel sooooo old.
Mufasa and Simba's conversation after the elephant graveyard is one of my favorite scenes because you really get to see what a good father Mufasa was. He was angry, but he recognized that came from a place of fear and took a breath before talking to Simba more seriously about it. I think he recognized when Simba genuinely felt guilty and internalized what he was saying, so he didn't go on longer than he had to to make him feel worse, and said exactly what Simba needed to hear. He even showed vulnerability and admitted he was afraid, which is a very important lesson for kids; that the grown-ups aren't invincible. And then ending the conversation by playing to let them both decompress and show Simba he still loved him. It wasn't an easy conversation, but it was handled about as well as someone could.
Simba trying to get his dad to get up after finding him dead will always make me cry. Whether when I was a child, or 29 going on 30.
Mufasa's death will always make me cry.
Same❤
Fun fact, the stampede scene took around 3 years to get right. Because 3d animation was so new, the animators basically had to invent a method to get it right without going through and individuallly animating every single one. There's a great interview with Scott Johnston, a VFX artist, about how he programmed all the models to interact with eachother whilst also making it look as natural as possible.
Fun fact: Hans Zimmer didn’t want to make music for this movie. He said that when he heard it’s Disney he thought that it’s gonna be another movie about princesses. Then he realised it’s a story about child losing his father and he thought about his own father who also passed away. He also said that he thought it would be nice to take his daughter to cinema so that she can see how dad works. And then he got an Oscar for this soundtrack. Or i rather should say “his team” because he never says “I”, he always says “we”. He also didn’t want to compose for the “Pirates” and now it’s like the most recognisable movie theme.
This film is incredible. And it’s an incredible portrayal of trauma, childhood wounds and PTSD, and healing from them as an adult-great exposure to those themes for both kids and adults. Finally, Hans Zimmer’s score is one of his best! Thanks for reacting to this!
It's the plot of Hamlet, by Shakespeare.
This film is incredible lol 😂
Lion King, at least for me. remains to be the gold standard in Disney animated musicals. The hand drawn animation, the color palette, the voice acting, the songs, everything about this movie is top tier, regardless of the source material being a mix of Hamlet/Kimba the White Lion.
Actually, the inspiration for The Lion King had nothing to do with Hamlet & goes back farther than that. Check out Jon Solo's RUclips channel for the messed up origins of The Lion King. He does a TON of research on everything from mythology, folklore, Disney movies, urban legends & even nursery rhymes, then he breaks it down for us viewers.
@@sakurakittynoir1400 Invoking "Archetypal Storytelling" can make NUMEROUS amounts of past works to be the "inspirtaion" for The Lion King. HOWEVER, in an early cut of the film, Scar would've said the line "Goodnight, sweet prince," which is one of the most ICONIC lines from Hamlet, pointing to the fact that writers had a more PG version of the play in mind.
Sweetie? Did I strike a nerve? I leave a positive comment. You reply I'm wrong because of X & Y reasons (a quite literal argument), and then promote another YT channel in the thread. Honey. Grow up.
the kimba thing was proven to be untrue a couple years ago, its just a coincidence
@@iseng4rd its just the name that is similar
Fun fact: Until Elsa and Anna came in 2013, the Lion King was the highest grossing animated movie of all time period. But it is still the highest grossing hand drawn animated movie of all time with a box office total of over $987 million.
Really? Frozen was the first animated movie reaching a billion?
"Everything the light touches, is our kingdom."
- Mufasa🦁
That shot of Shenzi glaring at Simba after being scratched is so good
The score for this animation as well as *'The Prince of Egypt'* always gives me goosebumps, they're so beautiful. Hans Zimmer will always be a legend to me
Also the scene of little Simba trying wake his dead father......... 😢😢😢
I think the animation was pretty classic but I have to say, after seeing Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin on the big screen recently, The Lion King was the best. I don't know if you get the full impact on a smaller screen but Lion King just blew me away in terms of the colours and any scenes with the stars. I was in complete awe. The scene with Mufasa in the clouds had me speechless too. This film was the most immersive and cinematic so I hope if you guys ever get a chance to catch a screening of this one day, then I highly recommend it :)
I COMPLETELY agree
@@whitenoisereacts I do too
I like the lion king lol 😂 I love 💕 beauty and the beast and Aladdin
Young Simba's singing voice was Jason Weaver, who was personally selected by Michael Jackson himself to play the younger version of him in the Jacksons mini series in the early 90s... and he *nailed* it!
Still carved deep in my heart... This movie
Scar's weakness is that he likes to play with his food/prey, like letting Simba run and the Hyena's give chase, or when he couldn't resist telling Simba that he was responsible. It was foreshadowed with the mouse that escaped when he played with it.
Wait. I never noticed that. °-°
34:49 The line about Timon "Dressing in drag and doing the hula" was improvised, but it was so funny and in-character that they actually threw it into the script and animated it.
The animated bloopers for this are also HILARIOUS! You can find them on RUclips, they made me laugh til I snorted!
Seen it on Broadway. In my opinion it could even surpass the original. They include some additional songs and the costumes are absolutely breathtaking.
26:00 In case nobody else mentioned it, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” was first an old South African song written in 1939. The English version that super-popularized it was released in 1961, and reached #1 on the Billboard Top 100.
Jeremy irons also blew out his vocal cords.... Singing be prepared.... And the sequel is another one of my favorites. The stampede scene took three years to complete and as I've previously stated the animation teams were on separate ends of the country
I watched this beautiful movie when I was 4 years old. I always played it on my VHS, its plot and score made me feel inside the movie. Today was my first time watching it after... maybe 15 years. I know every frame and dialogue that I can use my mind to "play" the movie.
Young Simba is voiced by Jason Weaver who was the older brother in Smart Guy, and the Legendary Ernie Sabella voiced Pumba
Fun Fact young Simba is played by Jonathan Tayler Tomas and Buzz Lightyear is played by Tim Allen. They played father and son on Home Improvement and during the run of the show they would make jokes about each movie
The Lion King is the greatest Disney film in my personal opinion! I am grateful that I was able to experience this film back in 1994. With it’s wonderful animation, story, memorable soundtrack, and great cast of characters, The Lion King had impacted me so much to pursue a career in animation! I cannot express how much I love The Lion King, it truly is a phenomenal animated film!
It's definitly top 5 now...it's a question of taste but Up, Beauty and the Beast, Fantasia, Finding Nemo, Inside out, Coco, Zootopia and the Toy Story movies sure give it a good challenge for 1st place !
That’s my dad’s favorite movie from Disney.
@@jean-philippedoyon9904 toy story is Pixar.
I went to see this on Broadway about 3 months ago and honestly I cried at the start, I would recommend it to anyone who loves this movie. its expensive but SO worth it🥰
So lucky!!!!
This, and Beauty and the Beast on boardway do very well. I loved both.
We've had the soundtrack of the Broadway version in our household since I was a kid, but only now, this year, did I finally go to see it with my Mom. We were blown away by it! 10/10, can whole-heartedly recommend! ♥
Fun Trivia: James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair voiced Mufasa and Sarabi, King and Queen of the Pridelands. In "Coming to America" (1988, six years before The Lion King) they portrayed Jaffe Joffer and Aoleon, King and Queen of Zumunda.
Fun fact: Nathan Lane ad-libbed the dress in drag line and the producers loved it so much they kept it in there and animated it! 😂
The voice acting in this movie is iconic
Yes, the Broadway show is absolutely incredible; I highly recommend going to see it if you can! I’m hoping to see it again next year when it comes back to LA. Beautiful costumes and music…love it. 🦁
The only Disney adaptation that deserves to be on Broadway imo. They were able to take the movie and completely adapt it to the stage and make it it’s own thing. Whereas most Disney plays just feel like the movie on stage with small, sometimes confusing, tweaks to try to make them their own.
@@fightingfaerie I agree. Seeing Julie Taymor’s work alone is worth going to the show. ^_^
But yeah, I don’t trust too many movies-first-turned-musicals…I saw one or two and they completely ruined it for me. Some things are just meant for one medium.
It is absolutely incredible I love 💕 the lion emoji lol 😂
The guy that sang as young Simba is Jason Weaver. He’s been in numerous movies and shows. He even played as young Michael Jackson in the Jacksons movie in 92.
Jonathan Taylor Thomas was nine when he did the voice over of little Simba. He also played Randy Taylor, the middle child, in the TV series Home Improvement. Jason Weaver was Simbas singing voice. The Lion Sleeps Tonight (song) was released in 1961 by The Tokens.
I love this movie with a passion. "Be Prepared" is my favorite villain song out of all of Disney's villain songs. Out of the non villain songs in this movie, I would have to say my favorite would be "Hakuna Matata". And that bit of music where Simba is chasing Rafiki in the oasis is a song that was later added to the Broadway version of The Lion King titled "Endless Night". As sad as the song is, it perfectly showcases Simba's anguish and grief over Mufasa's death.
The Lion King was always my favorite movie as a kid. It's beautiful.
This one is my all time favorite when it comes to Disney classics, it has deep emotional value for me, Hans Zimmer did an amazing job with the score.
Mufasa has raised Simba very well, and teaching Simba these great life lessons. And Simba will do a great job rulring the pride lands as an adult, and caring on in his father's footsteps.
Technically Timon and puma raised him which I don't think they get enough credit for because even though mufasa was a great king and a great father if he did in the raising Simba , Simba probably would have turned out to be a spoiled and entitled King not too much different than scar himself there's a chance that he would have turned out different but I really think mufasa's death and the fact that he was raised by Timon and pumba really made him turn into a great humble King
I'm 33yr and I still love watching the lion King. One of my all time favorite movies
The Broadway production is "to die for." It is a beautifully produced show. Mainly because it was done by someone who understood that they had to completely rethink how to do it, and accomplished it by incorporating African themes into the costumes and showing the human actors at all times while showing the characters they represent.
I’ve seen it on stage twice, once on Broadway and once on the national tour. It’s amazing, great costumes and awesome choreography.
With the exception of the ending, this is almost a retelling of the Shakespearean play Hamlet. Simba's parents, voiced by James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair, played similar characters in Coming to America. Young Simba was voiced by Home Improvement star Johnathan Taylor Thomas, while adult Simba was voiced by Ferris Bueller star Matthew Broderick. Besides the Broadway adaptation, there are two more animated films and a computer animated remake
I love how the sequels follow the Shakespearean trend with Simba’s Pride being inspired by “Romeo and Juliet” and 1 1/2 being inspired by the meta-play of Hamlet “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead”.
The animation in this is stunning. I love how stylized it is, when the film it at its most philosophical it almost trends towards realism with the landscapes, but then utilises really cartoon type emotions for the characters and OTT colours for the musical numbers.
And the infamous bedroom eyes with Nala 😂 they really had some animator be all "Now, draw a lion but... you know, make it sexy!" 😏
I have to chuckle at you commenting on how sleazy Scar is... have you seen the cut scenes for be prepared reprise, and how scar wanted to force nala to be his queen? Uncke Scar was creeping! Those little dark moments really pop in this family friendly movie! That idea also resurfaced in the musical... you know, for the kids!
They managed to make Kovu an attractive bad boy in the sequel too 😂
@@hellogoodbyeandallinbetween 😂 yes kovu
The animation is stunning lol 😂
😍🥰🌸♦️💎💍💕💖👗
I saw the off-Broadway version of "Lion King" in Toronto about 20 years ago on a school trip, and I'll say...it was very affecting. We were lucky enough to have a Q&A/ singing lesson from a couple of the actual performers. I remember one of the actors was a South African who's brother was in the NYC(full Broadway) production. The actor we met was Simba and also the puppeteer for the mouse in the Toronto show. Something I'll never forget. Highest recommendation 😊
Fun Fact: in the middle of recording "be prepared" Jeremy Irons' (Scar) voice went out. So legendary Jim Cummings who is the voice of the hyena Ed in the movie (and numerous other Disney characters) stepped up and recorded the second half of the song.
Can you hear the difference?
Fun fact: it took 3 years just to do the wilderbeats scene!! 3 years that's dedication!!
First movie I watched at the cinema, I continue to be amazed ღ I watched it in Spanish, as all my childhood movies, and Mufasa's voice is iconic too. You can ask anyone in Spain about voice acting and Constantino Romero (Mufasa and Darth Vader amongst others) is the first name that comes to our minds.
3:56 he was a rug in Hercules, remember?
Saw this in the theater for a 7th grade field trip. I cried and laughed along side my best friends. This movie has always held a special place in my heart. Many years later, my husband surprised me with tickets to the stage production and I started bawling the moments the characters sing the opening song as they are coming down the aisles and stage. It was so beautiful. I will never forget it. ❤
This is my favorite Disney movie of all-time! Besides James Earl Jones and Jeremy Irons, there's also Jonathan Taylor Thomas from Home Improvement as the voice of young Simba and Jason Weaver as the singing voice for young Simba. And Rowan Atkinson, (Mr. Bean), was Zazu. Nathan Lane as Timon, Matthew Broderick is adult Simba. Just so many great, well-known actors in this movie.
Please, please watch The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride. I know Disney sequels are not always that good, but the The Lion King 2 is amazing, imo. The songs and music in that movie are so epic that they rival the songs in the first one, which is saying something. One of the songs from The Lion King 2 is actually included in the Broadway musical. They also brought back the same actors to do the voices, and the animation and art style are just as incredible as well.
It's my favourite Disney too
also whoopi goldberg as shenzi!
@@sarahfields288 I love 💕 it
@@mona6467 lol 😂 yeah
Seconding this.
This truly is the pinnacle of traditional animation. James Earl Jones and "Be Prepared" bring me so much joy everytime I hear them.
Fun fact about the song "Be Prepared". Jeremy Irons' voice gave out about halfway through singing it, so the second half, after the "You wont be able to sniff without me" line, The voice of Winnie the Pooh, Jim Cumings, took over for the rest of the song.
One of the all-time Disney masterpieces. From the animation, the score by Hans Zimmers, the songs by Elton John and Tim Rice and the voice cast, like Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Jeremy Irons, Rowan Atkinson and James Earl Jones. A pure classic.
Whoopi Goldburg and Cheech Marin too as the hyenas!
5:41 - Fun fact: Earlier on in his career, James Earl Jones was pathologically shy and hesitated in speaking publicly (as far as I know).
He was shy because he had a stutter.
@@Terriblegam2r - Ah, right. Thanks for the correction.
I don't know if this was in the original cut of the movie, but it was on the dvd cut that I used to watch as a child. That pouncing lesson scene at the beginning was a whole musical sequence called "The Morning Report"
same i had the "special edition" VHS and it had the song in it
In terms of the Broadway version of "Circle of Life"...yeah, with what I've seen, there is no better introduction to a musical. It takes what this movie dies and makes what was already a 10-outta-10 opening into a 15-outta-10 opening. The entire first minute and a half is just the most powerful combination of human voices and it's not until they start getting into the first English verse when the music kicks in to underline the already incredible sound.
I honestly don't know how not to cry through sheer joyful and powerful emotions projected through my soul when listening to the Broadway version of "Circle of Life."
Hyena has a bite force of 1100psi which is incredible! A Lion is around 650psi. Great white shark 4000psi
In comparison to some common dogs.
Mastiff 552psi
Rottweiler 328psi
Pitbull 235psi
German Shepherd 238psi
Zazu : “ He would make a very handsome throw rug ” Indeed he did because in Hercules scar is a throw rug.
I actually saw this on Broadway earlier this year. It was FANTASTIC! Fairly close to the movie with some additions. If you ever get the chance to see it, I highly recommend it.
Also, when i saw it, instead of Zazu singing "Small World" He started singing "Let it Go". Scar flipping out makes more sense in that context
so the tream for this movie went to Africa to study the animals and plains. I think specifically one shot in the opening song with the gazelles bouncing through the fog was an actual scene they witnessed and decided to use it. This movie also introduced (I forget the technical term) but its a type of effect where it can predict motion and the physics of group movement (in their case it was the stamped which took them 3 years to do) they used the 3d technology to map out how the group of wilderbeasts would gather, bounce off each other and move around the area. they then animated a few cycles and input them into the scene and randomized it to make it look more organic. its a shot worth remembering and honouring with all the work that went into it. and it paid off so well.
In terms of Disney animated movies this is the top of the food chain kind of movie.
Young Simba sounds like a kid because he was voiced by a kid, Jonathan Taylor Thomas. He played the middle brother on Home Improvement TV series and did several Disney movies during that time.
2:46 Mufasa and Sarabi: “(Individually and nonverbally to Simba) I’m so proud of you”
Fun fact since it was brought up in the video. Most people recognize "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" from it being used in this film but it was not written for the film. The song actually dates back to 1939 when it was originally recorded in the Zulu language by a south african acappella r&b/doo-wop group Solomon Linda and the Evening Birds. The english lyrics were written by George David Weiss, and I think most are familiar with the recording done by The Tokens, which is the version Timon is singing in The Lion King.
This film makes me cry every time. Also would love you to watch Lion King 2 for sure, 1 1/2 is... okay, not great imo. But would be interested in your thoughts on The Lion King remake with realistic cgi and the changes they made to it, especially since you comment so heavily on the expressiveness and personality of the character's faces in this film and it was one of the biggest critiques of the remake.
You can see why so many people prefer this to the live action remake. Compare this version of Be Prepared to the live action, and you see a world of difference. Everything from Scar seated high above while watching the hyenas march to rising above everyone via a volcanic geyser going off symbolizes that Scar is pushing himself to the top while bringing everything beneath him to ruin. The hyenas marching was supposed to be a nod to the goose stepping of the Nazis, and the crescent moon (rather than using the classic full moon) was supposed to represent the sickle used in the Communist symbol, further showing that Scar's reign was more like a regime.
If you missed the goose stepping, watch Be Prepared in German and skip to the part where the hyenas sing, "It's great that we'll soon be connected to a king that'll be all time adored." That must have come across so well in German movie theaters. XD
A couple of details about Scar: His claws are never retracted, unlike the other lions. When felines aren't actively using their claws, they're pulled into their slots in the toes so they don't get clogged up with dirt. Scar's claws are always out, though. It's to make him look more evil.
IRL, lions with darker manes are considered more attractive by lionesses. However, to convey Scar's "dark evil energy," he was the only one with a dark mane. And while IRL males with dark hairdos typically get more mates, they also tend to overheat faster than fair-maned lions. Win some, lose some, IG.
I still can’t get over that the voice actor for Zazu is Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean)
I love that man!!
Also I’m not sure if you guys notice but Zazu is the voice of Rowan Atkinson, the guy who plays Mr. Bean. Such a phenomenal actor. If you haven’t watch the Bean Movie you guys should react to it. It’s hilarious
Remember when Frozen was overplayed in all theater for so long and always brought back for more viewing...This is the version of that but in the 90's ! This movie is great, but was in theater for so long and was so everywhere in terms of marchandise...it was insane. Seeing it later without that noise feels very different...It's not perfect by any means, the turn of the story at the end kinda kills the movie moral but in term of animation, it was a master class ! Also the voice acting is insanity good !
What do you mean my the turn at the end ?
I'm just wondering
@@mylittlebrony2130 The whole kinda moral of the story is face your past and learn from it...the thing is, when he face his past, his past is winning and then it doesn't matter, so it kinda goes against his own moral. It just a little clunky thats all...
@@jean-philippedoyon9904 I see your point
@@jean-philippedoyon9904 Dude wouldn't you be in shock if you believed you killed your dad for years but then it turns out the uncle you loved did it? Simba still beats it in the end.
Really? It was overplayed in theatres? Man I wish I was born in the 90s 😢
It's such a different experience watching this movie as an adult vs. when I watched it as a kid. I loved the movie when I was a kid and I even got emotional during Mufasa's death scene. But watching it as an adult, I've been able to appreciate the themes within the narrative so much more.
I love that Mufasa was such a good role model and tried his best to teach Simba how to be a good, fair, and intelligent leader. And I think Simba had a really good character arc throughout this film. He started off a bit naive, entitled, and bratty(understandable because he was a kid). He ended up renouncing his duty/responsibility to be king out of shame because Scar made him think what happened to Mufasa was his fault. Then eventually,when he saw what Scar had done to the Pridelands, he realized he needed to step up and be a leader like his father was. It was just really good storytelling IMO. Good characters, good animation, and really good themes throughout about family, responsibility, and being a gracious and humble leader.
That was my first Disney Movie I love as a kid.
Timon the Meerkat was my favorite character of this franchise. I like Meerkats. ^^
Little Simba was voiced by Jonathan Taylor Thomas who was in Home Improvement. Subsequently Tim Allen of course, who played his dad on HI was Buzz Lightyear 😊 one of the hyenas was Whoopi Goldberg.
And Zazu was played by Rowan Atkinson, aka Mr. Bean. Yup. His design even looks like a bird version of Mr Bean!
I love the way these two look deeper into the movies… the camera angles, the lighting, everything. They give us more than a general reaction.
The Broadway show is AMAZING. I saw it in New York, and my home state. It's beautiful, and gave me chills both times. Especially the end of Circle Of Life. I love love love the costumes too. If you ever get a chance, see it!
I've been to the Serengeti amongst other African wildlife preserves, they're breathtakingly beautiful with the best skies and sunsets I've ever seen. These animated landscapes are pretty accurate.
This is my favorite Disney movie!!!!!!!
My boyfriend took me to see The Lion King on Broadway for our first date. It was beyond amazing, I cried lol
So beautiful.!!!!
I always loved the little tidbit that Scar was animated with his claws always out as a way of hinting at his bad intentions.
I’ve seen the musical. I cried 2 seconds in lmao. Hans Zimmer’s score always gets me ♥️
I really hope you do The Lion King 2 sometime after this.
Disney sequels can be pretty hit-or-miss, but LK2 knocks it out of the park.
I still remember how shocked I was when I realised that Zazu was voiced by Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) and that Mufasa was Darth Vader when I was a kid 😂
upon rewatching this movie with you guys.... i just noticed that at 39:26 scar is trying to pin simba, but simba thwarts him. this makes nala the only lion whos ever successfully pinned simba! and it could be representative of how simba is finally no longer running from his past - now he's willing to learn and confront his past.
I love that the voice Sarabi and Musfas are also the parents from Coming to America
I use to sing the songs to get my son to sleep, as he got older he started watching them and now sings the songs all the time.
"He lives in you" and "be prepared" are my favs oh and no worries.
This was the movie that got me as a kid to listen to a movie's soundtrack beyond just the musical numbers, and to this day is still one of Hans Zimmer's master works and is still my favorite of his.
I never noticed it until I saw someone say it somewhere that Simba always got pinned down from above by Nala and in the end, when Scar jumps through the fire and is about to pin Simba down from above, Simba pushes him off with his hind legs. It's a subtle way of showing how he's become wiser and learned from his mistakes like Rafiki said. Such a great movie!
Hamlet for children.
my sister was lucky enough to see the Broadway version in New York on her 8th grade field trip when it first came out (and was then booked for the next 7 years). my grandparents (r.i.p) took me to see it at the Pantages Theater in California about a year later, and it did not disappoint. this is where I learned about the deleted scene where scar wanted nala to be his queen, and she rejected him, hence the whole reason she left pride rock.
Fun yet Sad Fact for "Lion Sleeps Tonight"
It was originally performed and recorded by Solomon Linda (A South African Artist) in the 1930s. Initially titled "Mbube". It was then "adapted" and recorded by The Weavers then, later the Tokens(with many artists making covers before and after them). Although he and his group sold 100,000 records of Mbube in GB, Solomon still unfortunately died a poor man with only $22 accumulated to his name. His wife was not even able to afford a gravestone for him. After "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" had its explosion in popularity due to Lion King and it's Broadway successor Disney only gave Solomon's estate $17,000 in royalties. His credit to the foundation of what the song is today needs to be even more recognizable than it currently is.
Of course Mufasa is James Earl Jones. But did u know his wife, Sarabi is also his wife in Coming to America. Madge Sinclair. 🙂🙂 She's so beautiful!!!
My favourite songs re 1 be prepared 2 i just can't wait to be king 3 Haguna Matata!
I went to see the Broadway musical version of The Lion King when I was little, and it was AMAZING!
This is my all time favorite Disney movie. And I'm sad Nala always gets left out of the Disney princess lineup. She's a better example for young girls to look up to than most of the human princesses. She's smart, strong, kind, resourceful, took the initiative to go out looking for help. And her prince was someone she *knew*, not a random guy she'd spent a few hours/days with having an adventure.
I honestly think the big reason she isn't right up there with Jasmine/Ariel/Belle/etc, is because she's not human. Half as tall, so she'd ruin the tidy line of similar-height pretty ladies... and the toy options are way more limited when your princess doesn't live in a house, ride a horse, or wear clothes.
Actually, now that I think about it, that last point seems to me like it was probably the big deciding factor.
Yeah. But don't trash talking about the other princesses. Like yeah some of they're princes are lame but they're character are great. And it's refreshing seeing strong princesses because of they're kindness.
It’s cool that the two of you are reacting to the lion King which is also one of my favorites growing up, if you like watching the lion king you might like watching lion King 1 1/2 and Lion king 2 Simba‘s pride. I know these two films are sequels and people say sequels aren’t as good as the original but I think they are funny and just as good as an original.
Mufasa and Sarabi were voiced by James Earl Jones and Madge Sinclair respectively.
They also happened to play the king and queen in Coming to America.
Hey guys, love your reactions and hanging out with you! The musical stage version of the The Lion King had its world premiere in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1997 before heading to Broadway. I was lucky to be in the audience. The costume design had created a lot of buzz for its innovation. But it was the opening number that truly blew everyone away. The music was so powerful. Everyone in the audience (including grown men) were overcome with emotion. I don't think there was a dry eye in the theater.
I saw it in the Netherlands in and the costume design for the Musical was amazing.
Another thing Disney does very well is translate songs and still make them sound good.
I usually prefer the english language cause not everything translates perfectly but with the Disney musicals its always very good same was so for the Mary Poppins and Tarzan musicals.
I've seen it 4 times as it's traveled around the US. The Lion King was my favorite as a child and I was maybe 13 when I saw the play and honestly we were blown away by the opening act. Like we could have left after that and been satisfied with the 3 hour drive and hotel and ticket cost it was that good. I loved the costumes and the other songs like "Shadowland", "He Lives in You" and "Lioness Hunt". I bought the soundtrack immediately, and I have the book about the costuming too.
This is an iconic movie! Also, I cannot believe that you’re watching this for the first time. I thought every Millennial has this watched the film and wept.