The Lion King (1994)
Young lion prince Simba, eager to one day become king of the Pride Lands, grows up under the watchful eye of his father Mufasa; all the while his villainous uncle Scar conspires to take the throne for himself. Amid betrayal and tragedy, Simba must confront his past and find his rightful place in the Circle of Life.
Directors: Rob Minkoff, Roger Allers
Cast: Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones, Moira Kelly, and Nathan Lane
Release Date: June 12, 1994
127 Movie Reviews
- I really like this movie because it shows how life can sometimes be hard but you can get through it. Also, it is a fun family movie!!!!!!
- masonover 8 yearslove the song
- gdghjghcabout 9 yearsi hate the movie is so boring
- this move is the best movie ever, because the lion king and his wife had a little baby and there friend held up the baby to the kingdom. everyone cheered for the baby to have a great live with them. did the baby have a great live? well. you have to watch the movie to find out!!!!!
- It is amazing I can watch it a thousand times again and again. Songs are amazing, and the movie is halerios
- Aw I love the Lion king. I have a thing about singing the opening to the Circle of Life really loud in my Junior High... XD Espeshially when trying to get cell service XDXD
- its good ppl should watch it
- taMMY NYUGEN over 9 yearsI LOVE IT
- I can't believe this movie was made in 1994!!These days movies are kind of the same but this movie is incredible!!! It has an amazing plot to it and made me cry my eyes out!It is all about 'father and son' love.It is AMAZING!!!!!!
- This is, handsdown, probably the greatest Disney movie ever made, only slightly edged out by Beauty and the Beast, possibly. As I watched this movie, tears rolled down my cheeks. As I watched this movie, it made me laugh with joy and humor. As I watched this movie, it made my heart bounce, jump, do flips and finally made my heart warm up. Did all of these emotions rush through me while I was watching Frozen? No. Sure, the songs were catchy, and the plot was pretty good, but besides that, it has nothing going for it! It doesn't have the old-timey, draw-every-scene that I felt in the Renaissance Disney movies, and that's truly movie magic. Now it's all about CGI and visual effects, which is why I didn't feel attracted to Tangled and Frozen. The Lion King is about an amazing coming-of-age story of a young lion named Simba. Simba is actually the prince of 'The Circle of Life', the heir of Mufasa, the king. The plot is very well done, and extremely intricate. It's like it was painting a tapestry of the life of the naive Simba. But then comes Scar. Scar always hated Mufasa because Mufasa was chosen to be the king instead of him, but he had been waiting for his turn to become the king. However, when Simba was born, Simba became the heir, not Scar. Scar was very bitter and did not even attend Simba's initiation ceremony. Later, he devises an evil plan to take over the ecosystem and murder Simba and Mufasa. His plan succeeds (partially) and Mufasa dies trying to save Simba. Simba, however, manages to get away. Overridden by guilt, Simba escapes, and is found by a meerkat (Timon) and a warthog (Pumbaa). Timon and Pumbaa (made me laugh so hard, it's true) each have their own backstory. Timon's backstory is found in Lion King 1 1/2, but Pumbaa's backstory is so hilarious (but I'll leave that part for you to find out.) Anyway, they all want to find a paradise where they don't worry about the past, and enjoy their new life, thus inspiring the song, Hakuna Matata. But one day, when Simba is no longer a cub but a full-grown adult, he gets in a fight with a lioness to save Pumbaa and Timon's life. It turns out the lioness is Nala, his childhood friend. Nala tells him that everyone is starving under Scar's rule and that Simba must resume his rightful position as king. Simba refuses, which makes Nala confused, bitter, and really mad. As he's storming again, he comes across his father's advisor, and one of his best friends. That's right - the baboon. The baboon who received the honor of holding Simba off a cliff during his initiation ceremony. So Rafiki (the baboon, do I have to say it again) tells Simba that Mufasa is "alive" and leads him to a pond. There, Simba gazes into a pond until he sees his reflection. He sees his reflection change into his father's, and Rafiki tells him that "he lives in you." Mufasa's ghost appears, telling him he can't stay here. He says he has to face the past and take his rightful place as king. Moved by these words, Simba decides to go back, face his past, take his rightful place, etc. Nala, Timon, and Pumbaa join him and vow to fight alongside Simba. When they arrive, Simba witnesses his mother, Sarabi, being harassed by Scar. Enraged, he jumps at Scar. Scar pushes him to the edge of a cliff, and whispers that he was the one that killed Mufasa. At this, Simba jumps up and yells at him to say it to the whole pride. When Scar confesses, the lionesses, Rafiki, Timon, Pumbaa, and even his father's bird, Zazu joins in to fight against the hyenas. Scar tries to escape but is cornered at Pride Rock by Simba. Scar pleads for mercy, saying that it was the hyenas' fault instead of his that everything happened this way. Simba lets him go, saying, "I'm not like you, Scar," and banishes him. Scar then doubles back and attacks Simba. At the end of the battle, Simba throws Scar off the cliff. Scar survives, but is eaten alive by the hyenas, who overheard his betrayal. With Scar dead, Simba ascends Pride Rock and becomes King, with Nala as his beautiful Queen. (And of course, Rafiki, Zazu, Pumbaa, Timon, etc. at his side.) At the very very end, Rafiki is shown holding up Simba and Nala's child (a daughter! squee!), thus the Circle of Life beginning all over again. And that is a story we will save for Lion King 2. Overall, this movie was amazing. The songs were just perfect, upbeat and solemn at just the right moments. I really need to compliment whoever wrote the lyrics, because they were perfect. I also liked how some of the lyrics (like Hakuna Matata) are from another language, like Swahili. Like I said in the beginning, this movie made my heart bounce, jump, do flips and finally made my heart warm up, especially at the beginning and end. Who am I kidding, I loved the middle too! There was just enough action and romance to please the whole family and I wish I had seen it sooner - (watched it when I was six and now officially obsessed.) Though, Mufasa's death still leaves me in tears, so maybe not too soon. In conclusion, a heartwarming movie for almost all ages that the whole family can enjoy! Disney's done it again! (I just realized I didn't say spoilers. So. many. spoilers. In. My. Review. Oopssss.) ~FelicisOwl
- bibliophileover 9 yearsWow... awesome review!!! I agree that it is probably one of the best Disney movie ever made... but then I really enjoyed Big Hero 6 too.... And you're not the only one who cried in the movie.... At one point I was crying and laughing at the same time... I really love the saying Hakuna Matata.... :D
- Thanks :) I didn't think I would like Big Hero 6.. but turns out, I did :) My other favorites are.. um.. Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin. I like Frozen, but it's definitely NOT the best movie ever made, it's kind of overrated. :/ No offense if you like it :D At which point were you both crying and laughing? I was literally BAWLING when Mufasa died XD I like Hakuna Matata too - except I guess you shouldn't really forget your past.. And thanks for the compliment! My favorite scene.. okay, A LOT of them (no particular order) (1) "Can you See the Love Tonight, (2) Hakuna Matata (3) THE CIRCLE OF LIFEEEE XD (4) Where Rafiki says, "HE LIVES IN YOUUUU" (5) when Simba finally ascends Pride Rock (6) when Simba sees his father in the stars (7) Mufasa's speech after the elephant graveyard :_( Sooo touching.. and so amazing!! (By the way, who is your favorite character in Lion King and Big Hero 6?) Lion King: Mufasa and Rafiki (Nala too) Big Hero 6: BAYMAX, Tadashi (SOBBBB), Honey Lemon, and Hiro
- bibliophileover 9 yearsBig Hero 6 is just so epic!!!!! BAYMAX (and Hiro are my fave characters):D!!!!! Same, especially for the music in Frozen... ahhhh... Now I have Let it Go stuck in my head...I mean Olaf and Sven are soooooo adorable (Baymax is best out of all of them:p) but FROZEN is everywhere... My favorite characters would probably be Simba, Timon (because he was pretty funny), and Nala... but I really like all the characters, it was so hard choosing my favorite XD... Oh I was crying when Mufasa passed away, but one of my friends can not stand girls crying... so he told me a joke and I laughed.... which resulted me in crying and laughing at the same time.... I guess my favorite parts would be Circle of Life, Hakuna Matata, of course when Simba ascends to Pride Rock, and when he finally kicked out Scar.... Scar was bothering me so much, I mean he killed Mufasa XD... I hate "bad guys"... Ooooh I really like Beauty and the Beast too... it tells a great lessons for younger kids... ALSO.... did you know there's The Lion King 2???? Omg I just found out right now... well not like right now... but like a few minutes ago... I am in shock... But then again I did not know there were like three different types of Ariel movies (cartoon illustrations from Disney)... That's how great movie industries are so successful... What's your other favorite Disney movies with actors and actresses acting?????
- He he.. to be honest, almost all the sequels to Disney movies are not as good as the first movie.. The beginning of Ariel 3 was so sad... But if you want to find out what happened to Ariel's mom you should watch it.. I don't like bad guys either (most of them, 'cuz I'm evil XD) My brother and I acted out the scene where Scar drops Mufasa off the cliff.. The couch was our cliff XDDD I was Scar and my brother's feet were touching the ground when he "fell".. When we studied Africa (studying all the continents in my social studies class) we watched a Disney movie (our teacher is HUGE fan of Disney and Pixar, but mostly Disney.. we watched Finding Nemo when we did Australia because of the GREAT BARRIER REEF XD) but anyway.. we watched Lion King 1 1/2 (The Lion King 1 DVD was not working..) but it was actually kind of good.. and it's really funny.. it's the story of Timon and Pumbaa.. I heard Lion King 2 is about Simba and Nala's daughter.. and SPOILER ALERT.. she falls in love.. My other favorite Disney movies.. well, I like Wall-E and Toy Story (all of them) from Pixar.. hmm.. Pinocchio was an early favorite from me, it's Disney's "base", Bambi, Mulan, Finding Nemo.. Tarzan, Lilo and Stitch.. almost all of them are SO GOOD.. except for one.. The Black Cauldron creeped me out so much... Literally, the villain, the characters, the story.. I'm sorry, it was pretty bad :/ Don't you love Disney :hugs Baymax: