For every one who knows me on here, they would know how much I love animation, and of all the industries, no one holds more space in my heart than Disney and/or Pixar
It's no secret that Disney's animated shows have lost the lustre and wonder that they once had. Exchanging the ability to hold, input and stimulate children's imagination with quality shows for fast paced, heavily gender realized, wishy-washy shows.
It had been slowly dropping till it became widely noticable after Moana.
It's heartbreaking to watch such memories get lost so I've decided to download, rewatch and keep so my younger cousins and oncoming nieces, nephews and kids won't be forced to watch whatever shitshow would be available for the masses in their time.
To start on this noble mission, I had to lay a groundwork for my memory retrieval, and so I started with the movie that had the most fame, and were the furthest behind in my memories, yet most intimate...
The Lion King (1994)
To those in the movie industry, or those who are pure cartoon lovers and followers, you would have noticed that there have been a resurge in adverts of The Lion King.
Well, this phenomenal, tide changing show clocked thirty years this year, and to commemorate it, Disney is bringing out a live action movie called Muphasa.
Chances are high that it'll be another load of bull...
I don't plan on watching it, although I may be swayed by peer pressure and sheer curiosity...
I wasn't moved for the Live Action of the main Lion king...
but who knows?...
This show though, I'm sure is one that almost all my viewers would have watched, so I wouldn't take my time in reviewing it.
I'd just point out some points that helped the story, points that Disney used to hold strong on our childhood hearts... A hold that the old Disney still holds on mine now..., points that Disney has now forgotten...
Lovely Points of The Show
- The Right Animation
When I was rewatching this thirty year old movie, I'll have to admit that I was shocked.
I was so shocked at the quality of the pictures and scenes. The freshness of the colours and the details portrayed so long ago.
Now I realize that back then, the process was long, had multiple labour helps and was costly, but the newer, more modern and "better" version of animation really isn't giving such a result.
The idea of 3D animation isn't mixing well with the scenes and scripts.
Animation of such types aren't meant to look so realistic actually, kids of those ages would hardly remember that her forearms actually looked cylindrical or not.
For what I've noticed is that when more thought is put into realistic looking, less is put into authenticity and creativity, with less creative animation comes a less creative movie.
- Character Design
The characters of Lion King are the types designed to stay in your mind forever.
We're not talking of the one month wonder. The likes of Timon, Pumba, Simba and Scar were made to stay for lifetimes (and have already stayed pass half of the average Nigerian one)...
Characters that are relatable and yet whimsical, not bordered with so much relationships and LGBTQ hints.
Cause really, what is a five year old lass thinking about love for? Isn't her biggest worry meant to be coloring inside the lines and not losing her Tiara?
Even if there are traces of romantic affairs, it should be beneficial to the plot.
You can't just throw that character to add some spice and envy and unneeded emotional drama..
- A Simple Plot...
We don't need multidimensional five layers stories here...
The target audiences are five year olds with a standard twenty minutes attention span if its on the screen, thirty minutes if it's funny, fifty if it's sparkly and over an hour if there are some snacks and drinks.
They wouldn't understand, remember and appreciate the impact you're giving them and you would most likely make them (and me who's watching at the moment with the mindset of a 5 year old) bored.
- Well Timed, Well versed, Entertaining Musicals...
Now this is one thing that I managed to enjoy even when the overall content was bad.
There was just a certain type of joy the songs gave, especially when they were lovely on the ears.
The last Disney animated movie that I watched (half way) before I embarked on this conquest was Wish.
It was the sole reason I decided to go thirty years back and possibly even further.
Plan on downloading Bambi 🙂
The musicals now are out of place, out of context, and just too much.
It makes me shudder and squirm just seeing it.
The Lion King nailed all these things and so much more, it's a multi generational wonder and it just turned 30 years.
I invite you to watch or rewatch this show, remember those memories and see how far we've fallen in children television.
The header image has its Source embed in it. The gifs are from Tenor and YouTube videos gotten from YouTube are used for only enlightenment and entertainment purposes.
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