The Lion King has been one of my favorite all time movies of all time, and watching it again when I am older hasn't really changed my viewpoint of the movie. Singing along to all the songs in this movie because they are so catchy like "Hakuna Matata", the movie is honestly one of the best films I think Disney has produced. Disney introduces us with a whole family for once, and the family stays intact for almost half of the entire movie. This movie was unique in this way we actually see family dynamics in this movie and see how Disney illustrates that family values are important. The movie also illustrates the whole "Circle of Life" within this movie. Starting with Simba's birth, we see how he goes through life initially with everything content, then a tragedy occurs, and Simba must learn how to grieve and get past this tragedy. Simba also learns that he must take responsibility for his own actions and finds love. "The Circle of Life" song is a representation of the whole movie from infancy to adulthood, learning how to mature and getting through all the bad things, and eventually everything will work out in the end. This movie directly impacts children because it illustrates their lives essentially that there will be bad times, but eventually there will be good times as well. This movie also has a lot of adult scenes as well. Usually in Disney, we never see any of the parents die on screen, but this time we saw Mufasa die on screen, which really stepped up the adult content in these movies.
Disney still also portrays the normal stereotypes that they do in every movie. Females are portrayed as subordinate individuals, stuck within a patriarchal society, and what really defines a woman is beauty, ability to have kids, and falling in love in this movie. The same stereotypes of men that we find in other movies is also found here. Men have to be dominant individuals, having no fear, protecting what is theirs, and illustrate the hyper-masculinity that Disney believes all males should have. Again Disney reinforces the stereotypes of society and does not move away from them. The only characters that could provide redemption are Zazu and Rafiki, because both individuals pride on their intelligence rather than their strength to solve problems. However, both of those characters do not play much of a presence in the movie, so this ideal is not really enforced. Overall, The Lion King is still one of my all-time favorite Disney movie.
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