The Lion King

[Kevin Roegele]

I've just seen this for the first time in years, and I've only realised how great it is. It's a classic, even Disney themselves consider it their finest achievement. I even like the songs.

[Master Chief]

My buddy said it was crap...I almost kicked his ass. :o

[Dark Carnage]

I think I might get the DVD soon. I still consider it my favourite Disney movie.

But I haven't seen Finding Nemo yet.:o:(

[Peacekeeper]

I saw it on Broadway which was very good, IMO.

[Lighthouse]

The opening "Circle of Life" sequence is beautiful, breathtaking animated sequence I've ever seen. The movie is great because they weren't afraid to go with some darker themes. Mufasa's death is our generations Bambi's mom death.

[Morg]

Love the movie and have the dvd and vhs(first time out) of it. Even have a drawing from one of animators that worked on the movie :D Thanks to my sister, have it store away safe.

[JcDc]

Originally posted by Master Chief
My buddy said it was crap...I almost kicked his ass. :o

Almost? You should have :mad: Great movie :)

[bluejake01]

I hate the "Special Edition" with it's one minute of added footage...WTF was that all about?

[WallCrawl]

Lion King just may be the pinnacle of their animated movies. Too bad they won't give credit to Tezuka for blatantly ripping off his series Jungle Emperor, also known as Kimba the White Lion.

[imdaly]

Originally posted by Peacekeeper
I saw it on Broadway which was very good, IMO.

I couldn't agree more!

I saw it a couple years ago in NYC, and I have to admit, it was one of the most incredible things I've EVER witnessed! I can't tell you how much I've been wanting to see this again, or get a DVD of it!


Just...incredible...

[Kent]

Originally posted by Kevin Roegele
I've just seen this for the first time in years, and I've only realised how great it is. It's a classic, even Disney themselves consider it their finest achievement. I even like the songs.

Its a classic man... great film. :)

[Kevin Roegele]

Wow - everyone agrees!

What a great day this is.

[Ryoko]

It took you THIS LONG?!?!?!?!?!
OMG!
I love the lion king -I ve got the soundtrak and its great!! :D:D

[Kent]

Originally posted by Kevin Roegele
Wow - everyone agrees!

What a great day this is.

Masters of the Universe sucks. :p

[Spidey_Freak]

Lion King: 1 1/2, The quest for more money.

[Sava]

A master piece

[Matt]

Originally posted by WallCrawl
Lion King just may be the pinnacle of their animated movies. Too bad they won't give credit to Tezuka for blatantly ripping off his series Jungle Emperor, also known as Kimba the White Lion.

Actually, the Lion King is based on Hamlet.

[Max Shrek]

Originally posted by Matt
Actually, the Lion King is based on Hamlet.

He didn't know that? I thougth everyone did.:confused:

[Matt]

Originally posted by Max Shrek
He didn't know that? I thougth everyone did.:confused:

I dunno, I think it is obvious to anyone who has ever seen The Lion King, even if you just know the basic story of Hamlet

[Max Shrek]

Maybe he doesn't know who Shakespere is?

[WallCrawl]

In their reinterpretation of Hamlet Disney's The Lion King bares a striking resemblance to Osama Tezuka's animated series The Jungle Emperor, or "Kimba the White Lion" when it was released here. Although Disney has repeatedly disavowed any knowledge of the Junge Emperor narrative, the comparison is nothing short of shocking. They feature parallel opening sequences. The sidekicks are almost identical, from a wise baboon to a blustery but helpful adjunct bird. The warthogs here, though playing no role, look absolutely identical to Pumbaa. The only difference between the two at all, in fact, is in the plot--and that's because this film tells the story of the grown-up Leo. Leo's story in the original animated series and manga is virtually identical to that of THE LION KING, right down to the scarred evil imposter lion king and a group of crazed hyenas.

If Disney truly had no knowledge of Kimba, then what we have is a real application of the theoretical proposition that if you sit a bunch of monkeys down in front of some typewriters, given an infinite amount of time they'll eventually type out Shakespeare's "Hamlet". Obviously, this is absurd and so is the Disney assertion that nobody in the crew knew anything about its Japanese relative.

http://www.kimbawlion.com/rant2.htm

[The Singularity]

Originally posted by Max Shrek
Maybe he doesn't know who Shakespere is?

Maybe if he was born yesterday.

[Sawyer]

Agree, disagree?

[AlteredEgo]

i concur :o

or it's at least it's definitely up there. :up:

[TheSaintofKillers]

Chances are, you ve never seen the masterpiece Le roi et l oiseau. Or every Miyazaki masterpieces (from Nausicaa to spirited away), or Takahata s own masterpieces also (from Goshu the cellist to my neighbors the Yamadas).

Or Oshii s own works ? Angel s egg ? His Patlabor or ghost in the shell duos ? Im not even scratching the beginning of how many great animated movies there are.

But if you tell me youve seen at least all of the above, maybe.

Lion king is a great ripoff of a real animated wonder. I liked the lion king, of course, its one of the big animated movies from my childhood. But it lacks originality and heart imo.

My neighbor Totoro is probably the greatest children movie ever made. At least watch that one with kids before making your lion king claim. ;)

[Cinemaman]

It is one of the best, but there have already been 2 threads, "TOP Your favorite animation movies" by me and "The Lion King" by me :o

[WallCrawl]

Chances are, you ve never seen the masterpiece Le roi et l oiseau. Or every Miyazaki masterpieces (from Nausicaa to spirited away), or Takahata s own masterpieces also (from Goshu the cellist to my neighbors the Yamadas).

Or Oshii s own works ? Angel s egg ?

The shadow fishing scene is one of the greatest scenes ever to be animated and commited to film.

Do you know what's going on with Fantasia? The festival opens in a little over than a week and the site isn't even up yet.

[Movies205]

Chances are, you ve never seen the masterpiece Le roi et l oiseau. Or every Miyazaki masterpieces (from Nausicaa to spirited away), or Takahata s own masterpieces also (from Goshu the cellist to my neighbors the Yamadas).

Or Oshii s own works ? Angel s egg ? His Patlabor or ghost in the shell duos ? Im not even scratching the beginning of how many great animated movies there are.

But if you tell me youve seen at least all of the above, maybe.

Lion king is a great ripoff of a real animated wonder. I liked the lion king, of course, its one of the big animated movies from my childhood. But it lacks originality and heart imo.

My neighbor Totoro is probably the greatest children movie ever made. At least watch that one with kids before making your lion king claim. ;)

I've seen a lot what you said, and though I wouldn't claim that Lion King is the best, it is one of the best.

[Mr. Credible]

i disagree, it's a very good film, but i think that the iron giant i the best cartoon ever made.

and SaintofKillers, not everyone digs that anime stuff. i've tried watching at least 3 or 4 of the movies you posted up there, and couldn't get into any of them. sure, they're pretty, but did nothing to pull me in.

[Movies205]

i disagree, it's a very good film, but i think that the iron giant i the best cartoon ever made.

and SaintofKillers, not everyone digs that anime stuff. i've tried watching at least 3 or 4 of the movies you posted up there, and couldn't get into any of them. sure, they're pretty, but did nothing to pull me in.

I really like anime, I just feel that a lot of people who treat Anime as if it's better than everything else do so because it's a different type of story-telling, not that it's necessarily better.

[BATFREDDIE]

Miyazaki owns, but yeah lion king is pretty good, one of the best.

[Spidey-Bat]

Mask of the Phantasm rapes Lion King :o

[kane9321]

guess ya havent seen "ninja scroll"

[Mr. Credible]

sure i've seen ninja scroll, and it is really cool to look at, sure... but it's still anime, and i take it at face value: it's nice to look at, with a very 'anime-ish' story and poor voice acting... or subtitles.

[Movies205]

sure i've seen ninja scroll, and it is really cool to look at, sure... but it's still anime, and i take it at face value: it's nice to look at, with a very 'anime-ish' story and poor voice acting... or subtitles.

Just so you know, that post sounds just as bad anime-fanboys. I think it's highly ignorant, to treat anime as just one whole genre, and Anime-Fanboys are just as bad, same goes for American Animation, there's huge wealth of various American Animation as I'm sure there is with Japanese Animation, so to lump it all in one catagor seems ignorant to me.

[Mr. Credible]

Just so you know, that post sounds just as bad anime-fanboys. I think it's highly ignorant, to treat anime as just one whole genre, and Anime-Fanboys are just as bad, same goes for American Animation, there's huge wealth of various American Animation as I'm sure there is with Japanese Animation, so to lump it all in one catagor seems ignorant to me.

if that's how you want to take it, sure, go ahead.

but that's how i feel about it. i've seen all the 'classic' anime movies: akira, ninja scroll, ghost in the shell, and a few others, and like i said, i thought they were nice to look at, but that was about it. not trying to pass that off as fact, that's just how i view them.

[ZeroSuit]

im sure most of you know
http://www.kimbawlion.com/rant2.htm
Lion King is a ripoff.

if i had to pick best animated movie i'd go with Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away, or Transformers the Movie.

[Movies205]

im sure most of you know
http://www.kimbawlion.com/rant2.htm
Lion King is a ripoff.

if i had to pick best animated movie i'd go with Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away, or Transformers the Movie.

You know part of the reason I consider it one of the best, is not becuase of it story but because of it's beautiful animation, the movie is absolutely stunning, along with the music, and even it is a rip-off, looking at the pictures, it looks like LK beats the **** out of Kimba in terms of animation.

[Ben Urich]

Lion King is cool because it's basically Hamlet in the jungle, but Aladdin is much better :up:

[ZeroSuit]

You know part of the reason I consider it one of the best, is not becuase of it story but because of it's beautiful animation, the movie is absolutely stunning, along with the music, and even it is a rip-off, looking at the pictures, it looks like LK beats the **** out of Kimba in terms of animation.
Well who can deny the animation, but animation alone doesn't make it the best. I accept it looks good, and they did do a amazing job with it, but for me atleast knowing what a rip off it is disqualifies it for best anything category, aside from perhaps best ripoff. Disney doesn't have an orginal idea in its head.

[Mothling]

I'm not much of a fan of Lion King to be honest. I enjoyed watching it the first time watching it as a kid, and have seen it since, but would never really want to watch it again. It just doesn't have that appeal to me, to be honest.

One of my favourite animated movies is Disney's Alice In Wonderland. :o

[Movies205]

Well who can deny the animation, but animation alone doesn't make it the best. I accept it looks good, and they did do a amazing job with it, but for me atleast knowing what a rip off it is disqualifies it for best anything category, aside from perhaps best ripoff. Disney doesn't have an orginal idea in its head.

I'm a lover of film, film is a visual art, name me another animated movie that conveys the emotion and story through it's visuals as well as Lion King, this is why I consider it one of the best, it goes beyond the simple bits. Disney is known for it simple stories but it's there animation that I love them.

[Carmine Falcone]

I don't really care for animation anymore but the Lion King is, ehm WAS good. When I was seven years old.

[JackBauer]

i disagree, it's a very good film, but i think that the iron giant i the best cartoon ever made.

and SaintofKillers, not everyone digs that anime stuff. i've tried watching at least 3 or 4 of the movies you posted up there, and couldn't get into any of them. sure, they're pretty, but did nothing to pull me in.

BINGO!! :up:

[DarthSkywalker]

Lion King doesn't make the top ten. Disney/Pixar themselves have made about 10 better features, and that doesn't even go into the realm of the Iron Giant ot Studio Gibli.

[DarthSkywalker]

I don't really care for animation anymore but the Lion King is, ehm WAS good. When I was seven years old.

You have no soul. :mad:

Animated films, the great ones can rank right up there with more conventional films. They though also have the ability to interest not only adults, but childern as well. In completely different ways, and that is something.

[U.S War Machine]

Maybe not the best but one of the best

[Carmine Falcone]

You have no soul. :mad:

Yeah I sold it to the devil.

[TheSaintofKillers]

i disagree, it's a very good film, but i think that the iron giant i the best cartoon ever made.

and SaintofKillers, not everyone digs that anime stuff. i've tried watching at least 3 or 4 of the movies you posted up there, and couldn't get into any of them. sure, they're pretty, but did nothing to pull me in.

Anime stuff ? What the hell ? A great director shouldn't be classified in such a way. Le roi et l'oiseau is a french movie, that influenced hundreds of animated director.

My neighbor totoro does not enter in the "anime genre". Sure, it's animation made in japan, but it's got none of the cliche the usual anime crap have. To put a whole nation of people in one genre, and say "I've tried some" is kind of highly stupid.

As if I came here, and said "I've seen van Helsing and Armageddon. I've tried hollywood movies, and I don't care". See ? Stupid.

Animation is a visual way of putting a movie on the screen. You can do anything from there. Ghilbi movies are nothing like Ninja scroll. Angel's egg is nothing like cowboy bebop, and etc.

If someone claims "this is the best animated movie ever" at least have a bit of a notion in animation. There are hundreds of great short, from Frédéric Bach to Roger Jodoin. From Paul Grimault to the legendary Osamu Tezuka.

I still love the Lion King, and I guess it is one of the better Disney movie in my eyes because i've seen it on the big screen (but if I had not, older disney movies look even more impressive, since they aged so well. From snow white to Bambi, they all brought more to the genre).

The old Fleisher superman cartoon ?? Incredibles!

Brad bird, heh. I love Brad Bird. Easily the best american animated director these days. The iron giant is a modern classic, and so was his Incredibles. But, no matter how skillfull he is, I'll never put him in the same classification as Grimault, tezuka, Miyazaki, oshii or takahata. Brad Bird is a fan of animation, that turns out to be a highly competent director. He'll make great films, but he'll never bring anything new to the genre. My neighbor totoro is unique, so is Goshu the cellist or Le roi et l'Oiseau. But the incredibles is like so many things on the market. A lot like the lion king. A great movie, but that doesn't bring anything new to the table.

Someone said Lion King was more beautiful then the other animated movies. I so incredibly disagree. Look at Princess mononoke. Or Le roi et L'oiseau. It's not just the budget put in those movies, it's also the art design. The city in Le roi et l'oiseau is so incredible it puts to shame the lion king's animation.

Lion King more beautiful than Princess mononoke ? Watch Mononoke again. ;)

[ZeroSuit]

I'm a lover of film, film is a visual art, name me another animated movie that conveys the emotion and story through it's visuals as well as Lion King, this is why I consider it one of the best, it goes beyond the simple bits. Disney is known for it simple stories but it's there animation that I love them.

Respectable enough my friend. Then we shall agree to disagree. :up:

[Leto Atrides]

I've never liked the Lion King. Personal taste, I guess, but I just didn't like it much. As far as Disney goes, I think Hunchback of Notre Dame is the best.

Overall, I'd say Iron Giant is the best. My favorite by far, though, is Steamboy.
http://www.asianfeast.org/images/recensioni/steamboy_02.jpg
http://images.google.com/url?q=http://site.voila.fr/steamboy/exposition_universelle/exposition_universelle_steamboy_2.jpg
http://www.animatedbliss.com/images/THEATRES/2005/steamboy_05.jpg

[TheSaintofKillers]

I'm a lover of film, film is a visual art, name me another animated movie that conveys the emotion and story through it's visuals as well as Lion King, this is why I consider it one of the best, it goes beyond the simple bits. Disney is known for it simple stories but it's there animation that I love them.

Totoro goes beyond simple bits story. The lion King is far from a complex movie, from animation to story. It used current animation, without risks, just with a higher budget. What's extraordinary with that ?

Studio ghibli are able to do just as good (better, imo) visually (watch mononoke) without even half the budget and the people disney have.

And the lion king does not go beyond the simple bits. It is extremely simple. Angel's egg is a far more complicated movie, that INDEED goes beyond the simple bits. Totoro has the dept the lion king could never wish to have. Le roi et l'oiseau has the art design lion king will never have. Heck, any Ghibli movies put to shame the Lion king's design (which, of course, where all rippoff, heh). Howl's moving castle is more incredible as far as animation goes than the Lion king. And it uses in a more complex way the animation medium.

[TheSaintofKillers]

Just realised many people might not know what Le roi et l'oiseau is.

The name in english is (just looked for it on imdb) The King and the Mockingbird. It's a daring french animated movie made in 1952 (that was later re-released longer in 1980). For people who have played Ico on the ps2, that's what it might remind some of you as far as the castle design goes. It's actually one of the great inspiration for Miyazaki and Takahata, and one of the greatest animated masterpieces ever created.

Look for it. ;)

[Leto Atrides]

When it comes to animation and visual style, I think Katsuhiro Otomo's films are the best. Akira, Metropolis, the aforementioned Steamboy, all are visually astounding.

Edit: Though I just looked up Le roi et l'oiseau and it is also very good.

[iceberg325]

I must say lion king is a great movie. As for disney movies, not saying its the best but I like aladdin. Its my favorite disney movie.

Im not sure if this counts but I love, I mean I love nightmare before christmas. Classic!!! Great movie!!!!!

[Bat Attack]

This is one of my favorite animated movies, not the best though, IMO.

[The Incredible Hulk]

I liked the Lion King, but in the end, as has already been said, it's Hamlet just with lions.

[JackBauer]

I've never liked the Lion King. Personal taste, I guess, but I just didn't like it much. As far as Disney goes, I think Hunchback of Notre Dame is the best.

Overall, I'd say Iron Giant is the best. My favorite by far, though, is Steamboy.
http://www.asianfeast.org/images/recensioni/steamboy_02.jpg
http://images.google.com/url?q=http://site.voila.fr/steamboy/exposition_universelle/exposition_universelle_steamboy_2.jpg
http://www.animatedbliss.com/images/THEATRES/2005/steamboy_05.jpg

it's EASILY the prettiest to look at. too bad the script doesn't have the same impact as the animation.

[Movies205]

Totoro goes beyond simple bits story. The lion King is far from a complex movie, from animation to story. It used current animation, without risks, just with a higher budget. What's extraordinary with that ?

Studio ghibli are able to do just as good (better, imo) visually (watch mononoke) without even half the budget and the people disney have.

And the lion king does not go beyond the simple bits. It is extremely simple. Angel's egg is a far more complicated movie, that INDEED goes beyond the simple bits. Totoro has the dept the lion king could never wish to have. Le roi et l'oiseau has the art design lion king will never have. Heck, any Ghibli movies put to shame the Lion king's design (which, of course, where all rippoff, heh). Howl's moving castle is more incredible as far as animation goes than the Lion king. And it uses in a more complex way the animation medium.

First point the post wasn't directed toward you but none the less, I'll put up our usual sparring match as these things go, Saint.

I judge movies for what they are, look at Ralph Bakshi films nearly all push the limits in terms of animation, he's a pioneer in film, but none of them are any good they all are just highly entertaining failures from Wizard to even AMerican Pop. Art is and forever is, expression, everything is inspired by something else, the Lion King is a beautiful film and because it didn't design some new techique, like many disney films have, does not hinder it, it simply a simple story. The problem with our current generation is that people seem to mistake simple or something that's not deep as not good, stuff should be taken as it's meant to be taken. Sometimes the simplest of stories have the best impact. But I find it funny you bring up Howl's Moving Castle which is a beautiful movie as are all Studio Gibli films but it's story has many faults and is a convoluted mess, it still a good movie but it's not great. So far your biggest complaint is that your favorite animated mvoies don't get the attention they deserved and Lion King didn't push the limits but it's a perfectly crafted film. And to those who say it's just Hamlet with Lions, a similar remark could be said about Shakesphere, his stories are not amazing, but it's his beautiful language which makes him popular, just like Lion King uses it's visuals. But with all that said, would I take Spirited Away over Lion King, and the answer is a definate yes.

[TheSaintofKillers]

First point the post wasn't directed toward you but none the less, I'll put up our usual sparring match as these things go, Saint.

I judge movies for what they are, look at Ralph Bakshi films nearly all push the limits in terms of animation, he's a pioneer in film, but none of them are any good they all are just highly entertaining failures from Wizard to even AMerican Pop. Art is and forever is, expression, everything is inspired by something else, the Lion King is a beautiful film and because it didn't design some new techique, like many disney films have, does not hinder it, it simply a simple story. The problem with our current generation is that people seem to mistake simple or something that's not deep as not good, stuff should be taken as it's meant to be taken. Sometimes the simplest of stories have the best impact. But I find it funny you bring up Howl's Moving Castle which is a beautiful movie as are all Studio Gibli films but it's story has many faults and is a convoluted mess, it still a good movie but it's not great. So far your biggest complaint is that your favorite animated mvoies don't get the attention they deserved and Lion King didn't push the limits but it's a perfectly crafted film. And to those who say it's just Hamlet with Lions, a similar remark could be said about Shakesphere, his stories are not amazing, but it's his beautiful language which makes him popular, just like Lion King uses it's visuals. But with all that said, would I take Spirited Away over Lion King, and the answer is a definate yes.

I'll get back to you later on, I have to go. But I agree on Howl's moving castle, though. I love the movie, and visually it's beyond the lion king and many movies (actuallly, beyond nearly all animated movies, imo) but for a miyazaki movie, the narrative was a bit off, especially the end.

And as for Bakshi, his Fire and Ice is one of the great animated action film out there, imo. ;)

[Leto Atrides]

it's EASILY the prettiest to look at. too bad the script doesn't have the same impact as the animation.

It's my favorite, and I think the best visually, but I'll admit it's not the best overall.

[Movies205]

I'll get back to you later on, I have to go. But I agree on Howl's moving castle, though. I love the movie, and visually it's beyond the lion king and many movies (actuallly, beyond nearly all animated movies, imo) but for a miyazaki movie, the narrative was a bit off, especially the end.

And as for Bakshi, his Fire and Ice is one of the great animated action film out there, imo. ;)

Again I'm a big Bakshi fan because I love how he takes animation to the limit, I've yet to see though Coonskin, Heavy Traffic, and hey Good Looking. But with all his films it's just a couple of points away from being good, for example Fritz the Cat I Dug but the character never reaches his zenieth and the way it just meanders around is just meh. Fire and Ice I wasn't a big fan of it, just felt so bland, like the characters felt cheezy and I couldn't feel for them at all. That's what I liked about Wizards, good characters :up: Don't get me wrong I don't think Lion King is the best animated pictures but it's one of the best.