Film Review: The Lion King, Part 2

Looking for the final Saturday A to Z Challenge post? It went up at 8am here.

This is the middle part of my not-really-a-live-blog-film-review of Disney’s The Lion King. Last week we kicked things off with ‘The Circle of Life’ and ‘I Just Can’t Wait To Be King’. Now it’s time for ‘Be Prepared’ and ‘Hakuna Matata’.

31. Considering Banzai won’t be able to sit for a week, his scratches on his bum have healed by the very next shot, hehe.

32. Uh, this is another song I made up a dance to… BEEEEE PREEEEEEPARRRREEEEDDDD!!!

33. Scar’s kind of got a Voldemort thing going on here. If the Death Eaters were hyenas. Perhaps it’s because of the Nazi allusions when they all go marching past.

34. You’ve gotta love a song with a line about your ‘teeth and ambitions are bared’. I’m sure Disney get away with things in their songs that most other productions just wouldn’t get away with.

35. Oh. I hate this next bit. Why does nobody stop Scar before it gets to this point?! I can’t be the only person who watches this film and hopes that perhaps the next time the result of the stampede scene will be different.

36. The wildebeest running down the side of the slope reminds me of The Two Towers film with the horses going over the edge.

37. Good catch, Mustafa!

38. Mustafa kind of reminds me of The Beast from Beauty and the Beast when he’s trying to climb up the side of the slope.

39. Ugh! Scar is so evil.

40. I remember sitting in the cinema at this bit and just willing Mustafa to get up. Apparently they made this scene longer to to make everybody really cry. It’s got everything going for it; the sad music, the pleading child, the way he snuggles underneath his paw. Seriously I have tears in my eyes right now. I need a cuddle. :-(

41. Poor Simba. Having Scar put all the blame on him.

42. This is another thing that reminds me of The Lord of the Rings, in Mordor there are big thorn bushes with massive spikes on them and those thorn bushes make me think of that. In fact, the first time I read The Return of the King I was totally picturing that bit of The Lion King.

43. Scar’s speech sounds way too much like he’s been planning this for some time. He should maybe have snuck in the changes gradually so they didn’t notice just how happy he was about Mustafa and Simba’s death.

44. Yay! It’s Timon and Pumbaa!

45. I love the idea of a warthog with a pet lion.

46. Timon: ‘He looks blue.’ Pumbaa: ‘I’d say brownish-gold.’ Hehe.

47. No Simba, to change your past you need a Timelord, not a crazy warthog/meercat duo.

48. Oh, it’s about time for another song isn’t it? HAKUNA MATATA…

49. Tara is clearly cut from the same cloth as Pumbaa.

50. Hehe, where do they get the spotlights from in the middle of a jungle?

51. How many bugs a day would a lion have to eat in order to get enough energy to actually survive? I suspect that Simba would probably singlehandedly wipe out half the bugs in that area of Africa!

52. I wish we got to see more of Simba with his punk hairstyle. I’m surprised they never made a sequel featuring him then, it’s quite a cool look for him and what sort of adventures would a meercat, warthog and teenage lion get up to.

53. Love Scar’s reaction to Zazu singing ‘It’s a Small World’, hehe.

54. How is it that Scar taking over from Mustafa creates a drought? I can understand not having food because the animals leave the area to get away from the hyenas, but it’s hardly Scar’s fault that they’re without water.

55. I love how smart Pumbaa is; believing that stars are big burning balls of gas, while Timon thinks they’re fireflies that got stuck. They do need to learn to be a little bit more sensitive though, poor Simba.

56. It’s great how Rafiki figures out Simba is alive from some random dust and leaves.

57. The sing along version even give you the sing along words for ‘In the Jungle’, hehe. Just in case you need help singing along with the three lines they sing.

58. The beetle Pumbaa tracks looks like one of the bugs from A Bug’s Life. Coincidence? ;-)

As this is a relatively short film next week will be the final instalment, when we’ll get a bit of lion romance and the dramatic climax at Pride Rock.