Ah, the adventures of parenthood.... as many of you know, they include watching children's films. And recently my 3-year-old chose "The Lion King". Or he calls it "King Lion".
As a Spiritual Medium, this film caught my attention for a particular reason as I shall detail below.
Briefly, it is a Disney animated film that tells the story of Simba, a young lion who is to take his father Mufasa's place as king. However, after Simba's uncle Scar kills Mufasa, he must stop his uncle from conquering the Pride Lands and avenge his father.
With its' biblical and Shakespearian themes, this film offers audiences another take on Hamlet albeit a Disneyfied-one. The voice cast consists of many top talents, including James Earl Jones' deep and distinctive voice of kingly command. And Elton John wrote the hit songs. This blockbuster film franchise became a quick favorite with critics and audiences alike, won many awards, and now has a Broadway version.
Because I enjoy watching the special feature documentaries about how films are made, I discovered "The Lion King" did not have an auspicious beginning. "Pocahontas" was also in pre-production at the time and was considered the favorite by many. Some of the production people spoke about the flop it was going to be and some animators jumped ship to get on the Pocahontas crew. Can you believe it?
At that point in its' development, "The Lion King" script was unfocused and lacking a clear theme. And then something interesting happened... one of the head guys on the production team left and the "new" team started working beautifully together.
With this new team in place, they retooled the script, making an important addition to the storyline. They decided to have the spirit of Mufasa speak to his son (this is also one of the parts that smacks of Hamlet too). They credit this particular element for taking the movie from a B film to an A plus.
In other words, SPIRIT CONTACT is considered one of the big reasons for this film's success. Hmmm... I wonder how many folks realize this?
This Disney musical classic also offers two universal messages in song:
As a Spiritual Medium, this film caught my attention for a particular reason as I shall detail below.
Briefly, it is a Disney animated film that tells the story of Simba, a young lion who is to take his father Mufasa's place as king. However, after Simba's uncle Scar kills Mufasa, he must stop his uncle from conquering the Pride Lands and avenge his father.
With its' biblical and Shakespearian themes, this film offers audiences another take on Hamlet albeit a Disneyfied-one. The voice cast consists of many top talents, including James Earl Jones' deep and distinctive voice of kingly command. And Elton John wrote the hit songs. This blockbuster film franchise became a quick favorite with critics and audiences alike, won many awards, and now has a Broadway version.
Because I enjoy watching the special feature documentaries about how films are made, I discovered "The Lion King" did not have an auspicious beginning. "Pocahontas" was also in pre-production at the time and was considered the favorite by many. Some of the production people spoke about the flop it was going to be and some animators jumped ship to get on the Pocahontas crew. Can you believe it?
At that point in its' development, "The Lion King" script was unfocused and lacking a clear theme. And then something interesting happened... one of the head guys on the production team left and the "new" team started working beautifully together.
With this new team in place, they retooled the script, making an important addition to the storyline. They decided to have the spirit of Mufasa speak to his son (this is also one of the parts that smacks of Hamlet too). They credit this particular element for taking the movie from a B film to an A plus.
In other words, SPIRIT CONTACT is considered one of the big reasons for this film's success. Hmmm... I wonder how many folks realize this?
This Disney musical classic also offers two universal messages in song:
- "The Circle of Life", honoring the Life and Death cycles and that we are always connected with our loved ones and all that is, the seen and the unseen
- "Hakuna Matata", a Swahili phrase meaning "There are no worries"
Comments