movies/tv Is "The Lion King" Overrated?

[PonyFunk 155]

This is from the Nostalgia Critic's infamous review of "The Lion King"...

 

"So, what problems do I have with the story that actually seems almost adult (in that it's from one of the most famous adult plays). Well, lets get to my biggest problem of the film: the message. Actually, the message I really like and I think it's a very adult message. I especially like it when he talks to Rafiki about it...It's really clever, and I'm totally behind it. What I'm NOT behind is that when he does go back to face his fears, his fears start to win. Everything he was taught before is suddenly working against him. Nobody even gets behind him, nobody's standing up for him. That is, until it turns out he didn't commit the crime that he thought he did. So, I guess the moral of the story is: never take responsibility for what you've done because nobody will be behind you, unless it turns out you didn't really do it? How is this confronting his past? It's a past that never happened, so it doesn't matter. Even when he thought he didn't happen, the movie didn't support him. Almost as if the film was saying if he did accidentally kill his father, he deserves to die! Nobody's on his side until [scar] comes out and says "Ha ha, it wasn't me." I'm sorry, but that's a serious flaw. And if you think it's something that my overanalyzing adult mind thought of, I was thinking of this as a kid too. This film didn't teach me to come forward with my mistakes and to take the responsibility for it. It taught me to convince people that I didn't do the mistake, because that way I'll have a happy ending.

 

So, good intentions get totally botched. What else don't I like? Well, the songs. I know, but I'm sorry I don't like these songs. Well, I take it back:

 

"Be Prepared" is awesome!

 

"Circle of Life" is eh, good, but I think because of Hans Zimmer's orchestrations.

 

"Can You Feel The Love Tonight", hate it!

 

"I Just Can't Wait To Be King", hate it!

 

"Hakuna Matata" holy **** balls, I hate this song! I hated it when it first came out. I was boggled by the fact that everybody was actually singing this. It's annoying! While I was constantly humming "Be Prepared" at school, the other kids were constantly singing "Hakuna Matata".

 

On top of that, big shock, I think Matthew Broderick is pretty bland. Jonathan Taylor Thomas is a little bit too, but to be fair he's a kid and he really does sell those crying scenes. The villain while good is a little too simplistic. I don't know, he seems so smart and intelligent, but then when he takes over he seems like a little child. That just sucks out all the dignity and likeability that you have for a villain. It's like if Maleficent after she got her way started going, "na na na na na."

 

There's also details like: how did the water come flowing back after Simba took over; why did the weather get better, why is it suddenly green? But, that's Disney logic. I can't complain much about it."

 

So what do I agree with and what not?

 

• While the songs can be a bit contrived at times, they are still a lot of fun to listen to and sing along with. Though I'll admit I always thought "Hakuna Matata" was a little bit too much for my taste.
• While I'll admit the message is a tad bit flawed, it doesn't get in the way of the story as a whole.
• I'll admit Matthew Broderick is super bland as Adult Simba.
• I actually really like Scar! His childish personality goes well with his lust for power, and overall with his devious character.

 

Let me know what you think.

 

[Venomous 18,813]

I don't think that 'The Lion King' is overrated.

 

Perhaps it was during its prime, but today, I would argue that it's not.

[CC_Maud_Pie 6,431]

In my opinion, it's not overrated. Here's why:

- Characters are likeable

- The plot is good

- The music is good (even though I'm not into Disney music) with musicians like Elton John and Hans Zimmer contributing to the soundtrack

- Cast is all star with actors like Matthew Broderick (Ferris Bueller), James Earl Jones (Darth Vader), Jeremy Irons, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, and even Whoopie Goldberg and Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) in it

 

The list goes on

[Mae Borowski 356]

considering Elton john wrote the music for the Broadway play...and its a cartoon version of Shakespeare hamlet..,.its not overrated!! i love the Lion King movies!

[Lucky Star 971]

the lion king is based on Shakespeare's Hamlet, so yes the message is adult, but I think that children could benefit from the lesson it has to give.

 

such lessons are always better learned early in my opinion.

 

but instead of ranting, no, I don't think it's over rated.

 

I hardly ever hear anyone talk about these movies.

 

it may have been in the 90's when Timon and Pumbaa had their on TV series. xD

which was surprisingly good.

 

but recently, no.

considering Elton john wrote the music for the Broadway play...and its a cartoon version of Shakespeare hamlet..,.its not overrated!! i love the Lion King movies!

you stole my thunder o3o

[Andaasonsan 3,205]

Wait, the Lion King is based on Hamlet? I haven't watched it in a while, but I don't remember Simba feigning madness and killing random people and then everyone dying at the end.

[ShintX 180]

Ugh.. stop saying overrated. Its more honest to say " I don't like this film".

[VitalSpark 1,830]

Wait, the Lion King is based on Hamlet? I haven't watched it in a while, but I don't remember Simba feigning madness and killing random people and then everyone dying at the end.

 

It's very loosely based on it.

 

Think about it. The prince's uncle kills the king and takes over the throne. Prince goes off to the wilderness with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Timon and Pumbaa. Suffers a crisis of confidence, but decides action is better than inaction, and goes back to reclaim his kingdom. There's even the ghost scene, though it appears at the wrong point in the plot for Hamlet. And Scar talks to a skull.

 

Yes, they left out the incest, most of the death, and they didn't have Timon and Pumbaa betray Simba. But based on Hamlet, it is.

[Larkybird~ 734]

Depends on your definition of "overrated" really. I'd say it's not but that's just me I suppose. Though it could be consider overrated though.

[Lucky Star 971]

Wait, the Lion King is based on Hamlet? I haven't watched it in a while, but I don't remember Simba feigning madness and killing random people and then everyone dying at the end.

the little mermaid died at the end of her book, long answer short, Disney doesn't allow as much death as people say they do.

[Noei 717]

(Oh, that was harsh )

 

Well, I won't really claim something being overrated, There are a lot of reasons to like or dislike something. Does tea, coffe and chocolate appear to everyone? no, then , would we call them overrated if we see a lot of people finding them tasty?

 

The same applies with the media as well, if there was a general standard for a cartoon or a movie, then at this point every movie will be the same, and there wouldn't be differences of tastes. The reality just the opposite. People tend to like different things,when we call something popular overrated, then aren't we suggesting that everyone is wrong but us? :okiedokielokie: Which is extremely unfair given the diversity of taste.

 

I will not get too long into this so let's just say: Given the diversity of taste, the only way to judge a cartoon is by it's popularity, but as an individual, the only judge is you ,it is your opinion, cuz there isn't a standard for a media to be.

 

Well , returning to the topic , I really like Nostalgia Critic not because I agree with everything he says but because it is fun to watch. And here he isn't really suggesting that "The Lion King" is overrated but only giving his fair opinion which is totally right. even if I “disagree” with him.

 

Moral: Call me irresponsible but I didn't really cared about the morals! I will be perfectly fine if it wasn‘t any behind!........not really. :okiedokielokie: Well yes , I care about the morals! My point is ,we can find anything I want from the show if I wanted to, I don't really think it was Disney's purpose to teach the kids to denied it's mistake. why don't accept the movie as it is , Why don't just see the beauty inside it instead to try so hard in exploring it's "flaws". and anyway you see morality isn't something definitive as everyone have different point of views.

 

Songs: Different tastes.

 

Scar: Didn't care about how he was, just liked him. :comeatus:

 

Disney logic: Just like a beautiful simple magical fairy tale. :comeatus:

Edited December 2, 2014 by Monsieur Noel

[Will Guide 21,325]

I think Doug Walker (the guy who plays the Nostalgia Critic) is a good guy, but sometimes I think he's being too harsh. To be fair, he was in his early teens when this film came out. That's an age when you start to complain about everything. So I think the film didn't resonate its good points with him as well as it did with me. Me? I was born in 1990, so I was 4 when this film came out. At that age, you don't care or even know about flaws in films. So I guess being at that age gave me the blissful ignorance to grow up loving this film. While I can acknowledge the flaws Doug Walker aka Nostalgia Critic has pointed out, it's still a great film.

 

I would like to counter some of Doug's arguments

 

 

This is from the Nostalgia Critic's infamous review of "The Lion King"...

 

"So, what problems do I have with the story that actually seems almost adult (in that it's from one of the most famous adult plays). Well, lets get to my biggest problem of the film: the message. Actually, the message I really like and I think it's a very adult message. I especially like it when he talks to Rafiki about it...It's really clever, and I'm totally behind it. What I'm NOT behind is that when he does go back to face his fears, his fears start to win. Everything he was taught before is suddenly working against him. Nobody even gets behind him, nobody's standing up for him. That is, until it turns out he didn't commit the crime that he thought he did. So, I guess the moral of the story is: never take responsibility for what you've done because nobody will be behind you, unless it turns out you didn't really do it? How is this confronting his past? It's a past that never happened, so it doesn't matter. Even when he thought he didn't happen, the movie didn't support him. Almost as if the film was saying if he did accidentally kill his father, he deserves to die! Nobody's on his side until [scar] comes out and says "Ha ha, it wasn't me." I'm sorry, but that's a serious flaw. And if you think it's something that my overanalyzing adult mind thought of, I was thinking of this as a kid too. This film didn't teach me to come forward with my mistakes and to take the responsibility for it. It taught me to convince people that I didn't do the mistake, because that way I'll have a happy ending.

 

So, good intentions get totally botched. What else don't I like? Well, the songs. I know, but I'm sorry I don't like these songs. Well, I take it back:

 

"Be Prepared" is awesome!

 

"Circle of Life" is eh, good, but I think because of Hans Zimmer's orchestrations.

 

"Can You Feel The Love Tonight", hate it!

 

"I Just Can't Wait To Be King", hate it!

 

"Hakuna Matata" holy **** balls, I hate this song! I hated it when it first came out. I was boggled by the fact that everybody was actually singing this. It's annoying! While I was constantly humming "Be Prepared" at school, the other kids were constantly singing "Hakuna Matata".

 

On top of that, big shock, I think Matthew Broderick is pretty bland. Jonathan Taylor Thomas is a little bit too, but to be fair he's a kid and he really does sell those crying scenes. The villain while good is a little too simplistic. I don't know, he seems so smart and intelligent, but then when he takes over he seems like a little child. That just sucks out all the dignity and likeability that you have for a villain. It's like if Maleficent after she got her way started going, "na na na na na."

 

There's also details like: how did the water come flowing back after Simba took over; why did the weather get better, why is it suddenly green? But, that's Disney logic. I can't complain much about it."

 

First of all, about the message: It's meant to be "The past can hurt, but you can either run from it, or learn from it." Even though no one was behind Simba when he returned and "confessed", it was still very important he did! Also, that's not the only message to take. Another message to take from this film is not to be a selfish king like Scar was. Also Scar has gotten it into YOUNG Simba's head that the young cub was responsible for his father's death. Even after learning the truth, he still had Nightmares of his father's death as seen in Lion King 2: Simba's Pride. The poor guy's been traumatized, so go easy on him!

 

In character as the Nostalgia Critic doing a Top 11 Disney Animated Villians list, he complained that "When Scar gets his power, he stops being an interesting character and turns a whiny Prima Dona" To that I respond with this comment I've left on YouTube: 

I have an objection to Critic's complaint about "When Scar gets his power, he stops being interested and turns into a whiny Prima Dona!" Scar is SUPPOSED to represented what Simba would have become if he didn't learn how a king is supposed to rule responsibly. 

At film's start:
Young Simba (to Mufasa): "I thought a king can whatever he wants"
Mufasa (to Simba): "Everything exists together in a delicate balance. As king, you need to understand that balance and respects all the creatures from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope."
At climax:
Scar: "I am the King. I can do whatever I want!"
Sarabi: "If you were half the king Mufasa was, you'd-"
Scar (after striking Sarabi to the ground): "I'm ten times the king Mufasa was!"

 

Did you see the same line both young Simba and Scar said? There's your evidence.

As a kid, I loved Hukuna Matata as I did with ALL the songs. As an adult, I can see why Doug hates it, but still enjoy it. Timon and Pumbaa and their life's philosophy is not the best advice, but still they protected Simba until he realized he had to go back after seeing his father's spirit lived on in him.

 

By the way, the play Hamlet, which this film is LOOSELY based on, had the ghost of Hamlet's father tell him that his uncle killed him! Mufasa's ghost cannot do the same, as the spirit is literally the part of Simba that knows he's the rightful king.

 

Matthew Broderick's voice acting IS kinda bland nowadays to me. But, like I said before, when you're a kid, you don't know about Voice Actors. All the Characters were real and doing their own voices. It's the main reason I don't find Gilbert Godfried annoying because I grew up with the voice and have gotten used to it.

 

The plants going back so quickly at the end was because the rightful ruler has returned and things fell back into balance. Besides, while the animators studied actual live lions and other animals in Africa to create realistic animal movements, this is the Walt Disney Company! They make BELIEVABLE films that a person can get lost in and enjoy, Not 100% REALISM. That's for the Disney Nature films!

 

I think Doug Walker not seeing these obvious points are the reasons why he claims Lion King is overrated. He has little objections to Frozen, but is complaining about Lion King's popularity. Sometimes it seems to me, Doug doesn't do his research well. Still, it's his opinion.

[Christmasy Britty 2,553]

i would not say that the lion king is overrated its a very good classic but a movie like frozen is (its being called the new lion king) the lion king was new for its time not a princess story but rather a prince story the story may be based off of hamlet but thats what makes it so much better than the generic princess movie. also its a much better watch than Hamlet

[Will Guide 21,325]

The irony is that the film after Lion King, Pocahantas was intended to the next great film, and Lion King was meant to be a hit well enough to earn money to finish Pocahantas. In the end, Lion King became the big hit and Pocahantas became a okay film. That's the effect of Tough Act to Follow.

 

Also, Lion King was meant to be an original story not based on any fairy tales, novels, or books. They only discovered late in production the similarities between Hamlet and Lion King.

[KiteDarkness 5]

The Nostalgia Critic/Doug Walker just misinterpreted what the moral of the story was. What Simba was obligated to do was to return back home and take his place as king, and he allowed fears and guilt to prevent him from doing something important and the whole natural balance was thrown into disorder because of it. True, his guilt stems from a lie, but whether he actually killed Mufasa or not is irrelevant as the damage was still done and he was still screwing about in some oasis instead of doing what he was supposed to.

 

Walker's criticism would be more appropriate had the film revolved around someone who was obligated to make amends with the wrong doings of his past but then it turned out he was innocent all along. If the film had just been about that with nothing else on the line but that person's own life, then it would most definitely be a problem. However, that wasn't what The Lion King was about. While Simba would have had to explain himself and try to deal with this little "murder" issue with the lionesses, that isn't the big picture here. The main thing was for him to get over his fears and take his place as king to restore order, not "fess up and take his punishment like a man... er... lion."

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,151]

It's a bit overrated in my book.

 

Of course it's not a bad film. In fact it's very good, but the reason why people set it above other Disney flicks is lost on me. I love alot of the themes that is present within the film (loss, redemption, not letting your past rule you), but the execution seems lacking. I don't know, I mean I enjoy it when I watch it, but it's not as great for me as it is for others.

[Admiral Regulus 2,769]

Alright, listen up people. That is not the message of the movie. It's not about facing punishment; it's about facing responsibility. The ending is the antidote to Hakuna Matata.

[Rainboom Dash 1,054]

I love The Lion King and think it's one of the best movies ever, but then that's my personal opinion. I love it because it's an incredible story with brilliant characters, great acting and amazing songs.

[Buttonmash1973 1,024]

This used to be my obsession decades before FiM.

[Tameless 979]

Lion King is not overrated.

 

It's my favorite movie. The songs are great in my opinion. Also Lion King 2 is is fantastic. The songs in that one are the best.

Edited December 4, 2014 by TheUnseenK

[Jokuc 8,172]

Characters are likeable

The plot is good

 

Actually, The Lion King is a 100% ripoff of the 1965 Japanese "Kimba the White Lion".

 

---

 

I think the lion king is a very good movie, it's beautiful to look at and I loved it as a kid but I can't really appreciate it as much anymore because I know disney didn't come up with it themselves. Idk it shouldn't matter but those kind of things just makes me value a film less. I love the songs though!

[Xeltor23 704]

The Lion King is a great movie, I watched it again this week, and I loved it like on the first day. It's true that they didn't come up with the idea, but the songs, Mufasa's death, all of that is legendary to me.

Too bad Disney these days, apart from certain exceptions, does nothing but crappy suff

[Admiral Regulus 2,769]

Actually, The Lion King is a 100% ripoff of the 1965 Japanese "Kimba the White Lion".

 

Except they're actually nothing alike. Have you ever actually *watched* Kimba the White Lion?

[Jokuc 8,172]

Except they're actually nothing alike. Have you ever actually *watched* Kimba the White Lion?

 

Yes I have. I didn't say that they are alike, I said that the lion king is a kimba ripoff, because it is. They have taken their story, characters and scenes from Kimba episodes.

[Admiral Regulus 2,769]

Yes I have. I didn't say that they are alike, I said that the lion king is a kimba ripoff, because it is. They have taken their story and characters and scenes from Kimba episodes.

 

I respectfully disagree. The main characters are both lions with similar names, but that's about it.