The Lion King

This is the first time I've watched The Lion King in roughly 10 years, and it was a joy to revisit. Here are some observations I had while watching the movie.

Aimed at all audiences

• Of all the core films we have analyzed thus far in class, this one was the most entertaining for adults and more mature viewers
• Many jokes could only be appreciated by adults
• Sarabi tells Mufasa, "Before sunrise, he's your son"
• Pumbaa being mocked when he describes stars as gas balls billions of miles away
• When Zazu begins singing "It's a small world" Scar begs him to stop
• Timon and Pumbaa speak in double entendres and are loved by an older audience 
• Timon says, "not in front of the kids"
• When chased by Nala, Timon tell Pumbaa, "Why do I always have to save your AHHH!"
• The film contains many layers and themes which go overlooked by younger viewers
• Perhaps the most prevalent theme being the circle of life 

Music

• It will be difficult to get some of these songs out of my head. Also I am definitely getting the full soundtrack on iTunes

Dark

• I was surprised by how dark the film was
• Disney addresses death very directly, and I would imagine this would be hard for many kids to understand
• Scar constantly sings about how he will kill Mufasa, and later about how he will kill Simba even when he is just a boy
• Mufasa's death is very traumatic and was even difficult for me to watch - I would imagine this could be very scarring to some kids

Amanda Putnam "Transgendered Villains in Disney Film"

• While watching the film I paid close attention to the depiction of Scar and whether or not he was portrayed as feminine
• I can see how Putnam could make the argument, but I don't believe Scar was intended to be transgendered or even feminine
• I believe Scar's style is that of someone who is manipulative and a schemer, and his sharp features are probably due to designers wanting to make him seem more evil (following the same logic that Mickey Mouse is round because people love round shapes)

"Dopey's Legacy"

• In our class discussion of intellectual disability it was mentioned that Ed the hyena would have been a good character to look at
• Ed the hyena would have provided a much stronger case for a negative depiction of intellectual disability than any of the characters discussed in the article
• Ed is constantly slobbering with his tongue out of his mouth, he never speaks, and is constantly out of place and confused
• Scar describes Ed in a song, "The lights are not all on upstair"
• There would have been a very strong case for Ed

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