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no. one word.... no need for more .

Canis Lupus, are you an anime fan?

Because the reason I said that Kimba shouldn't be a reason to dislike LK is because I've never seen you praise an anime film/show, and I thought that only anime fans would complain about this.

To be honest...No, I don't think it's over-rated.

For the time it was ground breaking and the animation, character design, music and background art were fantastic.

The whole "Kimba" thing is a bit silly, if the creators of Kimba really had a problem they could've easily sued or kicked up such a fuss about it Disney added credits or whatever to stop them.

Not only that but I loved it for ONE reason, this one thing makes it brilliant for me and that's the fact that they not only killed off Mufasa but the fact that they showed him falling AND infront of Simba. That one little bit of the movie was so emotional and heartbreaking but yet people still loved it and also the fact Mufasa had been quite a central character up until that point and Simba was obviously close to him AND Scar killed him by 'throwing' him off that cliff.

^ That one thing makes it amazing in itself, the rest of the movie just adds to it. I know Disney had shown Bambi losing his mother before TLK came out but it never showed her dying or showed Bambi seeing her body after her death. Cub Simba trying to wake his dad up actually made me cry and hardly any film ever does that to me, I also remember the cinema when that happened, everyone was sobbing. Kudos to Disney for that tiny little piece of film that made it one of the best animated films ever.

I would have to agree with Canis-Lupis on the Kimba part. And about Mufasa not respecting hyenas and being a bully... I always had noticed that, even as a young child. Mufasa never was my favorite; I do like Scar better. (Though I don't like Scar as much as I liked Zira)

I would have to disagree that The Lion King is not a masterpiece, though. For some reason or another, it was my favorite movie. And still today, it's up there in the top 5. Something about it just captivates my mind... and makes it fun and understandable. It's a movie with deep meaning covered up with comical relief moments and lightened just enough for even young kids to understand. Let's face it, it's an awesome movie.

And yes, the Lion King 2 was amazing. I liked it as much as, if not more, than the first. The only thing I didn't like is Simba's still rather big part, and how Nala drifted to the side when she was the most sensible character there was. (Yeah... Rafiki's smart, but he isn't as... sane about it. He always got on my nerves.) Zira was the best part of the movie, in my opinion, and Kovu was awesome too... and not to mention, a very handsome cartoon character. It's one of those rare sequals that live up to the original, and though many won't agree with me, I'll still hold that opinion.

Funnily enough, I'm not a great fan of anime, but I believe that credit should be given when it is due, and I believe that Kimba deserves more recognition. Ironically, he has through the whole Lion King controversy.

And by the way, thanks all of you for giving sensible and mature answers.

I don't think The Lion King will ever be overrated! :3

I really don't think this sort of statement should be here. I'm an avid Lion King fan - have been since June 1994 when it first came out in theaters. Yes, it is true that there is a lot that can be discussed in regards to The Lion King and Kimba the White Lion and their various connections. Oh, and UK, the people connected to the Kimba franchise were up in arms, back in 1994 when the The Lion King was released, however I do not recall a lawsuit ever being filed. I still remember it quite clearly...

But anyway, I've come to the conclusion that the vast majority of accusations are coincidental. In fact, what the film is heavily inspired from is explicitly Shakespeare's Hamlet. Now I'm going to assume that most of you aren't familiar with the works of Shakespeare so I'm gonna just condense it... A lot:

Prince Hamlet's uncle Claudius kills King Hamlet, Claudius becomes king and marries Prince Hamlet's mother. Prince Hamlet grapples with what he should do, is told by the deceased King Hamlet that Claudius killed him and goes to avenge his father. Sound familiar? It should. Simba's uncle Scar kills Mufasa, Scar becomes king and evidently attaches himself to Sarabi. Simba goes off into the world, not sure really of what to do. The ghost of Mufasa comes to Simba and practically tells Simba to avenge him. However, Simba does not kill Scar, simply do to the dualistic nature of the vast majority of Disney films (the good guy never kills the bad guy).

The Lion King is also inspired by Bambi (which was also an inspiration to Kimba: The White Lion - not to mention the Disney company's involvement with Kimba), various Biblical tales, as well as African folklore.

In other words, perhaps there were some factors inspired from Kimba, but not enough to say that it is a direct copy. Kimba deals more with making the world a better place between humans and animals, whereas that message is entirely absent in The Lion King and its sequels. Perhaps the best message that can be deduced from the Disney film is that (quoting Spider-Man) "With great power comes great responsibility." In other words - Mufasa was a good king and knew how the balance operated within the kingdom, and Scar did not. Simba, with Mufasa's aid, also knew what would be expected of him, and thus the balance of the pridelands was restored.

So if you really think hard about it - or any pair of films that has coincidences within it - all you can really know for truth is that human cultures are essentially similar and ideas are recycled and changed.

As to the other allegations which have not yet been discussed:
1. The similarity of Claw and Scar - could be partially be based upon the idea of duality (black/dark=bad, white/light=good). Scar's design is also based primarily on the now-thought-to-be-extinct Cape lion, the males of which were most notable for their black manes, which tufted behind their forelegs and stretched to the mid-abdomen.

2. Mufasa is not a major character. He is there primarily for exposition as well as being a symbol of a good leader. Also, in lion prides, the males run the show, to the point of infanticide. The females may try to fight the male, but usually fighting comes down to being between members of the same sex.

3. Hyenas may have gotten a bad reputation, but in a lot of respects, it has been earned (please note, I do like hyenas, as they are one of the species in which females run the show). If you watch the documentaries regarding the relationship between the spotted hyena and the common lion, you will know that the two species are in a constant state of war - one of the few notable cases of non-human species engaging in the killing of one another without actually consuming the kills (the other species to my knowledge that wages war is the chimpanzee). In other words, lions and hyenas kill one another over food and territory. If a group of hyenas come across a lone lion, they will kill it - and vice-versa. The war between lions and hyenas is one that is fairly well documented. And remember, at the end of the first film, it is the hyenas that finally kill Scar after he betrays them, so they are not completely at his beck and call. Please also note that wolves and bears do not actually fare well in film. Wolves, in particular, have been made out to be the bad guy on more than one occasion, often revived through animation. In any case, for population purposes, all of the species that you have mentioned, Canis, have not fared well in the real world. But also remember, the film is taken from the perspective of the lions, not the hyenas.

4. As for the baboon and mandrill connection (until recently -2005ish- baboons and mandrills have been grouped under baboon). Baboons are actually fairly intelligent primates - likely the closest related monkey to the apes. The fact of this matter is that baboons can and do face off with lions - the size of their canine teeth sometimes does call off an attack.

And finally for the circle of life thing - again another idea from human cultural folklore... Thus, the human brain functions are generally the same physically (as the species is one species), you get similar if not the same ideas culturally.

*pants*

Also, the only lawsuit against the film has been from the family of the man who wrote "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" - in 2004.

This thread should be locked... I've made my point, but I don't think that it'll stop the inevitable.

Not to dis the lion king but it really is kind of a rip-off of kimba the white lion.

Before I made this conclusion I did decide to see both films and what I noticed was that there were way too many similarities in the movies!

First off I don't hate the lion king and respect it as a movie, but it is a major copy of kimba.

Kimba was made way before the lion king was even under production and disny said that he never heard of it despite the fact that that at a party of the lion king one of the employees dressed as kimba!!!!

If only disney would admit that they copied then I think we all will be able to enjoy both movies and not worry about them.

Not to dis Balto, but that movie was a rip off of The Lion King.
How is it a copy of Kimba? The movie is based off HAMLET! Not some odd Japanese show.. Disney would never copy off a T.V. Show..And if they did maybe it was an accident!

Thank you Canis Lupus for being someone who thinks The lion King is overrated as well

Now I'am not going into Kimba, because I never saw it and I'am here to talk about the Lion King. (Thank you Lupus for this post)



Now, when you talk about the success of The Lion King, you have to go back to Disney's The Little Mermaid. What The Little Mermaid did, was that it broght back the movie-goer. During the 1970s & 1980s, the movies that where coming out of Disney where differnt storys and new ideas (movies like The Fox and the hound, Oliver & Company, The Great Mouse Detective), Now these movies where good but did nothing for the Disney Company. So when they made The Little Mermaid, they also brought back that old Princess/prince format, that people where and are so used to. Now that The Little Mermaid cought the eye of movie-goers (I don't think The Little Mermaid is that good) they know that if they made the same type of format over and over again, they would have success with these films. (Aladdin & Beauty and the Beast, but Beauty and the Beast would stick out as the Great film out of these others)

And so you have a build up of hype with these films, then when the Lion King comes into place, expectations are so high, that no matter what, it was still going to do well. Even if the Lion King was called "Twiggy: the loney tree branch" and it still would have been a success. So the Lion King is based on "Hype success" more then anything.


By the way I see it, the people that say its a masterpice, those are the words of a averege move person, and they say that because they are not awhere of other fine animated films (like Balto, Iron Giant, or Miyazaki). As for me, being a animation fan, the lion king is good, but not a great film.


Now on to the movie itself, I'am going to keep this short.

The lion king has its good points and its bad. But the problem I have with lion king (pluse its whole history, I mean lion king 2 and 1/2) is that it comes up short with its good points and needs to build up on those good points a lot more. Like for example, Mufasa's death sence. They should have build up more on that, but the sence is pointless when the hyenas & the thorns happens right after that. I lost the feeling that I got from Mufasa's death, and had they left that hyena sence out and cut right to pride rock, it would had then ment so much more.

Mufasa for me was not that great & the hyenas need to stop being the butt of every joke and give them more character. And face it, The Lion King is not that original. But with that aside, the rest of the film is good. The actors made there characters come to live, Hans Zimmer's music was great, and you got emotion out of it.


So the Lion King is like a album that everyone is saying is great, but just brings up one song (does that sound like the lion king )


Now Lion King 2 was a little better since it keep its eyes on pointed feelings then dum jokes. Lion King 1/2 was fine, but did not move on to the next chapter. (But I think around that time they might of repeted the same thing, so give Lion king a rest so you can think up of ideas for Lion King.)



So in the end, The Lion King is in the race for the top 10, but has something holding it back from being in the lead.


In my eyes, Lion King is more of a Jr. prince then of a King of animation.



(P.S. I like Lion King, so this post was made with love)