The Lion King Explained: Let the Darkness In

We are The Take (formerly ScreenPrism).

[thetake]

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[NakedSnake]

I understand that many think Simba's time with Timon and Pumba was simply an escape from his responsibilities of being King, but man, I would argue that Simba's character development would have been completely damaged had he not met Timon and Pumba.


Why? It's becuz Simba was too young to handle the trauma of his uncle viciously killing his father. He was too weak to devise a plan to stop Scar from taking the throne. He needed a relief from the trauma, and that is why Hakuna Matata was the perfect idea to help him out.


He needed Timon and Pumba's philosophy of Hakuna Matata to heal until he entered an age where he was strong enough to confront Scar.

[DarrylBishopDJFlavaz]

In my opinion Scar would not have been as dark with out the amazing voice talent of Jeremy Irons. His voice gave the character that darkness and villainous weight that the new version fails miserably at doing.

[jessicastrike]

I can't believe they took out the moment of Rafiki hitting Simba with the stick and the lesson about the past hurting but you can still learn from it

[blindOni]

Scar really did make a nice throw rug, see Hercules lol

[animefan]

I think the first spoken words say everything about how the tone will be for the movie- whether through a character or narrator. Tangled has a witty Flynn being a humorous narrator while having a heartfelt tone at times- meaning it'll be funny yet touching, Kuzco has a completely irreverent tone in how he narrates the events leading up to his situation- demonstrating how the Emperor's New Groove will be a fourth wall breaking comedy, typical fairy tale movies like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty have calm and approachable narrators meaning the story is going to be pleasant, but will take itself more seriously. In Snow White, The Black Cauldron, Atlantis and The Lion King- has a declarative sentence of imminent danger, the narrator taking an ominous tone or the villain themselves are the first to speak. This all gives the indication that the narrative is going to a much darker and serious tone than its peers, regardless of the few comical beats it has to counterbalance it.

[WhelmedButReady]

Can we please get a deconstruction of Disney's Tarzan? I feel like no one gives that movie any credit these days. Vastly underrated

[NinjaGidget]

In defense to Mufasa's parenting, he dies when Simba is still very young. It's quite likely that he intended to familiarize his son with the darker aspects of ruling the Pridelands once his cub grows up a bit. We do see that Mufasa is aware of the danger, given at one point he has to leave his son's daily lesson to deal with an incursion by hyenas in defense of the kingdom.

[Sophia.Stark]

I love The Lion King so much, it's a very "adult" cartoon (I mean, it has a clean murder between two brothers) and it familiarises kids with so many mature themes: death/mortality, loss, taking up your responsibilities and treasure your past because you can learn from it. Plus, it is probably the first contact with a Shakespearean work any kid will have. Disney had showed some serious balls with this movie, teaching us that kids can understand these themes just fine! Long Live the King🤘🦁

[lindseybailes]

The Lion King will still make me cry like nobody's business. It's been 25 years you guys.

[TedsCoasterChannel]

Can we just take a minute and appreciate the awesome soundtrack of the movie?

[sherrys]

14:59 When this lion starts living like a herbivore *shows simba eating a bug*

[valedro]

I love how you pointed out the fear in Mufasa, how he pushed the darkness away and couldn’t face it. ❤️

Minor correction to another point, though. Even though we as adults intellectually understand that we were manipulated as children, it doesn’t change the pattern. A child’s world is feeling based, and mental understanding of what happened cannot change the emotional trauma. So even if Simba had realised that Scar had manipulated him (which Simba clearly didn’t realise by the way), he couldn’t have changed it without emotional processing.

[farbodpirouz]

Scar is what Samba would’ve turned into had he not had those experiences.

[danielborza]

Thank you! Really, thank you for this video, especially the last part. I'm so sick of everyone pissing on this movie for "propagating fascism" and that "lions are just dictators exploiting the wildlife of the savannah". You might be the first channel that actually has the brain AND HEART to look beyond the metaphor, and what the film is really about.
Lion King is, and probably remains my favourite animated movie ever. In its limited runtime it teaches so much, has so great insights, simple but deep wisdoms and has one of the most beatiful OSTs ever. While the remake didn't add anything new, at least didn't take away either.

[bobpolo]

Scar: Simba, Simba, I'm only looking out for the well-being of my favorite nephew.

Simba: How many nephews do you have?

[welcometothemetaverse]

Darkness has always been a thing in Disney but it was always used to reflect the harshness of reality that would make the happier moments, especially at the end, all the more satisfying. This usually trying to inspire hope and optimism. The Lion King took the groundbreaking step of teaching of how to deal with the darkness by learning from it.

[ucNguyen-iozf]

Hanz Zimmer's work with the background music brings me to tears everytime

[ZhangtheGreat]

Having seen the 2019 version now, I must say that one of the best additions it made was giving Scar a backstory and making him a totalitarian king. Scar in the 1994 version had one scene showing his reign as king, and in it, he comes across as little more than an incompetent clown. In the 2019 update, Scar is absolutely not a clown; the added scenes really give us the feeling of him ruling with fear, watching every lion's movement at all times.

[lucylousie]

I have a strong connection to lion king because I didn't know death was even a thing before it . I still remember seeing mufasas death for the first time. After the film I ran to my parents and broke down cause I realized they would die someday. I mean damn this movie is powerful