Comments on: The Deception That Is “The Lion King”

By: Jamey Stegmaier

Jamey Stegmaier — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 18:30:05 +0000

I need to watch this movie! It’s the missing link of The Lion King!

By: Johnetta

Johnetta — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 18:30:03 +0000

Also, if you can find the trailer, Timon and Pumba say very much the substance of your post, criticizing the first movie. Something along the lines of “That’s not what happened! They cut out the good stuff!” It’s all very tongue in cheek. And again, hilarious.

By: Johnetta

Johnetta — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 18:28:11 +0000

Oh, it’s so much better than that. It shows Timon and Pumba growing up in their respective communities, the origins of Hakuna Matata, and details about Simba’s growing up. All of this in the form of Timon and Pumba playing Siskel and Ebert watching the events on a cinema screen.

By: Jamey Stegmaier

Jamey Stegmaier — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 18:22:53 +0000

Johnetta–That’s awesome! So the movie actually shows Simba growing up?

By: Johnetta

Johnetta — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 16:41:43 +0000

Disney realized this and made Lion King 1 1/2. It’s from the perspective of Timon and Pumba, but fills in what is previously left to the log montage. Quite hilariously, I might add.

By: Jamey Stegmaier

Jamey Stegmaier — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:22:22 +0000

The Nala reference was to an old poll on the blog about the hottest animated Disney female: http://jameystegmaier.com/2009/01/the-hottest-animated-disney-female/

After all these years, my girl Ariel is still in the lead.

You seem to know a lot about being confronted by ghosts! I’ll take your word for it.

By: Adrienne

Adrienne — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:18:48 +0000

For a second I thought it was weird that you thought Nala was hot, but then I remembered your love affair with cats and it TOTALLY made sense.

It sounds like you don’t really want to be convinced, but in my mind, if you were confronted with your dead father’s ghost it would force you to reevaluate your life and mature pretty quickly, too.

By: Jamey Stegmaier

Jamey Stegmaier — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 02:52:32 +0000

Amanda–That’s a good point that there are many good lessons in The Lion King other than how to grow up by walking across a log.

By: Jamey Stegmaier

Jamey Stegmaier — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 02:51:52 +0000

Adrienne–I appreciate your well-conceived response. I totally agree that maturing involves much more than physically growing bigger and older. And I’m glad you pointed out that Simba has some challenging conversations with Nala (so hot!), Rafiki (so wise!), and his father (so ethereal!)

But just as growing older doesn’t equal evolving, having a few conversations doesn’t either. They’re important, yes, but I really just wish that the writers had added one defining anecdotal evidence of Simba growing up instead of using the log prance. Just one. I’m sure you’ve heard how writers need to show, not tell, to effectively tell a good story. In The Lion King, we are TOLD that Simba grows up. If even just one good story were added in the middle, we would have been SHOWN Simba growing up, and I feel like it would have rounded out the whole story really well.

By: Amanda Louise Henry

Amanda Louise Henry — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 01:05:29 +0000

This is the best description, Adrienne. I completely agree–this part of Simba’s life is not where he really transforms. You really hit the nail on the head. While Simba’s living with Timon and Puumba, his life is kind of at a standstill. His way of coping is to push thoughts of his father away. When Nala returns, he is forced to confront those feelings, and when Rafiki returns for Simba, I think that’s the moment in the story when he matures and accepts his responsibility.

I love The Lion King, and despite its flaws, I think it’s a great tale of forgiving and believing in yourself. A great lesson for any kid.