The narrative of The Lion King can be termed “circular” as it begins and ends with the birth of the king. This is a story of the struggle for power, the significance of family relations and fighting for what is right. The concept of the circle of life is a dominant theme in the film reflecting the state of things in modern society. The visual imagery of the cartoon is an excellent expression of realistic animation aesthetics. Despite Disney’s films simulate real life due to depth and panoramic shots, 3D characters and the way they move, etc.; we can still trace two trends, the simplicity of the graphics like in early releases of Mickey Mouse and naturalism in details, for example, in Bambi. In this paper, I will attempt to raise an issue of nature and representation in the animated movie in question.
The Lion King represents the trend of detailed naturalism. The epic solemnity of the story is replenished with a true-to-life effect of animal movements. To achieve this, animators studied the movements of animals to create a “plausible” screen version. Bright colours revive the African landscape making it “alive” and attractive to the viewers.
The first scene informs us what the whole movie is going to be like. At sunrise, animals wake up and move across the colourful plains to venerate the newborn king. The king’s successor, just a baby, is held up in the sun to be adored by the subjects.
Quite the opposite scene is shown at the place of hyenas and in the dwelling place of Scar. Dark and almost desaturated colours here bring in an air of gloominess connected with the “dark” character of the king’s rival. This opposition has something in common with the religious images of paradise and hell, which contribute greatly to the promotion of understanding the importance of nature preservation.
At the beginning of the film, Mufasa explains to his son the importance of natural balance and the meaning of the circle of life. Eating your subjects is not at all bad because it is natural (The Lion King).
Environmentalists find this encouraging since we need to understand the ecological system. It looks like everything is in harmony, and there should not arise any questions why lions eat antelopes, for this is just the circle of life. However, a careless intrusion into the system can lead to ecological catastrophe as the Prideland turns into a desert under the rule of Scar and hyenas (Whitley 128).
In The Lion King, “Nature” forms a concept of wildlife in a given landscape. Ecological apprehensions go together with the vision of Africa as an archetype of wilderness. It is the first Disney animated feature movie, which has no human characters. Since the territory of the Prideland is presented to follow a natural order of things, the gloomy home of hyenas is opposed to it as something unnatural.
If we look at The Lion King as an illustration of the recent history of Disney, the concept of nature can be viewed as a reflection of society. Good and evil acquire such qualities as well-built and gaunt; the mane is a symbol of manhood. Rafiki, a hairy baboon, is an image with these two assets. He uses tools, paints pictures, and appears as a shaman or a witch doctor. He hits Simba on his head and makes his return to his duties. This is an initiation in adult life which signifies the end of adolescence (Giddings 6).
The world of The Lion King is patriarchal where a hierarchical society is based on the food chain with lions on the top. The film touches upon individual and family crises. Interpreting the modern world, Disney articulates general concerns regarding modern culture with a special emphasis on the father-son relationship. It teaches the children that their parents can die someday and advises how to live on relying on their friends. Life is not always sweet, but in the film, this lesson is presented in the form of a “mild” narrative (Ward 10).
The movie also uses specific linguistic and psychological terms to reflect the organization of society. The accents and behaviour of hyenas speak of their belonging to a street gang. They are shown as urban, but at the same time, they are different as they are outlawed and dwell beyond “the circle of life”. Although they are comic characters, bringing in some relief, they continually display their stupidity, violence and cowardice – all being a hint of a racist vision.
In the light of natural hierarchies, social position, gender, natural balance and many other issues, The Lion King is something more than yet another Disney fairy tale promoting bourgeois values and morals.
Works Cited
Giddings, Seth. The Circle of Life: Nature and Representation in Disney’s The Lion King. 1998. Web.
The Lion King. Ex. Prod. Don Hahn. Los Angeles, CA: Walt Disney Home Entertainment, 1994.
Ward, R. Annalee. Mouse Morality: The Rhetoric of Disney Animated Film. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2003. Print.
Whitley, David. The Idea of Nature in Disney Animation. Hampshire, England: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2008. Print.