Saturday, October 15, 2011

Lion King back on the screen

The Lion KingImage via WikipediaOne of my all time favorite Disney releases was on the big screen. The Lion King was on those movies that became a classic even when it had just come out. From the theme to the soundtrack it was instant love.


Like any revisiting of my childhood, I was eager to see this one in all its glory. Added to the fact that it was being projected on the latest digital screens, which I have to say is starting to address the biggest slight with cinemas - picture quality. More on that later, now however my impressions of this re-screening.

I was naive to expect a crisp, meticulously flowing masterpiece of animation blended with storytelling. What I received was slightly different. As is evident in most of Disney's older titles, this one is not immune to the affects of time. The quality of the characters wasn't as exactly as what I had preserved from my youth. The vernacular, even though relatively modern, seemed aged and taken out of a bygone era. The constant deluge of computer generated imagery with its near realism these days has only worked to erode the once immaculately rendered animation. Much could be attributed to imperfect preservation of sensual memories and the comparative perception of quality as time passes.

Apart from these technicalities, the movie is still valid to me as it was back in the day. Particularly the poignant portrayal of life and death, overcoming the shackles of one's past and the African (Disneyised?) version of Buddhist zen - Hakuna Matata, still hold powerful as ever. A tale worth watching again.
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