The Lion King

"The Lion King tells the story of Simba, a young lion who is to succeed his father, Mufasa, as king; however, after Simba's uncle Scar murders Mufasa, Simba is manipulated into thinking he was responsible and flees into exile in shame and despair. Upon maturation living with two wastrels, Simba is given some valuable perspective from his friend, Nala, and his shaman, Rafiki, before returning to challenge Scar to end his tyranny." -Wikipedia


The Lion King currently has a score of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is quite impressive considering the general slump in percent with time. The critic reviews are overwhelmingly positive, with a few comments on the cheesiness of Elton John's music, with which I wholeheartedly disagree, although that might be my nostalgic affiliations with the movie and associated soundtrack.
A study posted on NY Magazine shared that " two thirds of the 45 highest-grossing children's animated films featured an onscreen death of a major character; in comparison, half of the dramatic films analyzed killed off a main character. "  It would be interesting to see why that is, and whether the increased deaths in children's movies is intentional or not, and what is causing this. In addition to that, does seeing death as a young person help or hinder development? Does learning about death and learning to cope by modeling a movie character's emotions beneficial for growth? 


A review of the movie by The New York Times discusses some differences that The Lion King has from its predecessors, as well as other notes:

"This tale, with its emphasis on myth making and machismo, has no heroine, unlike its immediate predecessors. Nor does it rely as effectively on music, although songs by Elton John and Tim Rice are interjected into the action at regular intervals."

"Sometimes the derivativeness is just plain irritating, as with the cute, lilting "I Just Can't Wait to Be King," which sounds as if Michael Jackson were singing "Under the Sea." Pop music doesn't get any safer than that; nor does it get any more familiar. "

The songs of The Lion King are one of the only points consistently noted during reviews of the film. Many say that they're cheesy, almost cliche. Others say that they just don't feel like they aren't integrated well enough into the story. Perhaps the departure from the standard broadway music structure hindered the flow of the film, although the Broadway production is still doing very well to this day.


The Lion King (musical)

Looking into the musical adaptation of the movie and seeing the changes is a good place to go, I believe. As I have not been to see the musical myself, I shall rely on this Wikipedia article (link above) to guide me.

The first big change is the mandrill Rafiki's gender; the original director, Julie Taymor, believed that the film lacked a leading female character. That is huge! I had no idea that such a change existed, and I believe it really speaks to the "boy's club" mentality at animation studios and quite honestly, very many parts of our world. 

The musical also adds some more scenes that would feel a little too intense for the movie, such as a scene in which Timon is nearly drowning in a waterfall and Simba is powerless to help him, and another where Scar tries to make Nala his mate before Nala finally decides to leave. I believe these would really help round out the story, although it feels as though it's not nearly as much of a children's tale anymore. That said, the main audience for musicals is generally not children so it's understandable.