The Lion King Essays

The Lion King Essays The Lion King Essay The Lion King Essay â€Å"The Lion King† is thought to be one of the most favorite childhood movies of all time. Many people tend to think about â€Å"The Lion King† as an uplifting and inspirational movie with amazing characters and a wonderful story line. However, there are many parts of the movie that include violence and racism. But because the film is an animated movie and is thought to be for children these aspects are not directly noticed when watching it. In the movie there are a variety of symbols that illustrate racism, residence, and power. Beginning with the fact that while watching a children’s movie features such as color of the characters does not seem to have a great deal of meaning. However when analyzing these types of movies the color of each character plays a huge role in what the author was trying to portray. In â€Å"The Lion King† the main example of this is the colors of Simba and Scar. Simba is a golden bright color while Scar is a dark grey and black color. It is also clear that throughout the movie Simba is the protagonist whereas Scar is the antagonist. The bright yellow and golden color of Simba reinforces the fact that he is the hero and the loved character during the movie. Children are often taught from a young age that most dark colors associate with something that is fearful. And when thinking of how dark and dull Scars colors are people automatically think about how bad and evil of a character he is. Scar and the hyenas are both dark colors representing the poverty and disadvantage people in Africa. Additional characteristic of â€Å"The Lion King† is the residency of the different animals. When watching â€Å"The Lion King† many people do not associate the area of which the different type of animals live with the area that different type of people live. In Africa the upper class people all live in areas of plentiful resources. In the movie the pride land represents the area with all the resources; it is an area that seems cheerful and full of life while the elephant graveyard is the exact opposite. During the movie the lions and other dominant animals such as elephants and giraffes are the ones who get to live in the pride land symbolizing these animals as the upper class. While the scavenger animals such as the hyenas or lower class have to live in the elephant graveyard which represents the outskirts of the African pride lands. The elephant graveyard represents the poor and poverty filled areas of Africa. Finally, in â€Å"The Lion King† there are examples of power and hierarchy. At beginning of the movie there is scene of all the animals bowing to the new king. This scene shows that the animals know who their king is and that baby Simba is next in line for the thrown. This example reflects aspects of today’s society because it follows the type of power system many cultures have. Mufasa, Simba’s father, says â€Å"everything the light touches is our kingdom,† this statement shows that the animals also have an understanding of where their ruling territory ends just as kings, presidents and rulers do today. In conclusion, the movie â€Å"The Lion King† may seem as though it is a simple animated movie with no characteristics resembling the real world. However racism, residency and power are just a few noticeable aspects when analyzing this movie. These different examples portray diverse meanings depending on who the audience is. For young children the most important thing during the movie is how cute and loveable the characters are but for an adult these hidden meanings and messages are important.