As a mother to a toddler, I now have an excellent excuse to go to Disney movies. I was young when the 1994 cartoon debuted, and it soon became my favorite Disney movie. I can't tell you the number of times I've seen it, and can still recall most scenes word for word. So when the 2019 movie was announced I knew it was time to introduce my daughter to a movie theatre. I however, brought my parents with, so, ya know, I could still make sure to watch the movie. Thanks mom and dad!
All that being said, and after all being a mammalogist, I wanted to provide my mamma logical review of the movie. For the most part the movie follows the exact same progression as the 1994 version, with minor dialogue changes, and a few additions. One thing I was happy to see removed- the giant anteater from the presentation of Simba. There are some great new African animals added to the scenes, and some of the non-natives removed (leaf-cutter ants are still in this version despite only being found in the Americas). My favorite new additions- Rhabdomys, the African striped mouse, the aardwolf, elephant shrews (genus Rhynchocyon) and galagos. The African striped mouse is especially cool because they are crepuscular so it is plausible that they would be active during the times the film portrays them (unlike the galago which is nocturnal).
I also can appreciate some of the modifications of the lion behavior to be more realistic, but in a couple places it is not particularly accurate (and I understand why, see below). The scene Mufasa is taking Simba around the kingdom he climbs on top of a small rock and does a relatively small roar, my assumption is that he is mimicking the territorial behavior done by lions throughout the day to warn other conspecifics where to their territory. I also enjoyed the more realistic way the Simba charges Scar in the 'Deja Vu' scene mimicking Mufasa's death, not by miraculously flying up off the rock, but by grabbing his neck. I also like the added dialogue about Mufasa being challenged by Scar before, and losing- likely causing the iconic scar on his face.
The most inaccurate portion of lion behavior occurs when Scar (after exiling Simba) asks Sarabi (Simba's mother) to be his queen. In real lion society the male would reign supreme and force the female to be his 'queen'. As a female I appreciate Disney skewing this portion of lion society to empower female choice, so this is a behavioral mess up I can live with.
Overall it is a beautifully done movie, and I'll be purchasing the digital version when it is available. If you are interested in other corrections to the 2019 movie, see the YouTube video below, it covers many more aspects of minutia that didn't really bother me in the original.
Overall, and as my daughter said: "Lion King, very good".
All that being said, and after all being a mammalogist, I wanted to provide my mamma logical review of the movie. For the most part the movie follows the exact same progression as the 1994 version, with minor dialogue changes, and a few additions. One thing I was happy to see removed- the giant anteater from the presentation of Simba. There are some great new African animals added to the scenes, and some of the non-natives removed (leaf-cutter ants are still in this version despite only being found in the Americas). My favorite new additions- Rhabdomys, the African striped mouse, the aardwolf, elephant shrews (genus Rhynchocyon) and galagos. The African striped mouse is especially cool because they are crepuscular so it is plausible that they would be active during the times the film portrays them (unlike the galago which is nocturnal).
I also can appreciate some of the modifications of the lion behavior to be more realistic, but in a couple places it is not particularly accurate (and I understand why, see below). The scene Mufasa is taking Simba around the kingdom he climbs on top of a small rock and does a relatively small roar, my assumption is that he is mimicking the territorial behavior done by lions throughout the day to warn other conspecifics where to their territory. I also enjoyed the more realistic way the Simba charges Scar in the 'Deja Vu' scene mimicking Mufasa's death, not by miraculously flying up off the rock, but by grabbing his neck. I also like the added dialogue about Mufasa being challenged by Scar before, and losing- likely causing the iconic scar on his face.
The most inaccurate portion of lion behavior occurs when Scar (after exiling Simba) asks Sarabi (Simba's mother) to be his queen. In real lion society the male would reign supreme and force the female to be his 'queen'. As a female I appreciate Disney skewing this portion of lion society to empower female choice, so this is a behavioral mess up I can live with.
Overall it is a beautifully done movie, and I'll be purchasing the digital version when it is available. If you are interested in other corrections to the 2019 movie, see the YouTube video below, it covers many more aspects of minutia that didn't really bother me in the original.
Overall, and as my daughter said: "Lion King, very good".
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