I just can't get over how Lion King is low-key an endorsement of monarchies and the divine right of kings. "Circle of Life" is an all-time great movie opening, tho. - ThreadSky

emilystjams.bsky.social • 89 days ago

I just can't get over how Lion King is low-key an endorsement of monarchies and the divine right of kings.

"Circle of Life" is an all-time great movie opening, tho.

Comments

dajensen.bsky.social•89 days ago

Scar's Leni Riefenstahl moment in "Be Prepared" is something else.

bekemp.bsky.social•89 days ago

Like most of Shakespeare.

iamwendy.bsky.social•88 days ago

Sometimes when I want to get a rise out of my students, I tell them I hate The Lion King. That gets their attention.
I just could never understand why the antelope bowed down to the lion king, and the lions just wanted to eat the antelope.

emilystjams.bsky.social•89 days ago

Odds of my child Lion King-pilling me are quite high though.

minillajovovich.bsky.social•89 days ago

Rewatched it last year and without being a parent even, the Mufasa stuff was very powerful. JEJ did *not* phone that one in.

emilystjams.bsky.social•89 days ago

(I am aware all Disney movies have problematic messages and as fairy tale adaptations often promote monarchical values. I have watched and critically examined movies before.)

emilystjams.bsky.social•89 days ago

Solely speaking as a writer type person, I think Beauty and the Beast cuts the fewest storytelling corners (tho all Disney movies do out of necessity), and I'm always impressed by the amount of agency Belle is afforded despite being a literal captive. It sidesteps so many issues so effortlessly.

langealexandra.bsky.social•89 days ago

BatB because it sets the stage for Tangled!

racheleklein.bsky.social•89 days ago

Watching all those as a tween to teen, I agree that Belle was such a great new kind of Disney heroine (didn’t just want agency over who she married but over how she learned about the world & her father ENCOURAGED her independence). That said Jasmine flirting w/Jafar WAS a deep sexual awakening lol

emilystjams.bsky.social•89 days ago

(I think one's love of Lion King also depends on whether one prefers the poppier stylings of John/Rice to the more Broadway-influenced songs of Menken/Ashman [pinch-hit from Rice]. I'm a Broadway baby, baby.)

lukasharrisonb.bsky.social•88 days ago

Only Lion King broke through and captured my attention even though I was a kid during this period. Maybe because it was animals? My other two fav animated films as a little kid were Great Mouse Detective and Land Before Time, both animal movies! Never made the connection before now.

vankaisersoze.bsky.social•89 days ago

You are outlining why this is an impossible choice - each movie has such unique stylistic points of emphasis and strengths as movies.

Also age matters - I was still a “kid” for LM, but fully a teen for LK. Aladdin grabbed me because of the comedy of it all when I normally may have not have

vankaisersoze.bsky.social•89 days ago

Also - Oliver & Co. is my late 80s ride or die Disney movie.

djl.bsky.social•89 days ago

I think I'm with you on the ranking. My big knock on Aladdin isn't really the movie's fault--the Rice lyrics are...fine, but nowhere near Ashman. But I'm not sure it would be much higher even with a full Ashman score, likely roughly the same. (Also a Broadway baby.)

pjrodriguez.bsky.social•89 days ago

I think they’re all fine, story-wise, but I have a deep-seated grudge against The Little Mermaid you DO NOT want to get me started on.

themeepgbg.bsky.social•89 days ago

I get where you’re coming from, but Aladdin is the most *FUN*, even if it’s not the *best* for many people among these movies. I prioritize fun, so I might rank it at the top. Little Mermaid is also up there for me, simply b/c it was the 1st among them - was BIG deal to me at the time. (I was ~20🤣)

nickidoyle.bsky.social•89 days ago

The supporting cast of Beauty and the Beast just slayed. It's my fave for that reason.

lostin24.bsky.social•89 days ago

I think it depends on who you were with the first time you saw it and if it was your niece your nephew and your son who will never forget that and that is your favorite. Also if you love Shakespeare because you know it’s Hamlet

kckirsch.bsky.social•89 days ago

I cant consider Hans Zimmer scores to be pop. He got his inspiration from Mozart for that film, his partner (singing in the clip) brought an authentic regional music experience. That and Aladdin do have pop tracks on soundtrack tho so I get it. But score wasn’t pop. Imo

jeffbbraun.bsky.social•89 days ago

Beauty & The Beast feels like the gateway between eras.

emla.bsky.social•89 days ago

I love Menken/Ashman forever, but ultimately I was 4 when The Lion King came out and that’s just the way it is.

toribarron.bsky.social•89 days ago

Lion King won all the Tonys…

hunterfelt.bsky.social•89 days ago

Yeah, coming to the Disney films as a pop music/comedy person pretty much put me into the "Aladdin"/"Lion King" camp by default. "Beauty and the Beast" was like watching a foreign movie.

andistern.bsky.social•88 days ago

That’s true. I remember seeing the Jean Cocteau version on either pbs or the cbc when I was a kid. And the George C Scott version when I was 12.

acts-of-tekla.bsky.social•88 days ago

Yes! Having Belle leave the first night because of the Beast actions, and then have to choose to come back, also because of the actions he chose to take, was absolutely essential. People who say it's about Stockholm Syndrome need to actually watch the movie (and learn more about Stockholm Syndrome.)

ancient-millennial.bsky.social•89 days ago

The fairy tale itself is basically about how a young powerless woman can find agency in an arranged marriage.

aangtifa.bsky.social•88 days ago

One rich, entitled man makes a mistake and because of that all his employees and even their children have to suffer?

acts-of-tekla.bsky.social•88 days ago

To be fair, he was like...14 at the oldest. Some people/adaptations argue that the servants were held responsible for spoiling him, but my reading is that Fairies are just kinda Like That.

redmenace521.bsky.social•89 days ago

I prefer wall-e, finding Nemo et al.

emilystjams.bsky.social•89 days ago

Entirely different era and company.

redmenace521.bsky.social•89 days ago

Am aware. Thank you.

eddieprinceton.bsky.social•89 days ago

I feel like Lion King had the greatest culture footprint

emilystjams.bsky.social•89 days ago

If you adjust for inflation, it's still one of the biggest films ever made, so it would stand to reason.

tracythewriter.bsky.social•89 days ago

You’re missing Mulan, which tops both my kid and adult list. 😅

adityasood.bsky.social•89 days ago

Every single Disney movie is an endorsement of monarchies! Their corporate logo is a spectacular castle!

dajensen.bsky.social•89 days ago

Not just any castle but one ordered built by "Mad King Ludwig" himself.

adityasood.bsky.social•89 days ago

(And we can’t get enough!)

rlstauffer.bsky.social•89 days ago

I recently watched Lion King for the first time in many years (since I was a kid; now watching with my kids), and by the thudding smash cut to title at the end of the sequence the kids were totally locked in and I was shocked that I'd forgotten what a banger of an opening it is.

gabbyhm.bsky.social•89 days ago

The Lion King is one of the few movie-going experiences I remember clearly as a child and that exact moment is why. I felt it in my BONES!

vancemaverick.bsky.social•89 days ago

not *particularly* low-key

adijoseph.bsky.social•89 days ago

Belle falls in love with the beastly man who imprisoned her father and then traded him for her. Ariel spends most of the movie refusing to accept who she actually is. Aladdin openly stereotypes Arabs. It’s all not great!

dajensen.bsky.social•89 days ago

Belle has two problematic choices -- Beast or Gaston. Sure, Beast turns out to be a wonderful prince at the end, but even as Beast he isn't as full of himself and dismissive of Belle as Gaston.

adijoseph.bsky.social•89 days ago

Gaston never imprisoned her father but I also am not sure why she had to choose one of them

dajensen.bsky.social•89 days ago

Narrative simplicity.

noneofyourbusyness.bsky.social•88 days ago

Ariel's special interest was humans and human culture. Her dad breaks her personal curated museum and Ariel decided 3 days as a human (even risking her life) was better than his controlling abuse.

She knew who she was, she just wanted freedom to pursue her interests.

pjrodriguez.bsky.social•89 days ago

Aren’t all the Disney Princess movies inherently endorsements of monarchies? It is bizarre.

grjohnson.bsky.social•89 days ago

It's thematically iffy for sure but also of the four it clearly kicks the most ass. It's also (dare I say it?) the ONLY good Disney Animated Studios movie to find a good balance on the comic-relief characters. Timon and Pumbaa don't overstay their welcome and are plot/theme-important.

grjohnson.bsky.social•89 days ago

This is why Aladdin is easily the worst of the four. The genie single-handedly ruins the film, turning the movie from an Arabia-themed adventure movie to a Robin Williams Schtick movie. He sucks all the energy out of the room, and I'm tired of pretending any of the bits are funny.

grjohnson.bsky.social•89 days ago

Genie is Jar-Jar/Olaf tier in terms of pure Go Home Goober energy.

dajensen.bsky.social•89 days ago

Olaf is not great, but he is not at that level.

grjohnson.bsky.social•89 days ago

Olaf fully sucks for every second of his screen time but at the very least the entire movie doesn't turn into The Olaf Show the second he shows up, which cannot be said about the genie.

pjrodriguez.bsky.social•89 days ago

The fact that you dislike both the Genie and Olaf is very telling. 😐

tomarmbruster.bsky.social•89 days ago

grjohnson.bsky.social•89 days ago

Haven't seen this one, I know people say it's bad but if the genie's like ten percent less grating and out-of-place it's gotta be a wholesale improvement.

tomarmbruster.bsky.social•89 days ago

And for what it's worth, I think making Will Smith the genie does make it more grating and out of place but that's just me.

grjohnson.bsky.social•89 days ago

Look I know this take is one mostly held by bad people but I can't name a Robin Williams performance I actively liked. Like, I know people love him and he seemed to genuinely care about spreading joy but he never did it for me.

tomarmbruster.bsky.social•89 days ago

I'll admit I haven't "seriously" watched it either. I put it on and immediately got distracted by social media. I'm willing to give it a second go, but I just wanted to say I always thought "Watch out for the camels, they spit" was very funny.

mxlabradorite.bsky.social•89 days ago

Realizing it was an interpolation of "May The Circle Be Unbroken" blew my tiny teenage new-to-folk-music mind.

belleofthebog.bsky.social•89 days ago

I'm all about the OG Lion King, my boy Kimba!

maxoakland.bsky.social•89 days ago

Lion king is the better movie but you raise a great point. I think it’s weird that so many of Disney’s movies don’t even question monarchy

susanperabo.bsky.social•89 days ago

The movie is over for me after Circle of Life. But it’s an unbeatable 5 minutes.

davidjorgonson.bsky.social•89 days ago

It's a Shakespeare adaptation, and he was paid by the king

okjess.bsky.social•89 days ago

...it's Hamlet with animals, lol

belleofthebog.bsky.social•89 days ago

And a happier ending.

lttlmichey.bsky.social•89 days ago

I’ve seen The Lion King the most times out of all those movies but I would still say that Beauty & the Beast is the best. The Little Mermaid is my second favorite though more problematic looking back on it…

lisacee.bsky.social•89 days ago

I still get goosebumps even thinking about that “Circle of Life” opening.

grahambower.bsky.social•88 days ago

Belle literally sings "Little town, full of little people" and "There must be more than this provincial life."

jaineneira.bsky.social•89 days ago

It’s Hamlet

zpowers.bsky.social•89 days ago

Lion King is my fav Disney movie on a subjective level.

…Mufasa’s straight up a segregationist and Scar only gets anywhere because he’s exploiting anger at a genuine injustice against the hyenas.

artfulscientist.bsky.social•89 days ago

yeah, the destiny stuff got in the way of all the fun shenanigans. Timon & Pumba are my fave gay couple tho.

noneofyourbusyness.bsky.social•88 days ago

Timon, Pumba, and Scar are the best gay coded daddies to distract from the "you cannot change your fate" anti lesson.

mystoragebench.bsky.social•89 days ago

I prefer to read it as about the wisdom and responsibility needed for more benign dictatorships, like parenting and stuff, than about literal monarchy.

henrymurp.bsky.social•89 days ago

I always kinda had this same issue with Black Panther ngl

hungrycowrie.bsky.social•88 days ago

You bring up this, but you fail to mention the implications of servants=property in Beauty and the Beast.

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