In the Jungle, the quiet Jungle... the Lion King came out

As every average kid who grew up in the 90's... one of the first films I watched was *pause for dramatic effect* The Lion King... which shouldn't be a surprise consider that is the highest grossing animated film of all time and stuff. I mean It's kind of impossible to overlook this movie... even if you're an adult...

I know that being succesful in the box office doesn't make it the best Disney Film. And I realized  that It's not the funniest, the smartest or the most groundbreaking animated movie of all time as I thought when I was younger. But... for what it is, It's a really enjoyable flick. And even after being released almost 20 years ago, It holds up pretty well. Let me explain it.

The movie is about a young lion prince called Simba, who is very excited because he is going to be the King of the Jungle, and his father, Mufasa along with a Hornbill called Zazu teaches him about being a good governor and learn about his future responsabilities.
But Scar, the younger brother of Mufasa and Simba's uncle, feels very frustrated because he feels that Simba took his place in the royal heritage. So he join forces with a group of Hyenas to kill Mufasa and Simba and take over the Kingdom.
The hyenas make an ambush that eventually kills Mufasa and fool Simba to make him think that he was the responsible (in problably one of the most depressing Disney moments). So he runs away with remorse and shame and Scar become the new governor.
Later, when he grew up and realized that Scar is destroying the Kingdom of his father, letting everybody dying, he returns and confront his uncle.

As you can see, the plot it's pretty much a remake of Hamlet... in Africa... with talking animals... But being an animated movie let the filmmakers take more chances with this set up.
For example, the villians kills Mufasa provoking a stampede, which is a very creative idea and looks huge in the bigscreen. Or this scene where Scar and the Hyenas sing "Be Prepared" is just amazing. I mean the colors, the visuals, the entire choreography creates an outstanding experience. In terms of animation this movie it's still impressive.

But, like every movie, It have some flaws. The characters for example, while they're very likable and colorful, they're kind of generic. We've already see them a million times. And some of the songs feels a little bit dated, like Hakuna Matata (please don't kill me). But these are just little details, because the good stuff is so good that you can easily avoid it.

So overall, I'm glad to grow up watching the Lion King. Maybe not one of the Disney's best, but certainly one of their most ambitious and epic. And of course, one of my childhood favorites.