The Lion King (Disney Special Platinum Edition)
Disney’s THE LION KING SPECIAL EDITION features an all-new song, “Morning Report,” and never-before-seen animation, giving you even more of this award-winning masterpiece — the greatest animated adventure of all time. An unforgettable story, breathtaking animation, beloved characters, and Academy Award(R)-winning music (Best Original Score, 1994; Best Song, “Can You Feel The Love Tonight”) set the stage for the adventures of Simba, the feisty lion cub who “just can’t wait to be king.” But his envious Uncle Scar has plans for his own ascent to the throne, and he forces Simba’s exile from the kingdom. Alone and adrift, Simba soon joins the escapades of a hilarious meerkat named Timon and his warmhearted warthog pal, Pumbaa. Adopting their carefree lifestyle of “Hakuna Matata,” Simba ignores his real responsibilities until he realizes his destiny and returns to the Pride Lands to claim his place in the “Circle of Life.” Now extensively restored and remastered — experience THE LION KING like never before, from its magnificent musical opening over breathtaking African vistas to its emotional climax. The all-star vocal talents — including Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, Nathan Lane, and Ernie Sabella — rip-roaring comedy, and uplifting messages of courage, loyalty, and hope make this timeless tale entertainment for all ages.Not an ideal choice for younger kids, this hip and violent animated feature from Disney was nevertheless a huge smash in theaters and on video, and it continues to enjoy life in an acclaimed Broadway production. The story finds a lion cub, son of a king, sent into exile after his father is sabotaged by a rivalrous uncle. The little hero finds his way into the “circle of life” with some new friends and eventually comes back to reclaim his proper place. Characters are very strong, vocal performances by the likes of Jeremy Irons, Nathan Lane, and Whoopi Goldberg are terrific, the jokes are aimed as much (if not more) at adults than kids, the animation is sometimes breathtaking, and the music is more palatable than in many Disney features. But be cautious: this is too intense for the Rugrat crowd. –Tom Keogh
How good-looking is the DVD restoration of Disney’s popular animated film? Take a look at the serviceable but dull film clips incorporated in the plethora of extras and compare them to the vivid gorgeousness of the film presentation. This “special edition” also adds a 90-second song (“Morning Report”) that originated in the lavish stage musical. To Disney’s credit, the original theatrical version is also included, both restored and featuring two 5.1 soundtracks: Dolby Digital and a new Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix, which does sound brighter. As with the Disney Platinum line, everything is thrown into the discs, except an outsider’s voice (the rah-rahs of Disney grow tiresome at times). The excellent commentary from the directors and producer, originally on the laser disc, is hidden under the audio set-up menu.
The second disc is organized by 20-minute-ish “journeys” tackling the elements of story, music, et cetera, including good background on the awkward Shakespearean origins at Disney where it was referred as “Bamlet.” The most interesting journey follows the landmark stage production, and the kids should be transfixed by shots of the real African wildlife in the animal journey. Three deleted segments are real curios, including an opening lyric for “Hakuna Matata.” Most set-top DVD games are usually pretty thin (DVD-ROM is where it’s at), but the Safari game is an exception–the kids should love the roaring animals (in 5.1 Surround, no less). One serious demerit goes to the needless and complicated second navigation system that is listed by continent, but just shows the same features reordered. –Doug ThomasAnybody who struts around with Simba’s hard-won authority deserves this royal DVD read-along from Disney. Kids can recoil at Uncle Scar’s dastardly deeds en español and discover that “hakuna matata” sounds pretty much the same in Spanish, French, Italian, or German. And should the dynamic storytelling fail to thrill your 4- to 12-year-old fan, a flurry of other interactive options await. Toggle to “Songs” for sing-along renditions of movie hits, including “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King,” and on to “Music Videos,” where Elton John roars soundtrack favorites “Circle of Life” and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” and Jimmy Cliff and Lebo M groove to “Hakuna Matata.” The “Vocabulary” feature allows for see-and-say mastery of a list of wildlife, while the “Game” section allows players to match paw and hoof prints to the proper beast and reassemble the scattered skeletal remains of an elephant. Original cast voices are featured, and grownups will be pleased by the package’s reading component. –Tammy La Gorce
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(out of 662 reviews)
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Tags: songs on the lion king (disney special platinum edition) (1994), Lion Cub, Doug Thomas, I Just Can't Wait to Be King
Review by Gaijin for The Lion King (Disney Special Platinum Edition)
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Disney’s The Lion King is finally available on DVD. Considered the cream of the crop of all the Disney animated features by many, it is definitely worth owning. I don’t think I’ll go into the story, which I’m sure most of you know. Chances are you’ve already seen the movie and are just waiting to own it on a piece of media that won’t rot like your VHS tape that probably fell apart by now. Even if Disney released a sub par release of this movie, you’d buy it.
Luckily, this is one of the best releases ever.Video and Audio is supreme in this release. Especially vibrant is the 5.1 sound. Of all the older Disney releases, this one benefits the most I think, with the powerful music and sound effects present in this release. Hearing James Earl Jones as Mufasa blaring in thunderous 5.1 sound is quite amazing. Likewise the excellent music, such as the opening Circle of Life. Present in this release is the original theatrical version as well as a version with new music/song. I actually didn’t care for the new song, but some may. The extras are quite numerous, contained on a second DVD and are mentioned in Amazon’s product details…I haven’t had the time to go through them yet, so I cannot comment on the extras. I just watched the movie again. To be honest, the movie would be worth it as a single disc release so I’m happy as it is.Some interesting trivia for some of the people who are not aware of it is that The Lion King seemed to be heavily “influenced” by an old Japanese anime, Kimba The White Lion. Those wishing to see the “similarities” would do well to check out that series as it has also been released on DVD. Carbon copying aside, I do love the Lion King. It still manages to grab you whether you are 4 years old or 40. Two thumbs up!!
Review by for The Lion King (Disney Special Platinum Edition)
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After the movie Little Mermaid came out, Disney would make 3 other animated masterpieces: Beauty & the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King, that would change the way we looked at animated films, somthing new, something wonderful.But of all these 4 great animated films, in my opinion The Lion King was the greatest. The music was just, beautiful, and Scar was probably the most EVIL Disney villain the was ever drawn on a piece of paper.You hated him, but you almost liked him, because he was so great. But probably the best part of the movie was Simba’s pal’s Pumbaa and Timon, the BEST Disney characters EVER!!! The scene where Timon was doing the hula, I thought I was going to die from laughing. Anybody from toddler to 10 year old to 60 year from boy to old woman to teenager and so forth will, without a doubt, LOVE this movie, everyone.
Review by beatfan for The Lion King (Disney Special Platinum Edition)
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I am a great fan and admirer of Disney animation. As a child, I would watch the movies of the new generation (starting with The Little Mermaid) religiously and enjoy the songs and characters. As an adult, I appreciate them even more for their moving storylines and deep meanings.
To preserve these movies in my collection, I re-purchased certain limited edition DVD’s even though I already had all of them on VHS. The Lion King was no exception. However, I am a bit disappointed with this DVD release of the movie…
Several viewers have pointed this out before, but I was really surprised when seeing it for myself: when The Lion King was released to IMAX theatres a couple of years ago, the animators decided to “enhance” the film experience, partly because the film’s dimensions would now have to accomodate a larger format screen. What started out as a few color touch-ups and brush-ups ended up being a RE-ANIMATION of some of the scenes. If you are a huge fan or serious collector of Disney memorabilia, you might be interested to know about a few of these changes.
Let’s start with the opening castle logo: it used to be blue/white, and now it’s black/orange. I understand Disney trying to match the color scheme of this movie, but I feel like it took away from the traditional openings that we have loved all those years!
What about the “Just Can’t Wait to be King” sequence? The CROCODILES with the birds in their mouths have completely been redrawn! This may sound trivial, but I never forgot how the original crocs looked; they seemed to have a very unique flare to them and stood out. When I saw the ugly green things with the deformed noses they put in now, I was taken aback.
But that’s not all…Watch the “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” sequence. In the scene where Nala and Simba are climbing down to the waterfalls, the entire background is now completely different! Everything from the waterfalls, to the rock, to the colors is re-animated.
The part where Mufasa re-appears in the clouds has been slightly altered though that’s not as butchered as the other parts I just mentioned. When Simba falls down in despair and blows away the petals and moss in the wind, they fly to Rafiki. The movement and patterns of that have been re-drawn as well.
Supposedly, the Disney team thought these changes would make the IMAX experience better. And at least they promised us the original theatrical version on the DVD, so I expected to see the movie I grew up watching. Upon seeing both versions, I found out that their idea of the original theatrical is the same re-animated scenes version minus the “Morning Report” song. So basically everything that you remember about The Lion King is now gone.
I think that when a movie is released and experiences as big of a success as The Lion King did, it goes down in history and should be respectfully preserved. It’s one thing to change something for a re-release and call it a “Special Edition” version, but it’s another to tamper with the original film in terms of its animation and exclude the first sequences altogether. It’s not so much what they changed, but the principle of the thing.
Final thought: the original 1995 film is, at the moment, unavailable. The only way you can see the actual animation is by watching your old VHS tape or laser disc. Both the Special Edition and the Theatrical are the changed versions on this DVD release. If you aren’t bothered by these changes, you might enjoy having this DVD set in your collection simply because of its presentation (two discs, dust cover, collectable value). If you are a Disney perfectionist, as many people out there are, there is always a Blu-Ray version in the works that might come out sooner or later now that Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Beauty & the Beast are/have been released.
Review by Kellyannl for The Lion King (Disney Special Platinum Edition)
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Although it might be accused of plot similarities to “Bambi”, The Lion King stands on it’s own as the best animated film of Disney’s silver age save for “Beauty and the Beast”.It starts off with the greatest opening sequence in animation history, which already must rank within the top ten moments in all animation, period. Disney has since tried to match it in “Dinosaurs”, but it remains unequalled. The inimitable “Circle of Life” has no rival except “When you wish upon a star” as Disney mood-setting music.The animals of the African plains pay homage to the new lion prince, Simba, at his birth. Already he has one strike against him in his father Mufasa’s brother Scar, bitter because Simba is now the heir to the throne of the pridelands. While Simba and his friend Nala grow, Scar plots with hyena henchmen to dethrone Mufasa. Scar’s moment comes in one devestating blow, managing to make the young cub stricken with guilt in the process.Simba runs off and is saved from death by exposure to the elements by Pumbaa, a kind warthog, and Timon, his meerkat best friend. As an adult, he has forgotten his legacy until a now-grown Nala and Rafiki, his father’s baboon best friend, remind him. He goes to face the hour of reckoning with Scar, his friends by his side.The movie includes some of the best voicing work and dialogue in the Disney cannon, especially that of Scar – so evil as portrayed by Jeremy Irons that he actually drew a gasp from my jaded father – and Nathan Lane’s Timon, who I feel will eventually take his place as Disney’s greatest second banana (and no, I’m not forgeting the Seven Dwarves or Cinderella’s mice). His now famous luau scene is Disney’s supreme howler moment.
Review by Laudine Fuld for The Lion King (Disney Special Platinum Edition)
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I never thought that a simple Disney movie could make me cry, but actually, this one did. Don’t ask me how, but it really happened, and the worst part is it happened again, and again and again. This movie is probably better than all the other Disney movies. It is wonderfully drawn, better then any Disney animation. I never liked the fairy-tale Disneys, but this one… There are no words for its absolute great class…