The Lion King (Disney Special Platinum Edition)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 e
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(out of 640 reviews)
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 the VHS. The Lion King was no exception. However, I doubt that I will ever watch the DVD release again…
Many viewers may not notice this, and some may not even care, but I cringed when I found this out: 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 a RE-ANIMATION of some of the scenes.
Let’s start with the opening castle logo: It used to be blue/white, and now, it’s black/orange. OK, Disney is constanly changing its image and wanted to match it to the color scheme of the IMAX release. That’s understandable…
What about the “Just Can’t Wait to be King” sequence? The CROCODILES with the birds in their mouths have completely been re-animated! This may sound stupid, but I never forgot how the original crocs looked; that image was imprinted in my mind all this time. When I saw the ugly green things with the deformed noses they put in now, I was surprised.
But that’s not all…Watch the “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” sequence. Remember the part when Nala and Simba are climbing down to the waterfalls to get a drink? That whole background is now completely changed! Everything from the waterfalls, to the rock, to the colors is different.
The part where Mufasa re-appears in the clouds has been re-animated, 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 has been re-drawn.
Supposedly, the Disney team thought these would make the IMAX experience better. At least they promised us the original theatrical version on the DVD, so rest assure, you’ll see the first animation… Oh no, wait, that’s gone too! Their idea of the original version is the same re-animated scenes minus the “Morning Report” song. Everything that you remember about the movie 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 animation altogether. It’s not so much what they changed, but the principle of the thing.
FINAL THOUGHT: The original 11-year old film is now gone! The only way you can see the actual animation is to watch your old VHS tape or laser disc. Both the Special Edition and the Theatrical are the changed versions on the DVD. When the Lion King comes out many years from now as a 25th edition or whatever, it’s hard to say if that will mean 25 years after the 1995 release or the IMAX re-release. History has now been altered!
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…