The Lion King

The Lion King is an animated action adventure coming of age tale. The story, which was influenced by the Bible stories of Joseph and Moses and the William Shakespeare play Hamlet, takes place in a kingdom of anthropomorphic animals in Africa. Songs were written by composer Elton John and lyricist Tim Rice.

The film was an incredible success for Disney and still popular today with the next generation of fans who are children of those who first saw it in the cinema when they themselves were children. The Lion King was the highest grossing animated film of all time until the release of Finding Nemo and it is still one of the highest grossing traditionally animated films in history. The superb cast includes Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, Nathan Lane and James Earl Jones.

The story is a coming of age tale about Simba a young prince lion cub. His father, Mufasa, is killed by his evil uncle Scar and Samba runs away to escape retribution. He meets and befriends Timon and Pumba (a meerkat and a warthog) and grows up trying to forget his history. Eventually, of course, he has to return and confront his uncle who is now King.

Cinema release 1994

Certificate U

Available on DVD and Blue Ray