Family Film Friday: The Lion King

Recently, our family took a wonderful trip to California to spend time with our families.  Usually while we are on vacation, our kids spend more time than normal watching videos.  This trip was no exception.  The kids tend to latch on to one particular movie per trip, and the movie of choice this time was "The Lion King."  After our trip, I asked Corrie and Jack about this newer Disney classic:

Joel:  "Daddy first saw this movie 18 years ago, I saw it in the movie theater..."
Corrie:  "Ooo, you're lucky..."
Joel:  "I liked it a lot at the time, and one of the things that was really great about it when it came out was how advanced the animation was-like the first part, with 'The Circle of Life' and everything, how the camera goes over the land, that was really amazing animation at that time...it was kind of the cutting edge.  What do you guys like about 'The Lion King'."
Jack:  "Dad, I just want to tell you one thing I do not like about 'The Lion King.'  Scar tears into Mufasa's arm, and when I was little, Corrie had to cover my eyes."
Joel:  "Wow, is that the part where he kills his brother?"
Jack:  "Yeah...I don't like that!"
Joel:  "Well, do you think you are supposed to like that part?"
Corrie and Jack:  "NO!!"
Joel: "I don't think so either."
Corrie:  "I just thought that wasn't good for Jack yet."
Joel:  "Jack, what's your favorite song in the movie?"
Jack:  "I don't know."
Joel:  "Corrie?"
Corrie (singing):  "Oh I just can't wait to be king."
Jack:  "Actually that's my favorite song too."
Joel:  "It's not 'Be Prepared'?  (Singing) Be prepared!!"
Corrie:  "I like that one because of the way he sings, but I don't like him.  I like the way he sings and I like the whole earthquake and volcano deal, I think that was pretty appropriate.  I'm not saying I like him."
Joel:  "Who's your favorite character in the movie."
Corrie: "Nala...because she's a girl and because she's Simba's best friend."
Jack:  "Simba! "
Corrie:  "But I think the most funny character is Rafiki!"
Joel:  "Oh, who's Rafiki?"
Corrie:  "He's the baboon who shows the baby lions to all the animals as soon as they are born."
Joel:  "Does he remind you of anybody in any other movies?  If Rafiki were a character in 'Star Wars', who would he kind of be like?"
Corrie:  "All I can really think of is Yoda."
Joel:  "Yeah, why does he remind you of Yoda?"
Corrie:  "He just seems wise like Yoda is."
Jack:  "I think the most funny character is Zazu."
Corrie:  "Yeah, Zazu is funny.  'The only checking out you will do is checking out of here!'"
Joel:  "When I first saw the movie, I remember a lot of people laughed at Timon."
Corrie:  "Yeah, Timon is crazy."
Joel:  "I remember when he said, 'She wants to eat him, and, everyone's okay with this?!?!"
Corrie:  "DID I MISS SOMETHING!?!?!  There's something else we imitate all the time:  'Whoa whoa, TIME OUT!"
Joel:  "What do Timon and Pumba eat?"
Corrie and Jack:  "Bugs!"
Corrie:  "I actually think the crunchy bugs would be yummy, if I had to eat them I would like them more than the worms."
Joel:  "It's a funny movie, but it's also pretty serious.  What are some the things Simba has to learn in the movie?"
Corrie:  "He has to face his past."
Jack:  "Do we face our past?"
Joel:  "Good question Jack, what do you think?"
Jack:  "I don't know."
Joel:  "It really...for a little boy, he sees something that's really sad.  But aren't a lot of fairy tales like that.  Don't a lot of kiddos see some really sad things?"
Corrie:  "I think that in that one you learn that...when you get...it tells us something about ourselves.  Sometimes when you get used to one thing, like his life with Timon and Pumba, sometimes we won't go back to stuff that we need to try new again.  I think that kind of tells us something ourselves.  Like, me and Jack got used to no schoolwork in California, and now we have to get used to it again."
Joel:  "Anything else."
Corrie:  "You said this morning that it's kind of based on Hamlet."
Joel:  "I did."
Corrie:  "Now that you say that, I can see that."
Joel:  "You've read Hamlet?"
Corrie:  "I've heard people talk about it.  'This boy, his uncle killed his dad"
Jack:  "Well, there's one more thing I'd like to tell you about.  I love how at the end when Simba is made a new king how all the bones are washed away."
Joel:  "And the whole movie's a circle right?  What happens at the very end?  It ends the same way as it begins."
Corrie:  "I think the baby at the end is a princess...it's almost like it's starting over.  Except you see Timon and Pumba there...remember that?"
Joel:  "No , I don't.  It's been a long time since I have seen it."
Corrie:  "At the shot at the end, you can see Simba standing there with Nala, and you would think that it's starting all over if you've never seen it before, except you see Timon and Pumba there.  They were standing there next to Simba and Nala, and Rafiki comes out, lifts up the baby and shows her.  You know what I like?  When Simba comes up to Pride Rock, after the battle is over, in the rain, and he roars out to the lionesses and they roar back, and they're soaked with rain."
Joel:  "Is that the first time he roared in the movie?"
Corrie:  "Well, not proper roar...when he was a little boy he tried to growl when he was little."
Jack:  "But that was the first time he properly roared."
Joel:  "The hyenas are kind of nasty."
Corrie:  "I actually think they're funny in some ways.  Our favorite line from it is when a hyena falls into a big patch of thorns and comes out with thorns stuck all over him.  And then one of the hyenas named Shenzi says, 'OK, there he goes.'  And then the one who got stuck in the thorns says, 'Say go get him.'"
Jack:  "And then he says..."
Corrie:  "And she says, 'There's no way I'm going in there, I'm not going to come out looking like you, cactus butt!'"
Jack:  "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  CACTUS BUTT"
Wesley:  "I'm not going to come out looking like you, cactus butt!'"
Joel:  "Oh, Wessie does want to say something.  All right guys, thanks a lot!"