My First Animation

My memory of The Lion King

For my history of animation course, we had to write about our first memory of watching something animated, something we hadn’t seen in a while. The goal was for us to reminisce on our memory, point out the parts that stuck with us through the years, then to watch the movie. After watching this childhood memory, we then had to write about the differences between our memory and reality. How did we remember the movie? What did we not remember?

One of my first animation memories was the “Wallace and Gromit” shorts, however, I have seen those recently for nostalgia’s sake. I will instead focus on another early memory of The Lion King.

I was a young child, unclicking a plastic vhs case, watching a retelling of Hamlet, though I didn't know it at the time. Instead, I focused on the textures of the movie. The scenes of distinct goop and ooze. Two of these scenes were happy and joyful. The first instance of goop and ooze was the opening scene. Simba, as a newborn cub, was marked as a future king. The red paint from the inside of the fruit splashed out, gathered with dirt to create a paste. The goopy, thick, slop was spread on the poor cub’s head. He sneezed, and I remember the arch and hand placement of the elder monkey. Later, I watched Simba with his newfound friends eating grubs and bugs. Their unbothered approach and visceral animation of drops and juice left me with shivers. I can see the purple grubs and burnt red maggots and other creepy crawlies. Their insides were squished out between warthog and meerkat teeth, while Simba flinched away, much like me. The other distinct scene I remember from the film, was the villain, Scar's song. Cast in green light, he sings through exploding green juice and hot steam. His slightly deranged hyena henchmen cheer him on while chewing on their own legs. There are slower, low angles looking up at the antagonist, cackling hyenas who have little care for their own safety and well being. The environment felt hot and sticky, as I watched, disturbed by the display of hyena self cannibalizing/lack of pain awareness. However, as much as I was bothered by the hyenas, I loved the villain’s song. The cast of green and angles engaged with a trope, even a standard, of villains that Disney has continued to work with. The things I remember most from this childhood film was the textures, the ickiness of juice and colour around the characters even when coded as a good thing in Simba’s birth announcement or as delicious food, and when it was coded as evil, like green steam and green juice shooting into the air, I enjoyed the scene as a whole and was troubled instead by the hyenas. 

After rewatching the film, I forgot many key moments from the movie that have become iconic in a greater cultural lens. I also forgot the exact characterization of many of the main characters. I also did not realize when I was first watching it that there is the explicit dead body of Mufasa and explicit claims of murder. I was shocked by what I did not remember, and the details I would not have noticed as a kid, for example Timon quoting Shakespeare. What surprised me most were the scenes that are iconic and often reenacted online that I forgot were in the movie, or forgot that these scenes originally came from this movie. There is a disconnect between the scenes and from the movie because they have taken on such different meanings when placed outside of the movie. In particular, the opening scene where Rafiki lifts Simba in the air is one of the most well-known movie openings, and online, people are quick to lift their own various animals in the air. It is so recognizable, yet, when I was reflecting on the movie, I forgot that scene. It has taken on a life of its own, no longer just a scene from The Lion King.

Another thing that surprised me was showing a dead Mufasa and a mourning Simba thinking he is responsible for killing his father. It’s become a joke that Disney often kills the main character’s parents early in the movie, and The Lion King is no different. However, most of the deaths are off screen and almost never explicitly stated to be murder, at least not in the moment. The Lion King tells the audience who is responsible, shows the dead body, and does not shy away from its Hamlet source material. I did not remember nor was expecting Disney to willingly show a dead body, and somewhat in the same vein explicitly say the lions eat the other animals they rule over. Their mentions of death as a tactile process with bodies and the circle of life is something that has not been carried onto current Disney movies. I feel there are more offscreen deaths, unsaid assumptions that children could miss in current films, which The Lion King does not do. I think it added to the message of the movie about death, succession, and the circle of life, and did not age poorly in a current time of more offscreen ways of dealing with death. It upholds the ideas of the movie and is not too gruesome, but all the same given the recent Disney movies I’ve watched, was not expected. 

In conclusion, what I remembered were the textures of the movie, and how I felt because of them. What struck me in my rewatch, though, were the parts I forgot that were essential to the movie and part of its larger cultural memory, and the lack of censorship that is more common with current movies. Overall, I think the movie held up fairly well since its release, was clever, and it was nice to see those scenes back in their original context again. 

One of my first animation memories was the “Wallace and Gromit” shorts, however, I have seen those recently for nostalgia’s sake. I will instead focus on another early memory of The Lion King. I was a young child, unclicking a plastic vhs case, watching a retelling of Hamlet, though I didn't know it at the time. Instead, I focused on the textures of the movie. The scenes of distinct goop and ooze. Two of these scenes were happy and joyful. The first instance of goop and ooze was the opening scene. Simba, as a newborn cub, was marked as a future king. The red paint from the inside of the fruit splashed out, gathered with dirt to create a paste. The goopy, thick, slop was spread on the poor cub’s head. He sneezed, and I remember the arch and hand placement of the elder monkey. Later, I watched Simba with his newfound friends eating grubs and bugs. Their unbothered approach and visceral animation of drops and juice left me with shivers. I can see the purple grubs and burnt red maggots and other creepy crawlies. Their insides were squished out between warthog and meerkat teeth, while Simba flinched away, much like me. The other distinct scene I remember from the film, was the villain, Scar's song. Cast in green light, he sings through exploding green juice and hot steam. His slightly deranged hyena henchmen cheer him on while chewing on their own legs. There are slower, low angles looking up at the antagonist, cackling hyenas who have little care for their own safety and well being. The environment felt hot and sticky, as I watched, disturbed by the display of hyena self cannibalizing/lack of pain awareness. However, as much as I was bothered by the hyenas, I loved the villain’s song. The cast of green and angles engaged with a trope, even a standard, of villains that Disney has continued to work with. The things I remember most from this childhood film was the textures, the ickiness of juice and colour around the characters even when coded as a good thing in Simba’s birth announcement or as delicious food, and when it was coded as evil, like green steam and green juice shooting into the air, I enjoyed the scene as a whole and was troubled instead by the hyenas. 

After rewatching the film, I forgot many key moments from the movie that have become iconic in a greater cultural lens. I also forgot the exact characterization of many of the main characters. I also did not realize when I was first watching it that there is the explicit dead body of Mufasa and explicit claims of murder. I was shocked by what I did not remember, and the details I would not have noticed as a kid, for example Timon quoting Shakespeare. What surprised me most were the scenes that are iconic and often reenacted online that I forgot were in the movie, or forgot that these scenes originally came from this movie. There is a disconnect between the scenes and from the movie because they have taken on such different meanings when placed outside of the movie. In particular, the opening scene where Rafiki lifts Simba in the air is one of the most well-known movie openings, and online, people are quick to lift their own various animals in the air. It is so recognizable, yet, when I was reflecting on the movie, I forgot that scene. It has taken on a life of its own, no longer just a scene from The Lion King.

Another thing that surprised me was showing a dead Mufasa and a mourning Simba thinking he is responsible for killing his father. It’s become a joke that Disney often kills the main character’s parents early in the movie, and The Lion King is no different. However, most of the deaths are off screen and almost never explicitly stated to be murder, at least not in the moment. The Lion King tells the audience who is responsible, shows the dead body, and does not shy away from its Hamlet source material. I did not remember nor was expecting Disney to willingly show a dead body, and somewhat in the same vein explicitly say the lions eat the other animals they rule over. Their mentions of death as a tactile process with bodies and the circle of life is something that has not been carried onto current Disney movies. I feel there are more offscreen deaths, unsaid assumptions that children could miss in current films, which The Lion King does not do. I think it added to the message of the movie about death, succession, and the circle of life, and did not age poorly in a current time of more offscreen ways of dealing with death. It upholds the ideas of the movie and is not too gruesome, but all the same given the recent Disney movies I’ve watched, was not expected. 

In conclusion, what I remembered were the textures of the movie, and how I felt because of them. What struck me in my rewatch, though, were the parts I forgot that were essential to the movie and part of its larger cultural memory, and the lack of censorship that is more common with current movies. Overall, I think the movie held up fairly well since its release, was clever, and it was nice to see those scenes back in their original context again.

Citations

The Lion King. Directed by Rob Minkoff, Roger Allers, Walt Disney Pictures, 1994.