Not quite the same ‘Lion King’
A Times Guest Editorial Those of us in our late twenties and early thirties might remember when the original The Lion King hit the box office in 1994. The story has become one of the many Disney classics, that we all love. This past weekend the Mid-South saw the release of the new The Lion King (a 2019 version), directed by Jon Favreau. Twenty-five years have passed since the release of the original Lion King. To give the two versions a bit of historical context, the original Lion King was released when Bill Clinton was in his first two years of office. Their agenda was the change the welfare system and implement a universal health care system (something Democrats had been trying to do since the New Deal). Three presidents later, Democrats control the House and are pulling all the stops to replace a conservative populist president. Coincidentally, the economy under Clinton and the economy under Trump are both good, despite their opposing parties. The movie, however, reflects cultural changes that have taken place over the last twenty-five years.
Things just aren’t the same anymore.
One of the most obvious differences in the movie is the modification of a joke between Timon (originally played by Nathan Lane now played by Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa (originally played by Ernie Sabella now played by Seth Rogen) in their beloved song, Hakuna Matata. In the original, when Pumbaa sings, “I got downhearted, every time that I…” Timon stops him from saying “farted”, when he says,” Pumbaa, not in front of the kids”. In the 2019 version, Pumbaa finishes the sentence by saying, “I got downhearted, every time that I farted; Hey, Timon, aren’t you going to stop me?” The difference could be because the new version is rated PG, whereas, the old version is G. However, the joke has changed and become an insider for us Millennials who remember seeing the first version.
This is merely a small change that most of us can appreciate.
There are, however, more concerning changes that remind us that things have changed. For instance, the role of the female lions is magnified in the new movie. The best example of this is in one of the final scenes when Simba (originally played by Matthew Broderick now played by Donald Glover) returns to challenge his uncle Scar (originally played by Jeremy Irons now played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) and reclaim his rightful place as king. Sarabi, Simba’s mother, played by Alfre Woodard in the new version (originally Madge Sinclair), has a powerful line when Simba and Scar engage in battle. “Lions, attack!” Sarabi ordered.
The line is illustrative of the recent presence of feminism in the movies. While feminism by far outdates the original Lion King, the change reminds us that feminism in the 1990s was not quite a solute for the movies. The new line, however, fit the plot line and seems reasonable for a reigning Queen to say.
I can not say this about every new line. For instance, the final battle scene, also, implemented a line by Pumbaa. While not exactly staying faithful to the original script, the hyenas originally called Pumbaa a “pig,” playing on his nerves and provoking him into a fit a rage whereby he attacks the Hyenas.
In the 2019 version, the hyenas’ insult infuriates him and leads to his exclamation that, “I will never back down from a bully!”
Some speculation may be needed for this line, as it is a very weak line and has nothing to do with the plot. In fact, it weakens the role of the Hyena as evil scavengers. On the one hand, those of us who tune into politics know that Elizabeth Warren has made this her talking point about Donald Trump. Perhaps, this is where the line comes from. On the other hand, Melania Trump has used her platform to wage a war against bullies online.
Nonetheless, the line is clearly out of place and not fair to those of us who love the original characters of the Lion King.
The changes in the characters of the Lion King is most evident in the role of Rafiki (originally the voice of Robert Guillaume but now John Kani), the wise old monkey who both presents Simba to the Pride Lands and retrieves him from his hiatus. The changes in Rafiki is best explained with the symbolism of his stick. In the original Lion King, Rafiki plays the role of a disciplinarian who brings Simba to his senses by hitting him in the head with his stick. “Ouch!
What was that for?” Simba asks. “It doesn’t matter, it’s in the past,” Rafiki replies- demonstrating the flaws in the Hakuna Matata philosophy. The symbolism of the stick changes in the new Lion King, as Rafiki does not hit Simba with the stick. Instead, what was once a beloved old and wise monkey becomes a warrior who uses his stick to fight the hyenas.
Thematically, the movie is mostly the same. For instance, the major themes of good versus evil and rightful claims to power have not changed. Scar is still an evil uncle who craves power and kills his brother Mufasa (played in both movies by James Earl Jones). Simba is still the rightful King who is tricked by his power-hungry uncle into abandoning his throne. There are differences in the depiction of evil, though. For instance, Zazu (originally Rowan Atkinson now John Oliver) is never taken prisoner and caged by Scar — emblematic of a shift in beliefs on prisoners of war taken under the Obama administration. But, the worry-free philosophy of “Hakuna Matata” is still mostly intact. And, however, there is one thematic change that has to do with the circle of life.
For the first half of the movie the theme remains mostly the same. Simba is taught the circle of life by Mufasa, his father, who explains that the lions eat the antelope but when they die they become the grass and the antelope eat the grass. However, the theme changes when Rafiki discovers that Simba is still alive. In the 1994 movie Rafiki snatches dust from the air and from its’ scent discovers that Simba is still alive. In the 2019 version, a giraffe eats a piece of Simba’s hair, which has been torn from his mane by a tree branch and floated into the air by the wind.
The hair is then discovered from the giraffes’ defecation by Rafiki. The new theme gives herbivores a new place in the circle of life alongside carnivores.
No longer are lions privy to their place in the food chain. In this case a vegetable feasting giraffe eats part of a lion.
The thematic change is problematic only when it comes to Simba’s time away from the Pride Lands. There is comedic relief in the original movie when Timon and Pumbaa have to explain to Simba that he is a predator and the other animals are prey. The change devalues the joke that a lion is convinced by a hog and a meerkat to eat something that is “Slimy, yet satisfying.” This fills the characters of Timon and Pumbaa with contradictions, hardly consistent with the philosophy they pitch, of “Hakuna Matata.”
