he’s the King - because he belongs
to the most intimidating species
around. When animals fight here,
the realistic effects adds an ele-
ment of grimness that traditional
animation concealed. Prepare to
witness a warthog gore a hyena
with its tusks, a lion throw another
lion off a cliff, and a wounded lion
devoured by a pack of hyenas. Yes,
more animals die in this thing than
Tuesday morning while the lat-
ter were knocked off at 4:30 on a
Friday afternoon with one eye on
the clock.
Despite The Lion King’s failings,
I remain an advocate of this sort
of realistic animation. But Disney
and others need to realize that if it
looks like a lion it needs to behave
like a lion. The Lion King doesn’t
work chiefly because it feels like
The animation is so convincing most of the time
that the few moments when it’s not so polished
really stand out.
in Cannibal Holocaust. The lion
might sleep tonight, but I’m not
sure your children will.
The animation is so convincing
most of the time that the few mo-
ments when it’s not so polished
really stand out. The lions look
incredible, the hyenas not so
much, as though the former were
animated with enthusiasm on a
NJ STAGE - ISSUE 61
a human story has been shoe-
horned into the kill or be killed
milieu of the animal kingdom.
No amount of goofy supporting
characters and musical numbers
can disguise the fact that free of
its animated trappings, this is now
a tale of the survival of the fittest.
Remove the animals’ speech and
ditch the songs and this could
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