Words cannot describe how giddy I was wearing those geeky glasses waiting for the previews to be over and to get on with the show. The Lion King: 3D. As much as I hate this new-found 3D gimmick (along with the high price tag that goes with it), this movie brought me back to a place the others couldn’t: my childhood.
Being able to see the birds swoop and soar over Pride Rock, seeing the stampede charge at full force and seeing Scar and Simba battle to the death made the extra charge worth it. The 3D effects in this movie made me feel I had not just seen a film, but had an experience; as if I were right there, gazing out on to the animal kingdom from Pride Rock. And the 3D experience let me fall in love with this movie all over again as I had when I was a kid.
Although Lion King is almost pushing 20 years old now, being able to see the movie with a whole new experience in tow reminded me of why I loved it so much as a child. Most of the actors have long since grown up, but it was refreshing to hear a young Jonathan Taylor Thomas as Simba and reminded me of the crush I had on him back in the day. It was weird knowing older Simba is actually Matthew Broderick and the recurring thought I kept having was he would turn around and tell the audience he was actually Abe Froman, the sausage king of Chicago (for all those Ferris Bueller fanatics out there, such as myself). But the whole reason I enjoyed this re-release was the lessons I had learned from the movie and how every child should learn them.
Having been only three years old during the initial release, this movie defined my childhood. The values Lion King taught me can be summed up in one of Rafiki’s pillars of wisdom: “The past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it, or… learn from it.” Everyone has had that moment they wish they could replay, the one they wish they could erase. But instead of regretting what you’ve done, as Rafiki tells us, learn from that mistake, move on and it will make you a stronger person. Or, in this case, a stronger lion.
For all the criticism and hype that goes on of Disney putting in secret, sexual messages in their movies, it was not noticeable for me now, as an adult. I was more in awe of how the re-mastered movie could show the bright colors of the jungle and the great animation that I didn’t appreciate as a child.
It was an extraordinary experience being able to re-live a part of my childhood as a junior in college. Singing along to the songs and seeing this masterpiece on the big screen let me forget all the responsibilities I had, and let me be relive childhood for one more day. But just because I have to go back to reality doesn’t mean I won’t be working on my roar with Simba and Zaz
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Ohio U chapter.