Has there ever been a better opening shot of a Disney film (or of a film, period) than the red sun rising over the horizon of the African savannah with Lebo M. wailing in Zulu? It's a fantastic moment that sets the tone for the film to follow, an exercise in lush artwork, incredibly lifelike animation, and a new level of cinematics for Disney. More than just a great Disney film, more that a great animated film, The Lion King is the first entry in Disney's canon that just truly feels like a great film, period.
Rather than a fairy tale or princess-based romance, the story is more mature, almost Shakespearean in tone (there are marked similarities to be found between The Lion King and Hamlet). We have a rightful prince afraid of his past in Simba; in Scar, we have the power-hungry outcast, plotting the deaths of his family in his rise to the throne(ironic that a lion ends up being one of the most humanly evil villains of Disney's canon); in Mufasa, we have the wise, beloved father who dies the most emotionally devastating death in all of Disney - unlike in Bambi, where the protagonist had to learn what death was, Simba knows exactly what is unfolding in front of him, and he's forced to watch the whole thing. The themes of betrayal, redemption, and acceptance of the past run strong throughout the plot, which culminates in one of the most visceral fights ever seen in a Disney film; thanks to the strikingly fluid, realistic animation and the brilliant slow-motion action, the scene is elevated to the highest of drama.
Artistically, the film elevates Disney to a level never before achieved. The cinematic flourishes present in some of the free-camera shots of Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin blossom here into a true replication of live-action cinematography, with the result that the production value feels far higher than any film before it. The artistic centerpiece of the film is the wildebeest stampede, which earns its place as one of the great scenes in cinema history: everything about the scene is absolutely perfect, from the mounting tension at the beginning to the panicked action to the devastating culmination of Mufasa's death. And all of this says nothing of the film's music, with an epic score by Hans Zimmer and easily the greatest Disney soundtrack, courtesy of Alan Menken, Tim Rice, and Elton John.
The Lion King would ultimately prove to be the peak of the Disney Renaissance. While the remaining Renaissance films would carry on the cinematic values it introduced, none would fully replicate its success. In the end, there's little denying it: The Lion King is, hands down, the greatest film Disney has ever produced, and one of the pinnacles of the entire animation medium.
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