Stereotyping In The Lion King

Starting off her paper, Lacroix begins with an anecdote of her visit to a theater’s premier of The Lion King. Within her anecdote, Lacroix remarks that “a toddler…began shouting with glee” for the character Timon from The Lion King, which Lacroix found concerning as the toddler “was all too aware” even before the movie started playing (213-214). Lacroix directs attention to the repeated exposure of

The Mickey Mouse Monopoly documentary reveals the obscure social messages behind the animated films created by the Disney Company. Although we are conditioned to believe that these movies are pure forms of entertainment, further examination has proved that there are hidden messages concerning gender, race and class that Disney is instilling in the minds of children. The speakers in the documentary argue that Disney is extremely political and hides its ideas behind innocence, magic and fun. When masked by features that are appealing to a younger audience, it is difficult to realize these ideas without taking a closer look.

As a child, I can remember watching the Lion King movie several times because my family loved this timeless movie. I always just thought of it as a story about the “circle of life” that we all hear so much about in church and from our parents. However, for this assignment I chose to watch this movie once more; giving particular attention to details and thoroughly examining Simba’s life stage development in relation to Erik Erikson’s psychosocial stages and Jean Piaget’s cognitive development stages. Needless to say, I was able to find significant evidence relating to these developmental theorists. The story not only displays the hardships of maturation, and the perplexities associated with growing, but it also deals with the search for one’s own identity and responsibility.

The Lion King is a true hero's journey that takes place in the savannas of Africa. The title "the Lion King" emphasizes that a lion is king, most likely referring to the main character, Simba. Simba is the main hero in the story because he regains his kingdom and defeats evil. The main character's archetype is "king"; he takes responsibility for his actions and his kingdom, he regains order and control. Simba takes part in a hero's journey by being a part of the departure, initiation, and the return.

Stereotypes: Generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) beliefs about a group of people. Throughout the movie, there are a lot of stereotypes evident. The main one is that predators are bad, and prey is good. Many believed in the movie that the predators could not be trusted after all the attacks that were happening, but that was not true. The rare cases of a predator going savage was due to toxic flowers.

What images come to mind as one reflects upon his or her childhood? Playgrounds, blackboards, and soccer balls may be among the fondest of memories. Yet, for many, mermaids swim their thoughts, princesses get swept off their feet, and lions roar to their royal place in the animal kingdom. Disney films have captivated the American culture for years and have become a pivotal part of popular culture as well as a form of education. However, these films have devoured the youth of America and, in the process; have perpetuated an institutionally racist society based on harsh stereotypes. Minorities are often underrepresented, and even completely left out, of many Disney films such as Dumbo (1941), The Lion King (1994), Aladdin (1992), and

Almost everyone in the world is familiar with the infamous Disney movie The Lion King, but very few have gone into detail and analyzed the rhetoric within the film. Each scene is filled with a sense of pathos that tugs on the emotions of the audience and inevitably pushes them to one side over the other. It is interesting to see how the voices, color, and actions of each character have such an effect on their personalities which then has an effect on the audience and leaves them judging the morals of the characters. For people who grew up watching the original Disney movies, this is a great film to watch in depth and really figure out the meaning behind each scene.

“Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance. As king, you need to understand that balance, and respect all the creatures from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope,” said Mufasa, a supporting character in the film depiction of Walt Disney’s: The Lion King (1994). The Lion King is a timeless archetypal work that time after time has given youth hope and has shown them that courage is not always innate, but can be learned from just living life with a little “hakuna matata”. The Lion King, through the use of classic archetype, vivid surrealism, and iconic symbolism, shows a coming to age story that shows children that life is an adventure worth the trouble.

Although The Lion King and Macbeth seems like two different stories. One is set in the medieval era while the other is set in postmodernity, but both displays the similarities of the character’s strategic battle for power. Scar, known as the villain in the movie, The Lion King, committed selfish acts to fulfill his distorted desires. As Simba was at the edge of the cliff, about to be murdered by Scar, Scar snarled at him, “That [is] the way your father looked before I killed him” (The Lion King). Simba leaped up from the side of the cliff, and pushed Scar to the ground demanding him to confess to his crime of killing the king, his father, Mufasa. This quote proves that Scar’s ambition leads him to do ruthless acts, wanting to kill Simba, who was next in line of the throne. These malevolent plots are what fuels the battle of evil against the good. Scar stated to his three murders, the Hyenas, “We [are] going to kill him. And Simba, too” (The Lion King). In the movie, The Lion King, shows that Scar is resentful of the king, Mufasa, and the power he retains. In this quote, he plans a plot on who he wants to kill with the three hyenas to help him finish the deed, which shows his strong ambitions. Another

Lazarus states her thesis by saying: “The Lion King is breaking box office records. But it’s not breaking stereotypes (1)”. She discusses how at first she believes it will be different from the traditional Disney movies because it is based on a group of animals and not on sexist princess movies such as The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast (1). Lazarus says she had grown “weary of reinforcing women’s subordinate status by screening fables about a beauty who tames an angry male beast or a mermaid who gives up her glorious voice and splits her body to be with a prince.(1)”

In 1994, the critics hail an animated masterpiece, not only for its artwork and music, but also for the plotline: an evil uncle displaces the heir to the throne and sends him into exile. Years later, following both a prophecy and an encounter with the ghost of the old king, the heir is persuaded to return to his home, avenge his father's death, and take his proper place as the ruler of the kingdom. At first glance, Disney's The Lion King has all the classic motifs of the revenge plot. These archetypal patterns occur in many stories, and Disney writers Jim Capoblanco and Irene Mecchi may well have built the plot's structure from the ground up. However, if we disregard the Serengeti setting, the

Many young children grow up watching Disney films. Many parents do not think that these movies could have a negative impact on their children. Henry Giroux, who wrote the book, “The Mouse that Roared: Disney and the End of Innocence” is a firm believer that Disney films have a negative impact on the children that watch them. For several generations Disney films have been a huge part of children’s lives, but many parents do not realize how these films can negatively impact their children. Disney films can teach young children stereotypes, how to deal with life events such as death and they can learn negative ideas and values from these films.

American values are among the attributes which make a person who they are. Many fail to understand them, there are the standards used to define these ‘values.’ American values are an individual’s belief system set over time, the decisions they make in their life, their morals and what it means to be an American citizen. Few of these notable values that Americans have stayed true to are present in the Disney film, The Lion King. The film itself may dismiss to be nothing more than a childhood fairy tale; however, it reflects much of how American Values are seen in the arts today.

The Lion King is a classic movie, beloved by many. On the surface, this movie seems to be a light-hearted, carefree tale of a lion cub’s journey to justice. However, on taking a deeper look, one finds that the tale consists of conflicting worldviews and philosophies, while presenting the idea of destiny. But which religions and philosophies is it portraying? Let us take a closer look.

It is amazing how a seemingly educated woman that has won Oscar awards for her documentaries, could possibly be so far off base in her review of the Disney movie “The Lion King”. Margaret Lazarus has taken a movie made for the entertainment of children and turned it into something that is racist, sexist and stereotypes gender roles. She uses many personal arguments to review the movie but offers few solutions. The author is well organized but she lacks alternate points of view and does not use adequate sources. Lazarus utilizes the statement at the end of her review that “the Disney Magic entranced her children, but they and millions of other children were given hidden messages that could only do them and us harm” (118). She makes her