Everything Happens for A Reason.

"Everything Happens for A Reason."

Written By: Annsleigh Thornton

"The Lion King", a Disney movie that I have categorized as one of my favorite animated
films, enlightened children around the world and continues to do so today. What often intrigues youth the
most is the action, graphics, color scheme, and up-beat music within the film. Catchy choruses and creative dance sequences are of the abundance, capturing the audience in its first sequential scenes. These aspects of literary design captivated me as well, distracting me from underlying messages within the film.

Everything done in art (including film) is done deliberately and never without reason. The producers of "The Lion King", Disney and its employees, understood that certain individuals with particular backgrounds would interpret "The Lion King" in specific ways. These viewers would decode the information that producers purposefully encoded in the film with bias opinions and beliefs. There is a reason Scar, the antagonist of the film, was of a darker complexion than protagonists Simba and Mufassa. It is a dominant ideology that anything black or dark is dangerous or bad. If "The Lion King" portrayed Africans developing the same tale, I am positive Mufassa would have been globally accepted as a light skinned male. In contrast,
Scar would then be viewed as a darker skinned male. Strategically placed ideologies such as this continue to surface as the film unfolds.

"The Lion King" is entirely focussed around patriarchal privilege, another ideology that is
easier to digest when combined with song and dance. Simba, Mufassa's son, inherits
power over the land from his Father. The film "nature"-alizes this action and implies that
this is how animals truly behave. This minimizes and/or eliminates the role of the Mother.
In actuality, the female lion serves a huge role in the ordinance of a pride. But, by
negating animalistic truths for the purpose of the film "The Lion King" is able to minimize
the importance of the female in nature and by extension, human society. As the film
prolongs other ideologies are introduced: the antagonistc characters are voiced by
African Americans, Scar is linked to homosexuality because of his slurred speech,
limp wrist, and weak demeanor, and Rafiki, the baboon character voiced by an African
American, is scripted to practice natural remedies or, as I interpreted, Voodoo.

Of course all of these accusations are subject to personal opinion. But, a true artist, whom
Disney is acclaimed to be, would never "mistakingly" introduce concepts that would
receive a negative reaction amongst viewers. He would in turn do it purposefully.

Rebuttal: Amy Perry
Disney movies...movies associated with great childhood memories and happy events. "All cartoon characters and fables must be exaggeration, caricatures. It is the very nature of fantasy and fable," is something that Walt Disney was quoted as saying. Walt Disney is the creator of fantastical movies that entertain children, that adults have also come to love. 


I agree with Annsleigh on the point that "The Lion King" is a movie that is focused on patriarchy. How is a movie about patriarchy turned into something negative? I agree with the fact that Scar's darker complexion is something that is associated with negativity; dark colors are associated with "dark" situations. Then again, Scar's name is self-explanatory, which is why he had a scar on his face. Everything was negative about his character, but I do not agree with the fact that Scar was meant to portray a dark-skinned African-American male. At the time that "The Lion King" was created, neither light-skinned nor dark-skinned men were accepted in society. Annsleigh's argument is faulty at this point. 


Disney was a businessman who knew what sold and what did not. Often, artists put effort into their creations, but in the case of "The Lion King," Disney was just doing what he knew would sell-using characters and a storyline that children would appreciate and parents would approve of.