“Long live the king…” the mocking tone, the black claws, the emerald green eyes and that scar furrowing the elongated snout. For thirty years Scar, the ugly and evil uncle, has been populating our nightmares with former children. And then that flight from the cliff, Simba’s scream. Until the key moment: Mufasa – the king – lying on the ground, his eyes closed. And that little yellow wad looking for a hug that can no longer hold him: “Dad, get up, we have to go home”.
June 15, 1994 The Lion King was released in American theaters (it would arrive in Italy on November 25 of the same year) and since then the trauma of Mufasa’s death has affected at least three generations of boys and girls.
The 32nd Disney classic – the fifth of the so-called Renaissance of the brand – stands out in the panorama of cartoons for several reasons: not only for being the animated feature film that recorded the highest grossing at the box office in history; not just for the unforgettable soundtrack (from the epic “The circle of life” to the wild “I want to become a king soon”, from the romantic “Love is in the air” to the dark and evil “I will be king”). The Lion King went down in history for having indelibly marked the consciences of anyone who saw it.
A few minutes of pure anguish that characterize a film that is obviously also much more. A narrative device of unique drama, such as to make one suspect a hint of sadism in the work of the screenwriters. And the moments of escape are worth little, thatHakuna Matata which has become a catchphrase for many and which still today characterizes a way of dealing with life and its problems. The killing of Mufasa at the hands of Scar remains an unforgivable barbarity, equal only to the killing of Bambi’s mother. Or the scene where Dumbo is cradled by his mother locked in a cage.
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If you think about it, Disney could be considered jointly responsible for the mental disorders of many people around the world. And to think that our mothers took care to let us watch cartoons like “Tiger Man”, “Ken the Warrior”, “Ryu”. They considered them violent… rookies.
But traumas aside, The Lion King remains a timeless success. And every time, when looking at it, we can’t help but go back to being children and remember the emotions we felt the first time we were glued to the screen for the longest and most unforgettable 89 minutes of our lives.
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