The Lion King

One of the main concepts that the lion king touches on is leadership; especially individual leadership and how that affects not just a group, but really everything around you. In the lion king, Mufasa is killed by his greedy brother Scar and he assumes control over the kingdom. In the movie you can see how Scar uses his power for only evil use and that affects everyone else who is around him. The Plains begin to die off along with all the vegetation growing around them affecting the herds that lie amongst this region. Leadership is not a trait that is simply natural to someone; and I think that this movie showed that leadership comes with certain responsibilities. Especially if you control a region of land where there are people you must take care of, sort of like a political figure. You must be able to put aside the things that you want and start thinking about others. Being able to maintain order and satisfying those around you is how a true leader acts, he is selfish. However, as “the Lion king” shows, a leader isn’t born a great leader, he must learn from his predecessors and most importantly his mistakes. Toward the beginning of the movie “King Mufasa presides with wisdom and firmness over a domain that stretches, as he tells his young son, Simba, as far as the eye can see. Mufasa understands and communicates to the future king the lesson of the natural order of things” (Lewis,1). Mufasa begins to show Simba how a good leader is one that cares about others. Mufasa always concentrated on making the world a better place for everyone. This critical principle that he teaches is can be translated from “the circle of life.” In one of the lyrics to the song it talks about how the natural nature of things will bring comfort and hope for all, even in the moment of despair and tragedy. Mufasa wants Simba to know this principle so he can be a selfless leader; and he wanted him to be ready for when the time comes for Simba to take the throne. The knowledge that Mufasa passed down to his son Simba set him up to become someone great; and throughout the movie samba faces challenges like going through adolescence and being on his own in the wild, escaping the treacherous rulings of Scar, and being taught by timon and pumbaa It was these early influences that formed Simba into the king that he wanted to be so bad. He had tremendous ambition to become just like his father. Shown in the song “I just cant wait to be king,” is Simba’s craving to become like his father, the ultimate ruler of the jungle.  All these things added up to making simple a true leader. He learned that by caring for others he is able to make the best possible decisions as a leader. I think that a lot of kids really took this to heart and it sort of shaped this generation into a stronger one; I know it definitely shaped me because growing up I wanted to be just like my dad, just like Simba wants to be like his father. Many of the other Disney movies touched on more emotional bases, but the Lion King definitely stands out to those who are physically and mentally strong in today’s society and with the inspiration they can get from this movie, they can achieve any goal no matter how hard it is.

            One of the key principles that Mufasa wanted to show samba was how maintain prosperity among the safari and how to continue the circle of life. These were both signs of Mufasa wanting Simba to not be a selfish leader and make others happy and show that he cares; because only then will he become a good leader.

In “I just can’t wait to be king” it depicts Simba as a young cub wanting to be king. At this point samba still had a lot to learn but in his eyes he thinks that being king will mean he will be as majestic as his father. He soon learns that in order to be a king there must a lot of responsibilities that he will have to take charge of. At this point in the movie its sort of the start of the growing of a true king. 

    Leadership can be depicted as one of the main bases that today’s society can reflect on however one of the bases that I personally  took away from this movie was much more hidden. “Disney’s animated films reveal the extent of the racial and ethnic stereotyping evident in Song of the South, Aladdin, The Lion King” (Faherty, 2). Some people today believe that the movie, being in Africa, had a lot of little “second meanings” to the composition of each of the characters. I believe Disney did this on purpose however, not to be racist but to show that different cultures have different knowledge that when combined will be extremely useful. One of the main events of the film is when Simba meets Timon and Pumbaa. These two can be depicted as more of the “outsiders” maybe even those who are less fortunate per se. Simba was still quite young when he met his two friends and they began to teach him ways to really live on his own. They sort of parented him into the person he turned out to be more than anyone else. A Lion had never seen the way these guys function on a daily basis and I think that helped Simba tremendously; the Hakuna Matata has become more than a song to the three amigo’s it becomes a lifestyle that they pretty much use as a foundation for their daily lives. I think this reflects back to us in today’s society quite significantly. The lifestyles that we live today seem more relaxed and go with the flow, much like the Hakuna Matata principal. Living in the United States is a perfect example; we are the biggest melting pot in the world and here in Texas we have so much Hispanic influence everywhere around us. I think kids from this generation who saw these films learned that even though you are of a different race, or ethnicity, that you can work together in a beneficial way. People are blending cultures and we are not as segregated as we were, and not just the adults but in all age groups. Disney used this messaging in a positive way to show that even if you are different you are always valuable to someone. Today’s society cooperates better than it has ever done in the past. Kids see past racial barriers and reach out to each other and that I think is the best educational concept that our society has learned from. 

          During the famous Hakuna Matata, timon and Pumbaa show Simba the different ways of life and other lifestyles that he can benefit from. They show him how to eat differently, interact outside of his comfort zone and basically show him how great it is to live this sort of “care free” lifestyle.

    Citations:

         Faherty, Vincent E. "Is the Mouse Sensitive? A Study of Race, Gender, and Social Vulnerability in Disney Animated Films." SIMILE: Studies In Media & Information Literacy Education 1.3 (2001): 1-7. Uniersity of Toronto Press. University of Toronto Press, 18 Sept. 2007. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. <http://utpjournals.metapress.com/content/08r60826151511l8/fulltext.pdf>.

         Lewis, Greg. "Lessons of 'The Lion King'" Greg Lewis Org. Washington Dispatch, 28 Jan. 2004. Web. 15 Nov. 2012. <http://www.greglewis.org/2004/012804.htm>.