Tuesday, October 24, 2006

King of the Lions

"Get away from me you creepy monkey"



I never fully appreciated the beauty and genius of Disney until I watched Lion King two days ago.

While in Africa, I was amazed by the fact that Disney integrated the Swahili language into the movie. Pumba is actually the word for a warthog. Simba means lion. Rafiki means friend. And, people do really use Hakuna Matata (though it usually is cause for worry).

The intro scene to Lion King, when they present Simba and all the animals are circling. With the exception of those animals hanging out around the lions, it was a pretty good depiction of what the savannahs look like.

All the animals graze together. When you spot a zebra, most likely you will see a group of eland or wildabeast or some other animal (again, with the exception of lions).

The movie captured so many of the different animals. I have pictures of almost every animal in that film. The one I am without is a babboon, sadly. And, their likenesses are just amazing. The colors, the movements, everything is very realistic (except them being in 2d).

Having an animator as a boyfriend, I realize more and more the immense research that goes into any cartoon. PJ had to study a frog for days for one of the bits of Ant Bully that he worked on. I cannot imagine the hours of study that must have gone in to making this movie.

I always scoffed at how long it takes to put an animated film out. No more.

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