Male Dominance and Female Influence on Disneys The Lion King Movie Review

Male Dominance and Female Influence on Disneys The Lion King - Movie Review Example The influence that the company has gained through the decades can be perceived everywhere. It has digressed to almost every kind of media and branched out to merchandising as a lucrative endeavor. One, among the many films produced by Walt Disney Pictures, is The Lion King. This animated movie, released in 1994, has captivated children who witnessed the adventures of Simba and his flight of discovering himself in order to reclaim the heir to the kingdom which was rightfully his. The film has catapulted sequels including animated series featuring some of its most endearing characters. It had actually won a number of awards. Something that was unprecedented at the time for animated films. It paved the way for the recognition of animation as a verified form of filmmaking. It won Best Film under the category of Musical or Comedy at the 1994 Golden Globe Awards where it also when Best Score, a category it also bagged in the Academy Awards that same year. The circle of life, this is the mo st famous song commonly attributed to the Lion King. This is what the film is trying to impart with its audience. The value and the reality that we are all connected. â€Å"Everything you see exists together, in a delicate balance. You need to understand that balance and respect all the creatures -- from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope† (Mufasa, The Lion King). The lions eat the antelopes, as Mufasa had told Simba, but lions die too and when they die, they serve as food to the grass that antelopes then eat. Life is a cycle and a lion may be at the top of the food chain today but he will also become a different part of it the next. But what The Lion King also tells us is that life is also a triangle. The dominance of the male over female characters can be found throughout the film but there are also some that suggest the influence of women on the male’s decision-making. It is a pyramid wherein the pride has a system wherein the alpha lion is the head of the hie rarchy. It is very much a patriarchal society wherein the alpha male and the male figure overshadow everyone else. The leader of the tribe must essentially be a male. This is why the birth of Simba was an event. He is the symbol and the realization that the proliferation of their family as the head of the kingdom will continue. Even the forest has a hierarchy. And this leadership is determined by vigor. Strength may only be a trait attributed to a male lion. There is no such thing as a lion queen. The mere idea is just plain absurd. The process of choosing who the alpha male should be is determined by his strength. This is Scar’s resentment. He was subordinated to the throne to Mufasa because of the scar on his face. This means that he was not chosen as king because he had lost a fight. The aesthetic mark is a constant reminder of his weakness. Though he got the ‘lion’s share’ in the brain as to wits and cunning, his brother got the sheer brute force (Scar , The Lion King). This is obviously more important than anything else. The mere roar of Mufasa and his demeanor was regarded with fear and great respect among his people. The very mention of the name of Mufasa sends chills to the hyenas. He ruled admirably and was able to discipline Simba without using an iron fist. He maintained the peace in the kingdom by adhering to the system limited by boundaries that must not be crossed.