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78% Kill Your Darlings Oct 16
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The Lion King (1994)

tomatometer

90

Average Rating: 8.2/10
Reviews Counted: 110
Fresh: 99 | Rotten: 11

Emotionally stirring, richly drawn, and beautifully animated, The Lion King stands tall within Disney's pantheon of classic family films.

91

Average Rating: 7.8/10
Critic Reviews: 22
Fresh: 20 | Rotten: 2

Emotionally stirring, richly drawn, and beautifully animated, The Lion King stands tall within Disney's pantheon of classic family films.

audience

90

liked it
Average Rating: 4/5
User Ratings: 1,255,526

My Rating

Movie Info

One of the most popular Disney animated musicals, The Lion King presents the story of a lion cub's journey to adulthood and acceptance of his royal destiny. Simba (voiced first by Jonathan Taylor Thomas, then by Matthew Broderick) begins life as an honored prince, the son of the powerful King Mufasa (voiced by James Earl Jones). The cub's happy childhood turns tragic when his evil uncle, Scar (voiced by Jeremy Irons), murders Mufasa and drives Simba away from the kingdom. In exile, the young

Oct 7, 2003

$94.2M

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All Critics (110) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (99) | Rotten (11) | DVD (56)

The Lion King, complete with jaunty songs by Elton John and Tim Rice, is undeniably and fully worthy of its glorious Disney heritage. It is a gorgeous triumph -- one lion in which the studio can take justified pride.

July 31, 2013 Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
Philadelphia Inquirer
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Between traumas, the movie serves up soothingly banal musical numbers (composed by Elton John and Tim Rice) and silly, rambunctious comedy.

July 31, 2013 Full Review Source: New Yorker
New Yorker
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It's perhaps the closest Disney has come to creating a consciously mythical entertainment in the style of Star Wars. Yet like that film it keeps its sense of humor and fun.

July 31, 2013 Full Review Source: Seattle Times
Seattle Times
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Even with its flaws, this latest Disney animated feature once again delivers what its audience wants. Too bad flesh and blood films can't be this consistent.

July 31, 2013 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
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It bears repeating that The Lion King is quite entertaining as children's fare goes these days. But Disney has established a standard so high on animated features that anything less than a classic leaves you feeling that something's missing.

July 31, 2013 Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The rest of The Lion King alternates between grand-opera melodrama and low-comedy hi-jinks, superbly blending the two approaches.

July 31, 2013 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel
Orlando Sentinel
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the animation is stunning on the big screen and beautiful to watch

August 24, 2013 Full Review Source: 7M Pictures
7M Pictures

Even the inescapable hype cannot diminish the fact that this is one great film.

July 31, 2013 Full Review Source: Philadelphia Daily News
Philadelphia Daily News

This crowd-pleasing cartoon musical from Walt Disney had enormous box-office appeal, and proved so popular that it was adapted as a spectacular stage show.

July 31, 2013 Full Review Source: Radio Times
Radio Times

Simba is a superbly realized character, especially in the first half of the movie when he's still a little cub.

July 31, 2013 Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor
Christian Science Monitor

Wondrously imaginative, The Lion King is superior family entertainment, charming in every way.

July 31, 2013 Full Review Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Although it's state of the art, one might say that in terms of its values, it's the best animated film of the 19th century.

July 31, 2013 Full Review Source: Baltimore Sun
Baltimore Sun

What gives this latest Disney cartoon a real excitement is its story, a swift, sometimes brutal tale of dynastic trouble in the animal kingdom.

July 31, 2013 Full Review Source: People Magazine
People Magazine

It's the stuff of classics, and every shred of this movie matches the intent and soulful message of personal growth and evolution, which is why it remains the emotional triumph it is.

July 31, 2013 Full Review Source: Canada.com
Canada.com

A near perfect and breathtaking animated epic...

July 3, 2013 Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed
Cinema Crazed

The exclamation point on a great run of classic Disney animation...

January 7, 2013 Full Review Source: McClatchy-Tribune News Service
McClatchy-Tribune News Service

This is my first experience with The Lion King it is a surprisingly dark, deep and more complex movie than I thought it would be. There's a reason why everyone loves it. One of the best animated films of all time and amazing 3D.

April 22, 2012 Full Review Source: Eclipse Magazine
Eclipse Magazine

A classic story told through immersive visuals, great voice work and some of the most memorable songs in movie history. The Lion King defines animated classic.

January 29, 2012 Full Review Source: IGN DVD
IGN DVD

Yes, it's a Disney film. But if you're a grown-up, don't let that stop you from sinking your teeth into 'The Lion King.' There's more depth, humor and dignity to this show than you'll see at almost any other movie so far this year.

December 22, 2011 Full Review Source: KWQC-TV (Iowa)
KWQC-TV (Iowa)

It's not hard to understand why The Lion King's good-vs.-evil adventure and high-spirited comic passages haven't lost their appeal. [Blu-ray]

October 24, 2011 Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews
Groucho Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Lion King

"The Lion King" has been such an important part of so many childhoods since it came out, but what is so remarkable is that, whereas some childhood entertainment loses a lot of luster once the nostalgia-goggles come off, I find my appreciation for this film to grow the older I get. I personally don't believe Disney has yet created a more beautiful film, since it isn't just a detailed rendition of African wildlife, but its such a deliriously colorful and expressively animated film to boot. The story is honest in its portrayal of the corruption that exists in the world, but more importantly, in the hope that good moral judgement can overcome such corruption. The voice cast is pitch-perfect, the soundtrack remains the absolute greatest in animated film history, and the script (while perhaps not wholly original) deftly balances searing emotional truths with charmingly silly antics.
April 19, 2011
Sam Barnett

Super Reviewer

(3D review) When hearing they were remaking one of my favorite Disney animated films in 3-D for its 20th anniversary, you can bet I got hyped, and boy did this film not disappoint. I saw this on opening day, now prior to hearing about this I hadn't seen the film in about 3 years so I didn't want it to be ruined if I watched it the week/night/month before seeing the film, and that was a wise decision on my part, because the refreshing of my memory with this film worked and it was almost like a new experience to me. Also the 3-D in this film is incredible, I'm rarely blown away by 3-D but here, my god, the 3-D matched the animation so perfectly, that this film and 3-D were made for each other.
December 13, 2010
michael e.
Michael Edwards

Super Reviewer

    1. Zazu: Wrong! The only checking out you will do, is to check out of here.
    2. Young Simba: Aww, man!
    3. Zazu: We're way beyond the boundaries of the Pride Lands.
    4. Simba: Old banana beak is scared.
    5. Zazu: That's Mr. Banana Beak to you fuzzy. And I sense right now we are all in very real danger.
    6. Young Simba: Danger, ha! I look on the wild side. I laugh at the face of danger, hahahaha.
    – Submitted by Christopher S (31 days ago)
    1. Banzai: Man, that lousy Mufasa! I won't be able to sit for a week!
    2. Ed: [laughs]
    3. Banzai: It's not funny, Ed.
    4. Ed: [laughs louder and hysterically]
    5. Banzai: Hey, shut up!
    6. Ed: [continues laughing]
    – Submitted by Emelyn W (8 months ago)
    1. Timon: What's going on here?
    – Submitted by Maarten H (8 months ago)
    1. Mufasa: And so we are all connected in the great circle of life.
    – Submitted by Maarten H (8 months ago)
    1. Scar: I'm surrounded by idiots...
    – Submitted by Maarten H (8 months ago)
    1. Timon: Woah! Jeez, why do I always have to save your a-aaaaahhhhh!
    – Submitted by Taylor T (9 months ago)
View all quotes (84)

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Foreign Titles

  • Der König der Löwen (DE)
  • The Lion King (UK)
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