“What do you want me to do, dress in drag and do the hula?”
Finally another Disney classic comes to Blu-Ray featuring a typical eye-popping restoration. ‘The Lion King’ was of course part of a run of Disney successes during the 1990s and some say the best, but I always prefered ‘Beauty & The Beast’ and ‘Aladdin’. The painted African landscape shots look dazzling in HD and once gain you can even see the artists brushstrokes. The voice cast is wonderful featuring Jeremy Irons as the deliciously evil Richard III-like lion Scar, Rowan Atkinson as the officious bird Zazu and of course the booming James Earl Jones as the towering fatherly presence of Mufasa king of the pride. The best thing is Hans Zimmer’s magnificent African inspired score. The extras included on the disc are many and often excellent but they become tiresome when they are too focused on selling the subsequent musical. Role on a Blu-Ray release for 1992′s ‘Aladdin’.
However I’ve not seen it in nigh on 20 years, so I was giddy with excitement when I spotted it second-hand the other day. The central father and son performances by Jeremy Irons and his actual son Samuel Irons are wonderfully warm and natural. This family atmosphere is further enhanced by the inclusion of Cyril Cusack who is Jeremy’s father-in-law and of course Samuel’s grandpa. The cast is rounded out by Robbie Coltrane (Clearly having enormous fun) as the wicked landowner Victor Hazell and Ronald Pickup as Captain Lancaster, the evil Schoolmaster incarnate. The scenes involving plucky little Danny coming to the rescue in his Dad’s car, sneaking about at night, confounding his teachers and conspiring in a mass Pheasant drugging while still being an ace Car Mechanic is one glorious big boys adventure. For me it’s still got the magic after all these years.
