movie review | St. Gallen's Scribblings

Film Review – The Lion King (1994)

Simba the Brownish Gold Lion

When I was young and carefree, I didn’t really have strong opinions on anything like most media, video games included (and I’ve been a gamer for as long as I remember), or any other media like books, movies, and television shows. In the early 1990s, I did have a slight interest in Disney’s animated films and had seen many in the theaters then, but when The Lion King came out in 1994, refused the opportunity to see it with my family when we visited my late maternal grandparents then. Since then, I hadn’t actually seen the film in its entirety to the point I could remember it, but recently watched it in full on Disney+ to celebrate its thirtieth anniversary.

The film opens with the iconic “Circle of Life” musical number and sequence where the newborn Simba, son of King Mufasa, is presented to the animal population of the Pride Lands. When Simba grows up, his father teaches him about royal responsibilities and preserving the “circle of life,” which connects all living entities. However, Mufasa hypocritically excludes the hyenas from it, with his effeminate younger brother, Scar, conspiring with them to seize the throne for himself. Some of the character names, Scar’s included, create an Aerith and Bob situation, like the main hyenas being named Shenzi, Banzai, and…Ed. Scar’s birth name, Taka, is never mentioned within the film, and a flashback in the future series The Lion Guard shows how he got his namesake facial blemish.

“When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connected in the great Circle of Life…but not the hyenas.”

Young Simba is a bit of a brat, and many musical numbers feel a bit excruciating, such as “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” (which steals a bit from Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5”), and “Be Prepared” (sharing its name with the Boy Scout motto doesn’t help). Scar ultimately tricks his nephew into going into the middle of a gorge while having the hyenas incite a stampede of wildebeests try to kill him, which results in Mufasa rescuing him but being killed himself in the process. Simba is blamed (mostly rightfully) for killing the king, with his uncle telling him to run away, which he does.

Simba eventually encounters the vagrant meerkat Timon and the warthog Pumbaa, who teach him through song “hakuna matata,” the art of not giving a damn, which he masters into adulthood. He rescues the two from his old friend Nala, with whom he falls in love, and who tells him that the Pride Lands has become drought-stricken under Scar’s reign. The film shows no logical explanation as to exactly how they did, with starvation present as well due to the lionesses refusing to hunt, so one could count them among the real villains of the movie alongside Mufasa.

The real heroes of the film.

After a celestial visit from his father, Simba returns to the Pride Lands to confront his uncle, with the rest of the film having plenty of callbacks to the first act. Overall, The Lion King definitely has many positive aspects, including the soundtrack (with exceptions such as a few of the musical numbers), strong voice performances (including James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Jeremy Irons as Scar, and Whoopi Goldberg and Cheech Marin as the hyenas Shenzi and Banzai), and parallels to William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. However, the movie does derive elements from Osamu Tezuka’s Kimba the White Lion, and there are others issues like zero in-film explanation about the climate during Scar’s kingship. Regardless, it’s easily a bucket-list animated film, but as with many others, that’s far from synonymous with “masterpiece.”

The Good	The Bad
Hamlet, but with lions. Great voice performances. Beautiful animation. Nice ethnic soundtrack.	Some unexplained plot elements. Borrows elements from Kimba the White Lion. A few excruciating musical numbers. Toilet humor.
The Bottom Line
A must-see Disney classic, but not synonymous with “masterpiece.”

The Great Wolf Pack: A Call to Adventure

Posted on April 19 by Remy St. Gallen

I first heard about Great Wolf Lodge through several commercials and an episode of Undercover Boss (though I didn’t watch said episode completely), with the immediate attraction being the indoor water park chain’s lupine mascot Wiley Wolf, outfitted in an adorable boy scout/park ranger combination uniform. As such, I researched said company and discovered their anthropomorphic animal cast aimed at younger audiences. The characters would endure several aesthetic changes, the latest of which would star in a short movie, The Great Wolf Pack: Call to Adventure, released in 2022.

The film itself stars Wiley Wolf in his latest design as he joins friends like Sammy Squirrel, Oliver Raccoon, and others in an adventure that later involves a clash between two races with a claim to a territory. The characters are cute, the animation is fluid, the themes are relatable, and the voice performances are well-executed. However, there are issues like the general kiddy nature of the movie and lack of appeal to older audiences. Many “why” moments regarding dialogue and conversations also abound, and other oddities like Oliver having red panda parents come at the end. The theme songs during the ending credits are somewhat excruciating as well.

Still, it’s not a long film and is viewable on YouTube.

Bagi, the Monster of Mighty Nature

Posted on April 12 by Remy St. Gallen

I heard about this 1980s made-for-television anime film from a friend here on Dreamwidth; given the central role of an anthropomorphic cat-woman, I couldn’t resist. It opens in medias res with a score-old Japanese hunter, Ryosuke (or just Ryo), teaming with a South American boy, Chico (with the character costuming largely implying Mexico more than any other country), to track a monster terrorizing the countryside. Five years before, Ryo, also the son of a crime reporter father and geneticist mother, rides with his motorcycle gang and encounters a cat-woman named Bagi, a hybrid of a human and a puma.

The film relates the backstories of Bagi and Ryo’s mother, which culminates in stopping a conspiracy of scientists planning to unleash a strain of rice that can eradicate humanity, eventually returning to the present afterward. Overall, I found this a satisfying watch, even if I had to watch it in Japanese (but luckily with English subtitles), but the performances of the seiyū were superb. Given that the flaws of English voice acting are more readily apparent than those of a foreign language, this wasn’t a bad thing, and all the voices fit their respective characters. It’s on YouTube, so by all means, watch it.

The Wind in the Willows (1995)

Posted on April 8 by Remy St. Gallen

I may have heard of Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows before seventh grade before I read the actual book, given its intelligent animal cast. After reading it, it remained one of my all-time favorite pieces of literature, mildly influential upon my written word. Numerous adaptations have spawned since the dawn of film and television (most on the latter), with Disney being among the earliest studios to take a crack at it by combining it with their interpretation of Washington Irving’s completely unrelated short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Among the more contemporary (sort of) adaptations is the 1995 British animated television film produced by the TVC (Television Cartoons) in London (likely defunct since nothing has come out of the studio since 2001). It opens with a live-action sequence where a Victorian woman begins to tell her children the tale, which quickly morphs into a full-fledged animated film. The story proper starts with Mole, disillusioned with spring cleaning, emerging from his underground home to meet and befriend Ratty (just called Rat in this adaptation), with both having a picnic with another river inhabitant, Otter, and his young pup, Portly.

Then they join the wealthy Mr. Toad, who takes them on a trip with his gypsy caravan, but the amphibian hastily develops a fascination with motor vehicles when one causes his carriage to crash. The following spring, Ratty, Mole, and their friend, Mr. Badger, attempt to dissuade their amphibian friend from his obsessions, but he steals and crashes a car, earning a score-long prison sentence. He ultimately escapes with the help of the jailer’s daughter, encountering various tribulations before reuniting with his companions and taking back Toad Hall when weasels seize it.

Overall, I enjoyed this adaptation, though I can’t wholly attest to its faithfulness to the source material (but it seems to do so, at least in my memory). The bookends of the Victorian woman telling her children the story seem unnecessary. However, I liked the various costumes of the animal characters, Otter in particular, and the animation was pleasant. I would gladly reread the book were I to get the time and watch its other adaptations, probably excluding the live-action ones since most seem to star humans that look nothing like the animals they allegedly play. Regardless, I don’t regret watching this film and would recommend it.

Ben-Hur (1959)

Posted on March 10 by Remy St. Gallen

A color remake of the 1925 silent film, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s iconic version released in 1959, like its precursor based on Lew Wallace’s epic historical novel, stars the late Charlton Heston as the eponymous Judah Ben-Hur, a wealthy Jewish prince and merchant living in Jerusalem, twenty-five years after the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, with both cities under the jurisdiction of the Roman Empire in the Judaea province. As in the book, Ben-Hur is condemned to galley slavery when loose roof tiles from a building from which he witnesses an imperial procession nearly kill the new governor.

Three years later, Ben-Hur is a rower for the flagship of Roman Consul Quintus Arrius, who adopts him as his son after a naval battle leaves the two stranded, and the former spends time in Rome, training as a charioteer. The former returns to Judaea, meeting the Magi Balthasar and Arab Sheik Ilderim, who want him to participate in a chariot race before the new Judean governor, Pontius Pilate, although Ben-Hur initially refuses. However, after learning the fates of his sister and mother, he changes his mind, seeking revenge against Messala in the film’s iconic chariot race recreated from the silent film version and loosely done so twoscore later in the podrace of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

The rest of the film has Ben-Hur returning to Judaea to find his mother and sister, also witnessing the trial and crucifixion of Jesus. Overall, this film easily qualifies as a classic, yet deviates from Wallace’s novel in many ways, like what happens with Messala, the post-chariot race portions involving Judah’s mother and sister, and the absence of the scenes at the beginning of the Three Magi meeting and what happens with the Hurs after Christ’s execution and beyond. Regardless, it stands well by itself and is a significant part of cinematic history that warrants viewership by any cinema buff.

The Marvels

Posted on February 23 by Remy St. Gallen

The latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe follows the events of Ms. Marvel, also being a sequel to Captain Marvel, with the titular characters banding to battle the alien Kree, afterward another nemesis named Dar-Benn. Every time they use their powers, the Marvels swap places, like Freaky Friday in a superheroine setting. I thought it was a typical MCU film that attempts to fuse action with lightheartedness. While the cast performances were solid, with Samuel L. Jackson, as always, doing an excellent job as Nick Fury, along with a surprise after the ending credits, I honestly think that the superhero movie market has somewhat become oversaturated, and ultimately hope that the Marvel Cinematic Universe finds a satisfactory grand finale as it continues the next few years.

Hercules (1997)

Posted on February 16 by Remy St. Gallen

Disney’s original animated interpretation of the classic myth of Hercules opens with the songstress Muses narrating the film’s backstory in a musical style combining elements from the soul and gospel genres (and the studio back then was still mindful of DEI, even if in a different fashion), leading to the present where the gods Zeus and Hera have their titular son in Ancient Greece. Mythologically, the film fuses elements from Greek and Roman mythos, with Herc’s equivalent in the former being Heracles, but admittedly, that moniker doesn’t roll off the tongue, and deviations from the original myths abound.

While most of the gods of Mount Olympus celebrate Hercules’ birth, Zeus’ brother Hades, brilliantly portrayed by James Woods and the high point of the film, plots to overthrow the heavenly deities to rule himself. Thus, he sends his minions to kidnap the infant Herc and off him after having him ingest a potion that strips his immortality, although humans interrupt them and make them flee, leaving him with a drop of his godliness. Raised by mortals, Hercules faces estrangement for his excessive strength and discovers his destiny to rejoin the gods through heroism, with the satyr Philoctetes (or just Phil), just as memorable as Hades due to Danny DeVito’s performance, taking him on as his apprentice.

After proving his heroism in Thebes and boosting his popularity to being merchandized, Herc eventually confronts Hades and the Titans he seeks to revive while fighting for his eventual love interest, Megara (or Meg). In conclusion, this is probably one of my higher-regarded films in the Disney animated canon since I can easily relate to its themes of alienation and ostracization due to character and talent. Likewise, “Go the Distance” is an enjoyable central theme; despite what critics have said, I prefer Roger Bart’s in-movie rendition to Michael Bolton’s during the ending credits. As I mentioned, the film does take liberties with Greco-Roman mythology, but I nonetheless enjoyed it.

Zootopia

Posted on February 10 by Remy St. Gallen

In a world solely inhabited by anthropomorphic mammals, the country rabbit Judy Hopps accomplishes her dream of becoming the first lapine police officer in the titular urban metropolis but starts on parking duty. On her first day, the vulpine con artists Nick Wilde and Finnick hustle her, after which she abandons her post to pursue a small-time criminal, but the police chief reprimands her. As he does so, an otter wife interrupts and implores a search for her missing husband, one of fourteen lost predators in Zootopia. Judy receives forty-eight hours to solve the case, blackmailing Nick into assisting her in finding Mr. Otterton and solving the mystery of the other missing predators.

Ultimately, this is an enjoyable film, given its strictly nonhuman cast, with backstory interweaved into the narrative, along with a few good twists and commentary on the alleged black-and-white nature of specific beasts and an exemplification of Paulo Freire’s warning of oppressed populations possibly becoming oppressors themselves. However, a few unresolved plot points abound, like what the carnivores eat and the unexplored role of religion in Zootopia, since characters repeatedly mention God. Some scenes like that at the sloth-run Department of Mammal Vehicles also feel like padding. Regardless, I don’t regret rewatching this and will gladly watch Zootopia+ and the forthcoming theatrical sequel.

Groundhog Day (film)

Posted on February 2 by Remy St. Gallen

This 1993 fantasy comedy stars Bill Murray as a snarky, cynical weatherman tasked with covering the annual Groundhog Day festival in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, who becomes entrapped in a time loop that makes him relive the day endlessly. As he does so, he accustoms himself to the various situations in town that recur and discovers that he can make some good of his apparent supernatural situation. The film melds comedy and philosophy well, having some religious allegory and qualifying as iconic, the title and holiday becoming synonymous with unpleasant and repetitive situations. Some of the technology dates it to the first half of the 1990s, but it’s still a bucket-list movie.

Barbie (film)

Posted on January 13 by Remy St. Gallen

The first live-action film based on Mattel’s iconic toy line, Barbie stars Margot Robbie as the eponymous doll who lives an idealized life in Barbieland but has an existential crisis and travels to the real world alongside her boyfriend Ken, played by Ryan Gosling, in a fish-out-of-water comedic setting. Mattel’s CEO, played by Will Ferrell, is alerted to their presence, thus seeking to recapture them. Ken further discovers the concept of patriarchy and returns to Barbieland to lead a male revolution, culminating in reconciliation between them and the ruling Barbies. Overall, this was one of the few films whose concept seemed terrible, given the source material, but ended up surprisingly enjoyable, with sound social commentary, and is worth a watch.