There’s not really a Pride Rock in this next film but there are lions and warthogs and wildebeest. For this project, I’m focusing on the story itself, including dialogue, character development, any subplots, how a story presents itself, the speed at which it moves, if it slows down unnecessarily, etc.
Update: In February 2022, I started a video version of the DFP on Tiktok. You can find the video below. Thoughts expressed in the video may be different than what are expressed in the blog post, due to the time difference in posting.
A Brief Summary
With this next True-Life Adventure, we journey to witness life on the African plains. While their Majesties, the lions, reign supreme in this film, there are plenty of other amazing animals that share the screen. The struggle between life and death is apparent as giraffes, antelope, and cheetahs, to name a few, all stay on the move to find their next meal. Includes an elephant mudbath, a hippo mock battle, and a painful drought.
What works
- I love the visual/verbal introductions to each of the animals that either exists in Africa or features prominently in the film. Not just because I love animals, but because it really helps set the scene. With this being a documentary (like the earlier True-Life Adventure films) rather than a fictional experience, the straight-forward approach works much better to speed the story along.
- The stars of the film are the lions (they’re so cool, they even get the film title named after them) but just because they are the title creatures, they are not the only animals shown. It’s actually cool how they’ve organized the shots. It’s a circular motion, touching base with the lions before showing a few different creatures, then returning to the lions.
Lather, rinse, repeat. - Tragedy is not something to shy away from. In fact, the narrator mentions this early on in the film. I mean, tragedy is just a part of any story. It just depends on which version of the story you’re looking at. At one point in the film, there’s a lioness carrying a portion of a wildebeest for her cubs’ dinner. In another scene, a leopard takes down a baby wildebeest rather than one of the MANY adult wildebeest because “the predators of the plain are many, and it’s the young they pursue the most”.
- I don’t worry about the length of the film (just as I didn’t worry about the other True-Life films) because I get so engrossed in the action taking place, that before I know it, it’s over. I think that has to do not just with the animals being filmed, but with the narration that accompanies it. It’s simple, straight-forward and humorous at times.
Honorable Mentions
- The warthog aka Pumbaa makes an appearance and I’m so happy.
- The amount of vultures that appear in this film is terrifying. I’ve had to walk around vultures before (they were eating a dead cat when I was walking in Florida) but there were only 4 or 5. I’d run for the hills if there were as many as in this film.
- Let’s just retitle this film “The Jungle Cruise” because that’s mainly what I’m thinking throughout this film. All the jokes, all the puns, all the hippos. Okay, not really but it is making me miss that attraction.
- The baby elephant running around, scattering the egrets. If that isn’t the cutest thing around, I don’t know what is. (Okay, it’s actually watching little baby elephant try to climb out of the watering hole. I just want to go help him!)
Side Questions
- Can someone teach me how to keep my head still like a Courser bird? Because that bird can hold its head ABSOLUTELY PERFECTLY STILL while moving the rest of its body and I want to figure out how to do the human equivalent. I have no idea why, I just do.
- There’s a rhino, at one point in the film, trapped in mud, so trapped that he’s just whacking his head against the ground in frustration. I kept pausing and rewatching different shots during that scene because I want to know not just how he got stuck but how stuck he is. Also, I kind of wanted to help him, not that I have any kind of strength to do something about it.
What I learned from watching this film
- I love how death is portrayed from both angles in this film. I know I mentioned it above, but I’m mentioning it again because it’s that important. As a spectator, I’m drawn into the drama of the animals’ lives, whether from the side of the predator or the prey. But depending on how the animal’s death is portrayed, I either feel bad for the victim or cheer on the victor. And I love that! I think it’s great that both sides are presented because that’s how it is in real life. It provides depth, accuracy, tension, all things that paint a more vivid picture than to show only moments that keep the film light.
If you’ve seen The African Lion, what are some of your thoughts? Share in the comments below!
Rewind to the beginning of the Disney Film Project
Skip back to the previous film with Lady and the Tramp
Fast Forward to the next film with The Littlest Outlaw
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