It means no worries, for the rest of your days. Wishful thinking, of course. Many of us who saw Disney’s The Lion King 30 years ago were told that we could just Hakuna Matata our way through life, but really, think about all those worries as you continue to grow up. It may be a problem free, philosophy, but Hakuna Matata is just not a sustainable reality.

This thing was everywhere. The music was all over the place. I think the VHS broke sales records. It felt like everyone I knew had a copy of The Lion King. I remember going to my Gradndfather’s nursing home and seeing The Lion King playing. Not that the residents were the target demographic, or necessarily cared, but someone still went out of their way. And that wasn’t a rental either, because it was there quite often.

And those aforementioned wizards that brought us that Hakuna Matata lifestyle? Timon and Pumbaa easily became the most recognizable Disney characters since Mickey and the original crew. They were everywhere, all at once. A successful Saturday morning cartoon, as well as shorts that helped kids think about nature or the environment. These guys appeared in the theme parks, in rides, on merch, and eventually became the leads in The Lion King 1 and a half.

As far as the other King characters, Mufasa became such a recognizable voice, James Earl jones was the only one asked to return for the Jon Faverau remake. All things are connected in the great Circle Of Life. And Simba, Nala, Rafiki, Zazu, and the rest all have made their imprints. As far as villains go, Jeremy Irons as Scar is really pretty hard to beat.

This is less of a review as it is an appreciation for a film. The Lion King became this central force for a while, and is still a film I can put on whenever. I think I’ve probably seen it in the 15-25 times range, and I’ve seen both the sequels previously. I rewatched all three films recently for this Anniversary experience, leaving Faverau’s remake for the release of Mufasa, coming out this holiday season.

All three films have audio description I’d give my stamp of approval to. While I didn’t log the info for the first Lion King, having seen the film that many times, i did feel like it captured the whole thing rather well. The sequels, produced by Deluxe, went with Jedidiah Barton. Barton is one of my favorite narrators to hear, except I’d dodge putting him in films aimed at kids. I had this problem last year with Treasure Planet. There are narrators who seem to purposefully engage kids, and Barton narrates this like he does every project aimed at adults. That would be fine, if I thought the main audience for Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride was an adult audience.

Speaking of the sequels, they are both better than they should be. Simba’s Pride has numerous returning voice cast, including Simba, Rafiki, Timon, and Pumbaa, as well as brief mentions of Mufasa and Scar (that are likely recordings taken from the original film). It is so 90’s, that the new kids introduced are voiced by Jason Marsden (who also voices Max in A Goffy Movie), and Neve Campbell.

After that, Lion King 1 and a half retreads a lot of the original content, but from Timon and Pumbaa’s point of view, acting as an origin story. It is a creative way to weave these characters in, like they were there the whole time and we just didn’t know it.

Thirty years in this great Circle of life, a mega hit that forever changed the course of Disney Animation.

Final Grades:

The Lion King- A+

The Lion King 2: Simba’s pride: B

The Lion King 1 and 1/2- B