Disney’s animated feature The Lion King had its premiere in 1994. That year, roughly 2 percent of Americans had access to the Internet.
The 30th anniversary of that film’s release was celebrated in May with a pair of Hollywood Bowl concerts featuring songs from the soundtrack.
In the three decades since its release, The Lion King has established its place among Disney’s most beloved films. It was retooled as a spectacular and successful Broadway musical (which returns to The Straz April 2-20). Even Disney’s absolutely unnecessary live-action remake got decent notices.
Also in that 30-year span, Internet access expanded to 97 percent of Americans. This may explain why the big news from the anniversary concerts concerned a 10-year-old who might not have sung so well.
North West, daughter of human clickbait Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, sang “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King,” which set the Internet a-roiling with accusations that she sang like a 10-year-old and has famous parents. Which doesn’t say anything good about, well, anything.
The continued affection for The Lion King is quite a bit more heartening. Public discourse was far less charged in the ‘90s – not that we would have thought so then – in part because everyone couldn’t share their misspelled and ungrammatical opinions with the masses in the time it takes to sneeze.
In 1994, movie audiences didn’t need to be told to silence their cell phones. This was due in part to 1994 cell phones being prohibitively expensive and looking like bricks, only bigger, heavier and less attractive.
In 1994, you might – might – own a desktop computer made by IBM or Commodore. Your more computer-savvy friends snickered if you owned a Mac – Apple was toast, the shunned Betamax to Microsoft’s crowd-pleasing VHS, even though Windows 95 wouldn’t come out until the next year.
Some guy named Bezos was setting up an online bookstore in his garage. It went online the next year. Wonder how that went.
Also released in 1995 – The Lion King on videocassette. Movies mostly premiered in theaters and weren’t on television, even pay TV, until the theatrical run was well over. The term “streaming” was rarely used aside from people discussing what small, continuously running bodies of water do.
No Hulu. No Spotify. No Door Dash. No Uber. Taylor Swift was 4 years old.
So, yes, much has changed in 30 years, as tends to happen whether the changes amaze us or not. Calling 1994 a simpler time is obvious to the point of being meaningless. It didn’t seem simpler then.
There was, though, something simple about The Lion King. Certainly not the eye-popping graphics or Disney’s hit-every-mark marketing strategy, not to mention the big-name talent behind it.
The story, though, is as old as Shakespeare, or the Bible, for that matter: Good vs. evil. The rightful heir vs. the usurper. The robust oratory of James Earl Jones (Mufasa) vs. the sneering insinuations of Jeremy Irons (Scar).
We watch, and cheer, as callow kitten Simba grows into the Cat King of the Jungle, although lions live on the savannah. He is challenged and frustrated but ultimately prevails.
And for all the songs and the humor and the occasional darkness, right comes out on top. Good defeats evil. The villain loses, the hero is lionized. (I’m sorry.)
Life didn’t tend to work out so cleanly in 1994, any more than it does in 2024. That’s why we have movies. And musicals. And why we’re still celebrating The Lion King 30 years on.