Obviously, no one needs my opinion on The Lion King movie in itself. Personally, it’s not so much my favorite as it seems to be to much people, probably because I am more of a “princess movies” kind of girl. Also, because all-animals cast annoy me a bit, who knows why. But anyway. It is a very great movie. The animation is superb and the music by Hans Zimmer/Elton John/Lebo M is quite an explosive match.
Now, after this pointless and uneeded opinion of mine (:P), on to the Platinum Edition DVD. Well, it is to me the weakest of the serie (excepting maybe Peter Pan, but for different reasons). First, the “new song”, Morning Report, with all the advertising hype around it: wtf? It’s just not a good song, and it ruins a perfectly good father-son scene to put Zazu in the spotlight. But then, Zazu annoys me, so maybe I’m prejudiced.
The menus of the DVDs are probably the worst I have ever seen, and I have seen quite a lot, thank you very much. First, the beginning transition, where we follow Zazu (again!) on to Pride Rock, is extremely long and very badly CGIed. The menus are also not pretty in general and with little relevance to the movie, especially on the second disc. And speaking about the second disc, they are so! confusing! I have not yet discovered the best way to run around every featurette without missing any and without seeing them twice (or more, as some extras are on as much as 6 different menus).
The extras themselves are interesting, but sadly, they sound more like the artists congratulating themselves about the great movie that they made. It is a great movie, of course, but it sounds a bit big-headed and it also isn’t very interesting. What about a nice, long making-of with actual information? Also, the stage play gets a very big part of the extras. It is interesting to see how the movie was adapted, but one or two featurettes would have been enough. Now it just feels like advertising it. And about advertising: yes, we know Animal Kingdom is very interesting. Animal Kingdom Lodge does sound like a nice hotel. Please Disney, put those features under “Publicity” section like they ought to be.
Whew! lots of negativity in here! Sorry about that. I just had to get it from under my skin. Anyway, what I’m trying to say, I guess, is: don’t bother with the Platinum Edition. It is now rather impossible to find at a normal price, and it’s just not worth it. If you can rely on your VHS, or if you don’t feel an urgent need to see TLK, then I suggest you patiently wait for a more well-done DVD.