Disney’s Lion King on Blu-ray and DVD (Giveaway!)

In case you were not aware of it, Disney re-released one of it’s most popular films of all times, the Lion King, in 3D. It’s in theaters right now. I have not had a chance to see if myself but I do know that it’s a huge hit at the box office. I think it’s currently the #3 movie, which is not bad for a movie that is nearly 20 years old.

I hope that seeing the movie in 3D makes the movie popular again with a whole new generation of children.

The Lion King has one of the best soundtracks too. Even listening to the music (we have it on CD) gets me misty eyed. It’s such a sad movie, but in the end, it has a happy ending.

If you are one of the few people who have not seen the Lion King it’s a movie about a young lion cub name Simba. His father is King, much to the dismay of Simba’s uncle Scar who wishes he was King. Scar was next in line for the throne until Simba came along.

Scar comes up with an evil plot to get rid of both Mufasa (the King) and his young son Simba, only for Simba to survive (the death of his father breaks my heart!). In order to get rid of Simba once and for all Scar tells Simba it was his fault that his father was killed. Ashamed of what he think he has done Simba flees the kingdom, never to return again. Now Scar can rule the kingdom.

As time goes on Simba meets some interesting characters including Timon and Pumbaa who befriend him. Time goes on and Simba meets up with a young lion name Nala who tells Simba how bad the Pride Lands are with Scar in charge. With the help of Timon and Pumbaa, Nala convinces Simba to return to his pride and take his rightful place as king. However Scar is not going to give up his throne easily. Along with his hyenas (sort of like henchmen) he plans to protect his position to the death if necessary.

Will Simba reclaim his rightful spot on the throne and become King of the Pride Lands, or will Scar find a way to stop him? You will have to pick up a copy of the Lion King to find out.

Most Disney animated movies I think are great for children of all ages, however I think the Lion King could be too intense for SOME children. For example, a friend of the family took her grandson to see Lion King a few months after his father passed away and he was VERY upset and angry at the film because he didn’t think the father had to die (it’s understandable why he felt that way). Aside from the death scene the fighting and creepy hyenas might be too intense for some children too. You know your child or grandchild well enough to know if they can handle things like that.

While I was out in Los Angeles a week ago we met the animator who drew Scar in the movie. His name is Andreas Deja. He was kind enough to give us a demonstration on how he drew Scar. Did you know that Scar was drawn to resemble Jeremy Irons? If you look at a photo of Jeremy Irons and then a drawing of Scar you can sort of see a resemblance.

I found Andreas drawing to be fascinating. He drew so quickly!

I am familiar with the paper he was drawing on. I have a drawing from the most recent Winnie the Pooh movie. It has slits and round holes in the one side.I wondered what those were for. Animators use them to line up the papers when working with more then one. That way they know the drawings are precisely where they should be. They also work on a light board and often work with up to 5 pages at a time just to make the animation perform a simple thing like move their head. I really had no idea that animating a film was that labor intensive. There is A LOT of work that goes into making an animated feature.

Here are a few photos of Andreas giving us a drawing presentation. He was also kind enough to give each of us a one of a kind drawing that he autographed for us too. Mine is the last picture shown (he also signed mine specifically to me which is not pictured).

I am so glad that I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Deja. He was a very nice man and I appreciate him taking the time to meet with us. I have a new appreciation for the Lion King now that I saw one of the animators work their magic.

The bonus features on any Blu-ray or DVD is always fascinating to me. I like how they often show deleted scenes and you get to hear the behind the scenes things about the movie. The Lion King Blu-ray and DVD are no exception.

Included in the bonus features are never before deleted scenes (a couple of them I would have liked to see in the completed version of the film). There are also some silly bloopers. The bloopers are actually drawn AFTER the voice actors goof up. The animators take the blooper out takes and then animate them to make it appear as if the movie’s characters made the mistake. I think that is really genius of them to do that. I honestly thought animated bloopers were intentionally done. I didn’t know they were actual bloopers.

There is also a deleted song from the movie found in the bonus section too, among other interesting things. Always be sure to check out the bonus features. Sometimes they are just as entertaining as the movie its self.

The Lion King also comes with Disney Second Screen. Disney Second Screen is an application you can download for FREE to your iPad, computer and even some smartphones. My iPad is trying to tick me off (LOL) because I can’t get the application to download on my iPad. I have to download it via iTunes when I connect the iPad with the computer. Since I don’t have time to do that right now I’ll have to just give you a brief overview of what Disney Second Screen is. It’s really cool. I saw it “in action” when I was out in LA a couple of weeks ago.

Disney Second Screen is an application you can sync up with the movie as you are watching it (if you want – it’s also a stand alone application). Second Screen provides you with fun activities based upon the movie you are watching, from coloring/painting pages to how to draw your favorite characters. Trust me, there is A LOT more then that. For example, I saw the Second Screen for the Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides Second Screen. There was a section that showed you how they built one of the ships. You could fast forward, pause or rewind to see the ship being built from start to finish. I thought it was really cool to see.

There is A LOT to do with the Second Screen FREE applications. So far it’s available for Bambi, Tron, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and of course Lion King. To learn more visit www.DisneySecondScreen.com.

For more information about the movie please visit www.Disney.com/LionKing.

One lucky reader will win a copy of the Lion King on Blu-ray and DVD (combo pack).  The retail value is $39.99 (it’s sold on Amazon for $22.00).

To enter please comment on your favorite part, character or song from the movie Lion King – or - why you want to win a copy?

For extra entries you can do any or all of the following. Please leave a separate comment for each that you have done. Extra entries are optional. 

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This giveaway is open to US residents only and will end on October 14, 2011 at 11:59 PM (EST). The winner will be chosen at random using a random number generator from all eligible entries. The winner will be notified via e-mail and will have three days to reply with a name and mailing address (no PO Box). Failure to do so will result in a new winner will be chosen in their place.

Other awesome giveaways can be found on the right side bar under “Win It.

Kimberly

*I received a free sample in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.

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