"Everything you see, exists together in a delicate balance. As king, you need to understand that balance, and respect all the creatures, from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope." Obviously, no ruler, be they king or president of a democracy, can follow this to the letter, but it is important that Mufasa kept this in mind. "When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so, we are all connected in the great circle of life." When I put this into human perspective, I think of it as no person is better, stronger, or more deserving than anyone else on this planet. It is impossible for us not to judge each other, but if we must be imperfect, then we must do our best to do so with an open mind and respect each other the best that we can. I wonder if Mufasa's treatment of Zazoo was a fair one- allowing Simba to use him as target practice- or if it was wrong to exile the hyenas from the "pride lands" (land of plenty). Those things didn't really seem "right" to me, but he did at least realize that everyone was connected and important in the grand scheme. Even his food, he believed was to be respected for they would one day trod upon the ground where he was laid to rest. Scar, on the other hand completely destroyed the land that had given him life. His blatant disrespect for the animals that he ate and the plants that fed the food he consumed destroyed everything. Not just for his royal subjects, but for himself. The land became hard, gray, and devoid of happiness. Whether or not there really are higher beings "Great kings of the past, looking down on us" it was clear that that kind of disrespect for life, destroyed life for everyone and so it was wrong. It took the return of a flawed, but humble king to return the land to its former state.
Simba was obviously not perfect either, but his humbled self allowed him to be kinder to others and the land, which eventually returned to its healthy state. The evil that seemed to have crushed any and all life from the savanna, returned. It shows that love and consideration for others creates a better life for everyone. It's not a perfect life, but that doesn't mean we should give up because the difference that a little respect could make was huge. I believe these same principals apply to our real, human lives.
Simba could not see this vast difference at first. It took the reminding of his friends and his father to bring him back to the land of his birth to where he could literally "see" the evil that plagued the land. All that once was bountiful and beautiful was desolate and gray. He also forgot that you can't turn your back on the rest of the world simply because you are conveniently taken care of, because the world is a part of you. "Simba, you have forgotten me...You have forgotten who you are and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself Simba, you are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the circle of life."
"How can I go back? I'm not who I used to be," Simba says to his father but his father responds, "You are my son. And the one true king."
We all make mistakes and sometimes we turn our backs on others for the sake of ourselves, but that doesn't mean we can't go back. There is always hope and love is always on your side. It doesn't mean that you will necessarily get exactly what you want in the end, but at least you are never alone. Simba felt that when his father died, it was not only his fault, but that he had lost the thing he cared most for in the world.
"That's not my father, that's just my reflection-" "No!" Raffiki cuts him off, "Look harder...you see? He lives in you."
Sometimes we lose the people we love in the physical world. This does not mean everything you loved about them is gone. If you still love them, a piece of them remains. I don't mean this metaphorically- your love for them is still real and hasn't died and that was apart of who they were. Nothing affects people and their actions more than being loved. Therefore, Simba's love of his father, kept a piece of Mufasa on the earth with him. The ones we love are kept alive so long as we don't forget the things they stood for, especially those things they upheld for love's sake. Keep those ideas alive, and you have not lost them. Keep those ideas alive and they are never gone from our lives.
"Look kid, bad things happen and you can't do anything about it right? WRONG." No really, wrong. Sorry Timone, but there is always something you can do.
Don't run from your past. Don't run or turn your back on the world and the people you love. Remember that everyone is connected, in some way or another. Even your loving someone positively affects even the people you most dislike in your life. It is always better to love and show respect for those around you. This includes even the different beings of creation and not just people, "from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope," every bug and every tree "breathes" in a sense.
Disney movies get a lot of criticism from feminists and racial activists and I just wanted so say, that while this movie certainly far from perfect, it is not the "Scar" of our children's entertainment experiences, it is the "Mufasa." The Lion King is one such movie that teaches us to love everyone and very thing, to not be jealous of what we do not have (like the greedy Scar) but to live our lives happily (like Timone and Pumba) and do the best we can to survive with the help of those we love (as Simba did with his father), while respecting those who also inhabit our area.
I believe that love lives within all of us and we can choose to embrace it and use it for good. The Lion King inspired me as a child and made me believe in the power of kindness and love. I think it helped me grow up to be a better person than I would have without it.
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