The Lion King "A Teenager's Journey"

For any teenager who feel as though they've lost everything, for any young person struggling on their journey from childhood to adulthood, I have two words for you, Hakuna Matata. For all those teenagers, I recommend they make a short visit to their local Video EZ, hire a copy of Disney's timeless classic, "The Lion King" and indulge them selves in what could be the most inspiring one and half hours of their lives. Now, you might be wondering, "How does the journey which a teenager takes, relate to a child's movie?" Well, read on fellow journeyers. (3 mins 1/3 page)

The dictionary describes a journey as a distance traveled on a trip. However, the journey I refer to above has nothing to do with distances or trips. It is a journey which can not be measured by mere human instruments or time, it is the process which all people must undergo before giving themselves the respectable title "Adult". The journey I'm referring to has more to do with self acceptance, giving pride to oneself and recognisiing the completion of childhood and transcending into adulthood. A journey can exist in three different forms, Physical, Inner, and Imaginative. Now despite, all the technical mumbo jumbo, you may think "Journeys sound too complicated for me", But I can guarantee that each and every one of you readers have experienced a journey somewhere along the course of your lives.

It's a sad fact but in Australia today, there are thousands of teenagers who collapse under the pressures of life as easy as a house made of cards. Whether it be the stresses of school, family, relationships, or the three frightening letters "HSC", there are certain times in a young person's life where they feel as though they should just give up their journey to adulthood and relax and stay forever young. This is where The Lion King comes into focus. As my little brother was watching The Lion King on TV the other day, I happened to notice the similarities between the journey that we must undertake, and the journey which the hero of Lion King, Simba, also takes. Each of the obstacles that Simba must face can be matched up with the obstacles that we must also face along our journey.

The Lion King was released in 1994 by Disney, and follows the life of Simba, a young cub. Scar, Simba's uncle, kills Simba's father Mufasa and takes over the throne, banishing Simba forever into the wastelands. Simba gives up his throne, forgets everything and lives out his days in the jungle with his new friends Timmone and Pumba. One day Nala, Simba's childhood friend, convinces Simba to go back and retake his kingdom, Simba considers and after various emotional scenes, he decides to journey back and regain what is rightfully his. Although the plot is quite brief and simple, (keeping in mind this is a movie for children) The Lion King is a catalyst for all three categories of journeys. The movie is about Simba's journey to becoming the Lion King, and his journey into adulthood. It's about the obstacles in the way of his journey and the actions that he takes to overcome these hindrances.

The concepts of journeys are portrayed in The Lion King in it's three forms, Physical, Inner, and Imaginative. From the very beginning, during the opening credits, we can see vast plains and a sunrise, signifying the start of a new day. We see herds of animals, galloping across the mountainous terrain and large movements of life forms scattered throughout the fields of Africa. Accompanied by the song "Circle of Life" the opening scene shows all the animals in the kingdom gathering for something special, the birth of their future king, Simba. The opening scene portrays the start of Simba's life, which also marks the beginning of his journey into life.

In the next few scenes, as we are introduced to Simba's childhood, we view him as a curious cub who knows little about the world. His father, Mufasa teaches him about life and shows him the kingdom that he will rule in the future. When Simba asks about the shadowed area in the kingdom, Mufasa immediately tells Simba "You must never venture into the shadowed areas for there are wild hyenas there.". Simba sulks and Zazu, Simba's bird guardian, says "Don't worry Simba, one day all this will be yours, and you can go anywhere you like when you're older". Mufasa's words represent authority and restrictions that children have compared to adults. One of the most tempting things which make children want to turn into adults is the freedom that adults have and the limited restrictions they have. This is also where the first journey of the imagination begins, Simba and his friend Nala sing the song "Oh I Just Can't Wait To Be King" and they drift off into a fantasy land created by their imaginations in which Simba is king and can do whatever he wishes. The lyrics include "No one saying do this, No one saying do that" which represents freedom as an adult, Simba tries to forget his present state as a child with restrictions and escapes to the world of his imagination where he is an adult and can do whatever he desires.

All is well in Simba's journey to being king until his villanous uncle, Scar plots an evil trap and kills Mufasa, Simba's father. Scar makes it look as if it was an accident and tells Simba "Flee! And never return!" or Scar would kill Simba also. This represents the point in a teenagers life when all seems to be going well until something happens that can suddenly turn a persons life upside down, when a person loses everything, when a persons whole world shatters and they isolate themselves from the rest of the world. Death of a loved one, failing school, can all lead to the previous mentioned state. Losing his kingdom, his family, his friends, Simba has no choice but to flee. Simba begins a physical journey to find sanctuary in a place where he can be free from Scar's reign, he treks through the wastelands of Africa until he ends up in a jungle where he meets Timmone and Pumba, two animals who've been living there their whole lives.

Simba's two acquaintances teach Simba the meaning to "Hakuna Matata" which is Swahilli for "No worries". They show him a life of no worries, living it out in the jungle and going on day by day just relaxing and not doing anything. Timmone and Pumba's theory is "You gotta put your past behind ya, look kid, bad things happen to ya and ya can't do anything about it!" They begin another imaginary journey here where they forget all reality and escape into the fantasy world with a song once again. They sing "Hakuna Matata" and this song is played as Simba eventually grows up to be a carefree lion living in the jungle and forgetting his past. Timmone and Pumba represent false resolution, a way to forget all your troubles instead of facing them. In the real world, the phrase is "Hakuna Marijuana", people resort to drugs and alcohol as a method to escape from the harshness of reality and into an imaginary world where they don't have to worry about a single thing. Simba eventually forgets about his responsibilities and his past.

One day, as Simba and his friends are relaxing in their carefree life, who should show up but Nala, his childhood friend. She informs Simba of the current state of his "would-be" kingdom and how the tyrannous Scar has turned the whole kingdom into slaves working to please Scar. But the current Simba shows a care-free attitude to this and states that "It's not my problem". This represents ignorance to reality, when a clear solution does surface but an individual blocks it away out of fear. It's not that Simba doesn't care about his kingdom, he's afraid to return and face Scar. This is where Simba must go on an inner journey and overcome his inner fears and become a stronger lion. He goes for a walk to think about the recent events and struggles with his current self and what he could become. During his inner journey to overcome his fears, he goes on a sub-imaginary journey where he travels into a fantasy world in which he see's a vision of his father, the previous Lion King. This emotional scene shows the ghost of his father appearing before Simba and stating "You have forgotten who you are, look inside yourself Simba, you are more than what you have become! You must take your place in the throne!" Simba replies "How can I go back? I'm not who I used to be" Mufasa says "You are my son, remember who you are, you are the true king, you are Simba" After this imaginary journey that Simba undergoes, he makes up his mind to journey back to Pride Rock to retake what is rightfully his. This is the point in a persons life when they realise that wallowing away in a false sanctuary is useless and that there is something that only they can fulfil. A responsibility which belongs to them alone and no matter how hard it may be, they must accomplish that task or they'll never fulfil adulthood.

The last physical journey that Simba takes is back to retake his throne, this scene shows Simba trekking through the desert, his feet stamping along the ground rushing back to Pride Rock. He endures many hardships along his journey but in the end, he confronts Scar, defeats his minions, and retakes his throne. The final scenes of the movie show Simba walking up to the place where he was born, the place where his journey began, and then looking up at the clouds, he see's a vision of his father, and he roars. This signifies the ending of his long journey, the journey filled with hardships and tests. He has also learnt the lesson that "It is good to have an end to journey to, but it is the journey that matters in the end". Although the end is satisfying and rewarding, the experiences gained from the journey itself is precious and worthwhile. The Lion King shows that no matter how bad of a slump you get into, even if you lose everything, with the strength of a person or animal's determination and will power, they can earn everything back. The Lion King is a great example to inspire or encourage anyone who feels as though they have nothing left or just about ready to give up, take Simba's example and gather the strength inside you to get up and set out on your own journey.