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Yes, The Lion King truly made history and is classic Disney, but dare I say that it is also fairly typical in retrospect? All of the hallmarks are here: the big musical numbers, cutesy supporting characters and vaguely racist overtones - all the evil characters are drawn "black" (that Scar "Third Reich" number is especially queasy) while Simba and Pumba look mighty caucasian. But ignore any of the unsettling, fascist implications of its narrative (okay, I'm being a little facetious) and just sit back and enjoy the sheer majesty of its visuals. The Lion King is simply a gorgeous-looking movie - just about every cel could be hung on the wall, ready for framing. Beautiful.

Just as wondrous is its soundtrack, with its highly-influential mix of traditional African rhythms and middle-of-the-road, adult contemporary pop. Let me be a curmudgeon and say I am not a big fan of the Tim Rice and Elton John compositions that populate the soundtrack, and feel it is the film's weakest element. Far too schmaltzy when it should be majestic, it is too bad Disney didn't pull a page from their own Fantasia and do away with all the lyrical banality. One of the film's big hits, the opener "Circle of Life," is typical of the approach and sounds like Disney-fied "African" muzak, all ready for its close-up.

Of course, no one cares what I think - millions loved that Elton John song, and millions loved this movie. The Lion King is the kind of once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon studios dream about. Parents brought their kids, kids came back with their friends, and audiences around the world, regardless of race or religion, seemed to clutch the film's themes and characters to their hearts. I may just like to sit back and watch the visuals with the sound turned down, but what do I know? The Lion King continues to rule, now and perhaps forever.

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

As one of Disney's crown jewels, did you really expect anything less than the best for The Lion King? Disney has once again produced a truly impeccable transfer that is gorgeous to behold. But first, one caveat: recently retooled for an IMAX theatrical re- release, the team at Disney went back and reanimated certain sections of the film to take advantage of the high resolution afforded by the IMAX format. A new song, "The Morning Report," was also included, upping the film's runtime to 90 minutes. However, for this DVD, Disney has not restored the original theatrical version, per se; you can watch the film either with or without the new tune, but it is still the animation is still of the IMAX'd variety only.

This move is likely to infuriate the pursuits, but in sheer technical terms, this THX-certified, 1.66:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is without peer. It is absolutely pristine and razor sharp, with rock solid blacks and vivid, stunning colors. Reproduction is as good as it gets, with clean, consistent hues, perfect "fleshtones" and not a hint of bleed or noise. Detail is stunning, giving the image a rich, three-dimensional appearance that is sometimes akin to looking out a window. There is no distracting edge enhancement nor any compression artifacts to worry about, making this a true five-star transfer. The lack of the original theatrical version aside, it is hard to imagine anyone being disappointed by this transfer.

Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

Disney has included two Dolby Digital 5.1 surround tracks on The Lion King: a new Enhanced Home Theater Mix tailor-made from the home environment and the original theatrical soundtrack. It is a great credit to the new mix that I can't imagine anyone wanting to listen to the old one. It is a stunner! The original is perfectly fine, but the remix is so enveloping, so aggressive, so imaginative, that it simply blows away everything in its path. Even if you hate this movie, you owe it to yourself to listen to this soundtrack.

As is the case with any animated film, the soundtrack to The Lion King had to be built entirely from the ground up. The benefit is that it makes it both real and unreal (which makes it... surreal?) Every element has been expertly recorded, and now here expertly reproduced. Dialogue, both spoken and sung, is crystal clear with excellent frequency response. Lush highs, sweet midrange and deep, powerful bass (the .1 LFE will knock you flat) make for a powerful experience. Channel separation is often amazing and near-transparent. The surrounds fully come alive with atmospherics and rich ambiance and some amazing discrete trickery - the soundfield is completely engrossing with some very neat examples of ping-pongy, multichannel effects. And the more percussion-based songs are cleverly integrated into the mix, making it often hard to discern where the song ends and the actual recorded effects begin. Disney is to be commended for attempting such a lavish mix, and the results were worth the effort. Truly magical.

Note that both cuts of the film can be heard with separate 5.1 Dolby tracks. Each version also can be viewed with either French or Spanish 5.1 surround dubs. Subtitle options are more limited; only English captions encoded as subtitles and true Closed Captioning are included.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

The third release in Disney's Platinum Series, The Lion King has received the grand two- disc treatment expected, and while the extras are largely geared towards the young ones, there should still be plenty here to please all age groups.

The narrated menus on disc one, while visually clever, are somewhat confusing. Navigation is based around different worlds ("Grasslands," "Tree of Life," etc.) but the how and why each is arranged is not immediately clear. But thankfully, like their previous Snow White and Beauty & the Beast Platinum releases, Disney has also included an index feature that greatly aids in navigation.

Disc one is primarily about the movie, but there are a few notable extra features. Aside from the inclusion of the new song, "The Morning Report," perhaps the supplement that will be of greatest interest to adults is the screen- specific audio commentary with directors Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff and producer Don Hahn. Stuck in the audio setup submenu, it is worth seeking out. These three have a great sense of humor and their enthusiasm is infectious. They also can't stop talking so there is nary a dull moment. And like the best commentaries, this is really an audio documentary: Everything is covered, from Disney's initial lack of faith in the project (it was thought to be an also-ran to Pocahontas - ha!) to the hurdles in securing the voice talent to various altered scenes and the eventual IMAX re-release. A must-listen for diehard fans, although kids will likely find it boring.

Our next stop is the Grasslands. A 4-minute featurette "The Making of "The Morning Report" gives the briefest of intros to the inclusion of the new song for the IMAX release of the film. Next is the first of many interactive games, the "Personality Profile," which is a simple Q&A that, once completed, tells you what Lion King you most resemble. Why are these two extras included in the same section? Beats me.

The next section is Tree of Life, which includes the "Circle of Life" music video as performed by the Disney Channel "Circle of Stars" (bleech!), plus a brief 4-minute "Making of the Music Video" featurette. (Please, skip it.) Better is the Sing-Along Track, which allows you direct scene access to the film's songs which you can rock out to, karaoke style, complete with isolated songtrack and subtitles. Would it be too much information if I said I did air guitar to "Circle of Life" clad only in my underwear?

The Jungle area includes two more interactive games, "Timon's Grab-A-Grub" and "Pumbaa's Sound Sensations." Both are very simple, easy to complete but fun, so save these for the tots. And why these weren't grouped with the "Personality Profile" remains a mystery.

The last main section on disc one is the Elephant Graveyard, aka the deleted scenes and abandoned concepts area. "Bug Football" is an ultra, ultra short temporary or "scratch" version of a scene that never made it beyond the conceptual stage. There are also two alternate, early versions of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" and "Hakuna Matata," with the former quite hysterical. Much to Elton John's dismay, his song was originally supposed to be sung by entirely different characters, and if you watch this early version, I think you'll agree that John was wise to be horrified. All these also clips feature short introductions.

Rounding out disc one are the usual obligatory Sneak Peeks, including a Lion King III: Electric Boogalo promo spot. Can't wait.

Pop in disc two and the real behind-the-scenes journey begins. To be honest, the menus here are even more confusing. When you first start up the disc, you can choose from one of seven continental navigation themes ("Asia," "Africa," "Europe," etc.). But it is not only the style and mood that changes, but the extras, too. Only select supplements are available via each "continent," which I guess is meant to add flavor and a uniqueness that a uniform navigation system would lack. I, however, found it rather ungainly. Thankfully, you can still use the basic "Journeys" index, which allows you to access all of the extras in a more comprehensible manner.

So skipping the continents thing, let's go with the "Journeys" navigation setup. Like all of the extras here, most are short video-based featurettes that run under five minutes. Thus, each section functions more like a self-contained mini- documentary broken up into equal parts, sans a "Play All" function. Each is glossy and fairly simplistic in the style of the recent Beauty & the Beast Platinum Edition. Contributing new interviews are Minkoff, Allers and Hahn, plus Tim Rice (Elton John appears via previous interview footage), some of the vocal talent, plenty of the effects and animation crew and - of course - Leonard Maltin.

Story contains three segments: "Story Origins" (4:40), "Timeless Themes" (3:48) and "The Story Comes to Life" (3:10). The Lion King remains one of the few Disney animated features that is not based any literary source material, which resulted in many abandoned concepts and subplots. The biggest influence? The trip to Africa by the producers and the music of Rice and John. Nifty.

Film is more robust: "Origins" (5:49), "Production Research Trip" (2:19), "Art: African Influence" (3:59), "Reflections" (6.23), "Storyboard Process" (1:03), "Production Design" (1:52) and "Computer Animation" (4:23). Most fascinating here is that Disney as a studio was not that high on The Lion King, treating it if not as a bastard stepchild than at least second best to Pocahontas. Huh. Guess who got the last laugh? Also worth exploring are two extensive "Character Design" and "Film Character Design "galleries. Each features 3-D environments that you have to navigate through, which can become tiresome, but there are tons of conceptual pencil drawings and sketches, rough animations and nearly- rendered color composites to explore that make it worth the effort.

Animals is also a lot of fun. Tackled here are each of the film's main species of animated character: "Lions" (2:50), "Meerkats" (3:38), "Warthogs" (3:00) and "Hyenas" (2:30), plus a self-serving "Disney & Animals" piece (6:30) and another "Introduction" (1:35). Here is one section where I really wanted more. The Lion King does not feature a single human character, so a more comprehensive and insightful exploration of these classic animal characters would have been most welcome. I didn't think this section really quite cut it.

A real highlight is Music, even if this one really needed a "Play All" function: "Music Inspiration" (3:45), "Landmark Songwriting" (3:10), "Orchestral Color" (5:00), "Scoring Emotion" (4:00), "Music: African Influence" (3:00), "Audio Sequel" (3:00) and "Full Circle" (1:30). While I am still somewhat mixed on the final results, without a doubt the music of The Lion King was integral to its impact and success. The opening number "Circle of Life" set the tone and pace for the whole film, necessitating major changes and much hand-wringing on the part of Disney, the filmmakers and Rice and John. Great melodrama! Also included in this section are the original music videos for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?", "Circle of Life" and "Hakuna Matata."

Last but not least is Stage, which takes a look at the legacy of The Lion King by way of the smash Broadway play it inspired. Some people consider it an improvement over the movie, and certainly Julie Taymor's highly-influential staging of this landmark production has yet to be rivaled. While cynics might call this nothing but an advertisement for the play, it remains key to fully understanding the impact that The Lion King continues to have all over the globe. Sections here include: "Musical Origins" (3:41), "Screen to Stage" (3:25), "Musical Texture" (3:05), "Setting the Stage" (3:15) and "Leaps of Fantasy" (2:06). A somewhat slim "Stage Musical Publicity Gallery" is also included.

Rounding out our trip is Timon & Pumbaa's Virtual Safari. Three more interactive games are included here, "Boat Tour," "Jeep Tour" and "Under Construction." All three are above-average, if simple, navigational games that require a fair amount of dexterity and deliver some genuine suspense. Also hidden in this section is a parody "Lion King 1-1/2" trailer. But where are the real trailers?

So, all told, what's the score? I found these extras a bit lacking. All are very glossy and slick, but the Disney Platinum Edition line is beginning to feel more and more watered-down. It is not just the celebratory nature of the interviews that disappoints (if we are to believe this DVD, no one ever had a fight making The Lion King) but also the lack of depth and detail. These two-disc sets are starting to feel like promotional spots more than documentaries, and nothing here can compare to the three-disc Fantasia box set from a few years back. I hope the next one delivers something a bit more meaty.

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

For a set this lavish, there is a surprising lack of PC-enhanced extras. Actually, there really isn't any....just a custom interface with basic DVD controls, weblinks and the ability to register your DVD.

Parting Thoughts