VHS : The Lion King [1994]

Rating: - A complete package.
A great solid Disney film, accompanied by toys. Bonus!

There is very little else to be said about the film other than very well animated, warm, emotional and fun. The songs catch on without being grating, despite the sugary content. The standard Good verses Evil plot is well played out.

If it got my 2 1/2 year-old engrossed in the actions of characters, it's got to be good! Plus when the film is over the 1" long toys of Simba, Mufasa, Scar, Timon, Pumbaa, and Banzai (a hyena), can be played with in the box, which folds out to form a jungle scene. You can even read the Storybook included as well.

For this price, including the extras, this is highly recommended!

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Rating: - Why?
I thought this film was utterly appalling. I watched it with my young daughter and found it incredibly uninspiring there seemed little point to most of the film. I also feel that a (U) classification is wrong due to some of the disturbing scenes.

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Rating: - Simba's back!
This is wonderful, the special features are great, although I don't much like the new added song! The whole family love to sing along to the songs.

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Rating: - Wondeful to see it again.....
The last time I saw The Lion King I was a little girl. Now, at the grand ole' age of 23 it still fills me with the same kind of emmotion that I had all those years ago.

However, as much as I love the film the extra's are a bit thin in actual information and are not as slick and stylish as some recent ones (such as Monsters Inc). For everyone who bought the speical edition of Beauty and the Beast, this will seem a let down on that front.

However, it is a very child friendly DVD, with lots of games and activities.

My favorite part is the international show reel, where they show you all the different languages the film has been shown in.

All in all a very good buy for the fanatically disney fan, but just don't be to disapointed on the extras.

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Rating: - Good enough to make you hyperventilate
The Lion King has got to be Disney's best movie of all time. If sales figures are correct, and you already own three copies of The Lion King on VHS, then there's no real point describing the plot of the film, beyond the fact that its wonderful art, award-winning songs, and loveable characters are good enough to make you sob into your Lion King hankerchief. In a good way. And you'll have been licking your lips in frantic anticipation of the Special Edition DVD. And believe me, it's been well worth the wait.

And the Gift Set is no less wonderful. For a start, it contains the Special Edition DVD, with its 2 disks with beautiful disk art, the special features of games, interveiws with the animators and such, the film itself in all its improved glory, and in general, three wonderful hours of bonus material.

After you've enjoyed the film, you can then enjoy up to eight original drawings of the characters to keep in your cupboard in an airtight box so that you don't wear them out by looking at them too much, and most wonderfully of all, the DVD companion Hardback, 'The Journey'. This describes the making of TLK, the making of the TLK Special Edition DVD, and has some lovely pictures in it as well. These are found only in the Gift Set.

All of this is wrapped in a special box with beautiful art.

It takes a lot for me to give any film FIVE stars, but here is TLK in all its greatness.

A small warning - despite being a very limited edition of the Special Edition, the DVD contained within the Gift Set does not contain any more special features than it does when purchased on its own. The extra money is paid for the book, pictures and box. The Gift Set is for adult collectors, not children.