an essay on lion king

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The Lion King, Essay Example

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Introduction

Animated films, especially those produced by Disney such as  The Lion King,  function as cultural texts that can be analyzed through an anthropological prism. Wells (1998) contended that “The idea that animation is an innocent medium, ostensibly for children, and largely dismissed in film histories, has done much to inhibit the proper discussion of issues concerning representation” (Wells, 1998, p.187). Anthropologists can discern the contested values and beliefs that pervade American culture by elucidating the cultural politics ingrained in Disney’s animated films. Such a process of uncloaking necessitates exploring beyond the surface for any and all cultural messages that evince undergirding tensions and persistent contradictions and paradoxes. Doing so enables anthropologists to ascertain counter-hegemonic tropes and themes, particularly related to the intersectionality of class, gender, sexuality, race, ability and the nation (Harris, 1994).  The Lion King  was released in 1994 and experienced cataclysmic success, as it was quite popular among children, ascertaining alternatives to the hegemonic understanding of the film such as how the film represents ideas about masculinity and femininity as well as the various representation of race, especially how black people are limned and how such renderings evince racists stereotypes.  As a result, rather than proffering an authentic portrayal of African culture,  The Lion King  reflects various stereotypes attached to race and gender in western societies in order to pander to western audiences so that it could achieve blockbuster status even as an animated film in various markets.

The Lion King is an animated film produced by Disney as the thirty second feature film in the classic Disney films. It takes place in Africa in the kingdom of the lions, clearly conveying various biblical and literary influences. The film narrates the story of a young lion named Simba who is supposed to succeed Mufasa, his father, as the ruler over this kingdom. Unfortunately, greed overtakes Scar, Simba’s uncle, who murders Mufasa at the beginning of the film and therefore usurps the throne. Simba, still very young, is manipulated into believing that he is responsible for the murder of his father, which is why he flees into voluntary exile as a result of his angish, humiliation, shame, and deep-seated despair. Simba thus grows up alone and comes of age residing with two wastrels free of worries, which the motto “hakuna matata” translates to. Simba gains significant insight and perspective from Nala, who is his friend since childhood, and Rafiki, his shaman, before he returns to the kingdom of lions to challenge the authoritarian rule of Scar. After a violent scuffle between Simba and Scar and his hyenas, Simba assumes the throne of the kingdom, which had deteriorated in Simba’s absence. Pride Rock thus returns to its former greatness, enable the circle of life to persist.

The representation of gender: patriarchal mores

The Lion King  portrays a gender order that is steeped in patriarchal leadership and family, as the characters who ruled over Pride Rock are all males. The lionesses, conversely, are all forced to accept a more secondary and subjected role to their male counterparts, and hunting is the only way they could become somewhat stronger than the lions. Nonetheless, the lions demand that the lionesses go hunting, which thereby strips the lionesses of their autonomy. Following Mufasa’s death and Scar’s ascendance to the throne at his own behest, the lionesses had the opportunity to get rid of Scar if they decided to do so, yet their identity throughout their entire lives was demarked by dependency. as a result, the lionesses have no sense of independence or ability to resist the hegemonic patriarchal order firmly embedded in the portrayed culture. While this construction of femininity is aligned with traditional renderings of gender in western cinema, it is interesting to assess how masculinity is constructed within the portrayed culture. In  The Lion King,  masculinity is a socio-cultural construction in a world where manhood is something that is learned and performed rather than being biologically intrinsic. At the outset of the film, Mufasa, Simba’s father, is killed when Simba is still very young. As a result, Simba must grow up without a father or strong, male influence, away from his mother. As a cub who grows up alone, it appears that Simba is vulnerable to harm, yet he finds solace in his friendship with Timon and Pumba. When he reaches adulthood, Simba exactly resembles his father, who is viewed as a paragon of masculinity demarked by his power and muscularity. At the end of the animated film, Scar and Simba get into an explosive altercation, which conveys that masculinity in this portrayed culture is represented through animals anthropomorphically (Wells, 1998, p. 190). The lions assume the stance of bipedal humans, as they are upright on their two hind feet and attack each other in the same way that humans do when they are in a fist fight.

The representations of femininity and manhood in The Lion King is quite problematic due to the fact that it clearly privileges patriarchy, as only sons of kings were able to inherit the throne and reign over the kingdom. Feminist critics point to the fact that such a depiction eschews how lions actually behave in their natural habitat, as lionesses occupy the most important roles in how lions societies are actually structured. The film diminishes the potent role of lionesses by merely framing them as the love interests of the male characters, such as Nala and Simba. Other female characters seemingly cease to exist in the portrayed world. The title of the film itself intimates that male lions are supreme and that male authority is at the apex of the kingdom, and male lions as kings emerge as patriarchal tropes.

The representation of race: reinforcing western racial scripts

Another significant anthropological representation in  The Lion King  is that of race and how Disney pandered to western audiences by perpetuating various stereotypes that are intrinsically racist. Although the cultural fabric in the Western world during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries promote multiculturalism, films provide cultural texts in which criticism about the construction of race has germinated. Disney has taken concerted efforts to portray race in an authentic and healthy manner, yet  The Lion King  perpetuates racist stereotypes that have pervaded western discourses for many centuries. The presence of the hyenas becomes problematic as they viewed as members of indigenous or subaltern cultures who are bottom feeders and appear mangy bullies who torture Simba. These hyenas are portrayed by non-white actors, which intimates that Disney, while perhaps done intentionally, limn African Americans and other members of subaltern races not as humans but as animals. Indeed, the hyenas resemble a feckless street gang that reflects the nefarious intentions of minorities such as Hispanics and African Americans. Such notions pervade western discourses about members of subaltern races, especially those of African descent. In addition, the antagonist of the film and Simba’s sinister uncle, Scar, has dark-colored fur, unlike the other lions who have bright golden fur. This seemingly irrelevant observation nonetheless suggests that darker colored skin people–i.e. Africans and African Americans–are cast as evil and are the villains not only in fictive narratives but also in real life.

“The Circle of Life,” which is the opening song of this animated film and its lyrical content demonstrate Disney’s incapacity to depict Africa in an authentic manner and covers up the overt unwillingness to portray black people, especially Africans, as human beings (Byrne & McQuillan, 1999, p. 101). Indeed, this theme song commences with clearly African vocals, yet the instruments are not African in origin. Rather, they sound quite western and was devised by white musicians. The scenery in the opening scene does not look authentically African, as there are very few signifiers of African culture and geography, especially since English is the language used throughout the film rather than any African dialect. Despite portraying African culture, American actors and the English language are deployed in the film, which subtly accentuates the hegemony of American culture and society over Africa. Benshoff & Griffin (2009) argue that the baboon, Rafiki, shares a likeness with the African deity Eshu who is charged with the responsibility of safeguarding travelers and is blamed for the misfortunes or fortunes that creatures endure (Benshoff & Griffin, 2009). Although Rafiki is a lauded character in the animated film. he nonetheless comports himself in a half-crazed, reckless, foolish, and bizarre manner. These traits are often used to describe Africans and African Americans in western discourses. There is also overt disrespect and denigration of African cultures and tradition. When Zazu reminds Simba that his friend Nala would eventually become his wife, Simba retorts that once he assumes the kingship, that custom will be nullified. Although it is hard to discern whether such racial representations were intentional or not by Disney production members, as progenitors of cultural products, hyper vigilance must be adopted because audience members are only exposed to the final products rather than the intentions of the producers.

Various epochs are always stigmatized by particular discursive representations of gender and race, among other critical cultural constructions. The Lion King continues to be highly criticized for its representation of gender and race, as it reproduces western stereotypes and scripts through its portrayal of African culture and society. Patriarchy and a strenuous form of manhood is presented as ideal in his film, which eschews the actual behaviors of Africans and the prominent role of African lionesses in their social structure. More poignantly, the representation of race in the film is problematic for reproducing pejorative western stereotypes about Africans and African culture, especially in the portrayal of African characters as animalistic rather than human.

Benshoff, H. & Griffin, S. (2009).  America on film: Representing race, class, gender, and sexuality at the movies . Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

Byrne, E. & McMullan, M. (1999). D econstructing Disney . London: Pluto Press.

Harris, J. E. (1994). Stereotyping for fun and profit.  Christopher Street.

Sweeney, G. (1995) ?What Do You Want Me to Do, Dress in Drag and Do the Hula??: Pumbaa and Timon’s alternative lifestyle dilemma in Disney?s  The Lion King . S eventh Annual  Society of Animation Conference , University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Wells, P. (1998).  Understanding animation . London: Routledge.

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Essay on Lion the King

Students are often asked to write an essay on Lion the King in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Lion the King

The majestic lion.

The lion, often called the king of the jungle, is a symbol of strength and courage. They are big cats known for their manes and powerful roars.

Where Lions Live

Most lions live in Africa. They prefer grasslands, savannas, and dense forests. A group of lions is called a pride.

Lion’s Lifestyle

Lions are carnivores, which means they eat meat. They hunt in groups, making them efficient predators.

Significance of Lions

Lions are important for the ecosystem. They help control the population of other animals, maintaining balance in nature.

250 Words Essay on Lion the King

The majesty of the king: the lion, physical stature and strength.

The lion’s physical characteristics are a testament to its regal status. Males, with their imposing manes, can weigh up to 250kg and exhibit immense strength. This strength is not just for show; it is a crucial survival tool. It enables lions to take down large prey, asserting their dominance in the animal kingdom.

Social Structure

Unlike other big cats, lions are sociable creatures, living in groups known as prides. This unique social structure mirrors a royal court, with a dominant male, his queens, and their offspring. The pride operates on a complex hierarchy, with each member playing a specific role, thus ensuring the group’s survival.

Symbolism and Cultural Significance

The lion’s regality extends beyond its physical and social realms to cultural symbolism. In various cultures, lions represent power, courage, and nobility. They are often depicted in art, literature, and mythology, further cementing their status as kings.

Conservation: A Royal Duty

However, the lion’s kingdom is under threat due to habitat loss, hunting, and climate change. It is our duty to ensure the survival of this majestic creature. Conservation efforts, like establishing protected reserves and implementing strict hunting regulations, are necessary to preserve the lion’s reign.

In conclusion, the lion, with its majestic stature, complex social structure, and cultural significance, truly embodies the title of ‘King’. Yet, as subjects of this king, it is upon us to ensure the survival of their royal lineage.

500 Words Essay on Lion the King

The majestic reign of the lion: the king of beasts, physical characteristics and habitat.

The lion (Panthera leo) is the second-largest cat species worldwide, with males typically larger than females. The male lion’s iconic mane, a unique trait among cats, adds to its regal appearance. Lions are native to sub-Saharan Africa and a small population exists in western India’s Gir Forest. Their habitats range from grasslands, savannas, dense bush to woodlands.

Social Structure and Hunting

Unlike most cats, lions are social creatures, living in groups called prides. A pride comprises related females, their offspring, and a small number of adult males. This social structure benefits lions in hunting and protecting their young. Lions primarily hunt large ungulates, with females taking the lead while males defend the pride’s territory.

Conservation Status and Threats

Despite their regal status, lions face numerous threats. Their population has significantly declined due to habitat loss, human-lion conflict, and poaching. Lions are currently listed as ‘Vulnerable’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. Conservation efforts are crucial to ensure their survival and continued reign as the ‘King of Beasts.’

The Lion’s Legacy

The lion’s legacy extends beyond its physical presence in the wild. It manifests in our culture, literature, and art, symbolizing strength, bravery, and royalty. The lion’s roar, a sound that can be heard up to 8 kilometers away, is a potent symbol of its unchallenged authority in the animal kingdom.

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The Lion King Summary, Characters and Themes

The Lion King is a classic Disney animated film (with a board book adaptation) about a young lion named Simba. 

After his father, Mufasa, is murdered by his evil uncle, Scar, Simba flees his home. He eventually grows up, embracing his destiny as the rightful king. With the help of his friends, Simba returns to challenge Scar and reclaim his rightful place as the leader of the Pride Lands. The film is known for its themes of family, responsibility, and the cycle of life, as well as its iconic music.

In the heart of the African savanna, the Pride Lands are ruled by the wise and noble King Mufasa. He and his queen, Sarabi, proudly present their newborn heir, Simba, to the kingdom’s animal subjects. 

Guided by his father and the eccentric shaman Rafiki, Simba learns about the delicate ‘circle of life’ and his future responsibilities as king.

Mufasa’s embittered brother, Scar, consumed by envy and a lust for power, plots to eliminate both Mufasa and Simba. 

He tricks Simba and his friend Nala into visiting a forbidden elephant graveyard, where they’re attacked by Scar’s hyena henchmen. Mufasa bravely rescues the cubs, but Scar’s next scheme proves fatal. He lures Simba into a canyon and triggers a deadly wildebeest stampede, then throws Mufasa into the chaos to his death.

Scar manipulates the grief-stricken Simba, making him believe he caused his father’s demise, and orders him to flee. Lost and alone, Simba nearly perishes before being rescued by the carefree meerkat Timon and the warthog Pumbaa. 

They teach Simba their “Hakuna Matata” (no worries) philosophy , and he grows up embracing a life without responsibility.

Years later, Simba’s childhood friend Nala, now a young lioness, stumbles upon him. She reveals the desolate state of the Pride Lands under Scar’s tyrannical rule, where drought and famine prevail. 

Nala urges Simba to return and reclaim his birthright, but he’s haunted by guilt and refuses.

Rafiki, with his wisdom, helps Simba realize Mufasa’s spirit lives on within him. Simba then encounters Mufasa’s ghost, who reminds him of his true destiny as king. Galvanized, Simba resolves to challenge his uncle and restore balance to the kingdom.

Back at Pride Rock, Simba confronts Scar, who attempts to rekindle Simba’s guilt over Mufasa’s death. 

Yet, the truth emerges: Scar was the true murderer. 

Enraged, Simba forces his uncle to confess before the pride. A fierce battle erupts as Simba, Nala, Timon, Pumbaa, Rafiki, and the lionesses fight the hyenas. Simba corners Scar, who pleads for mercy but is ultimately banished. Scar’s betrayal leads the vengeful hyenas to turn on him.

With Scar defeated, Simba ascends to his rightful place as king. Rain returns, revitalizing the Pride Lands. Life flourishes once more as Simba and Nala welcome their own cub, held aloft by Rafiki for the kingdom to see. The circle of life continues, demonstrating triumph over adversity and the enduring power of legacy.

Simba embodies the classic coming-of-age story. He begins as a playful, eager cub, filled with youthful arrogance and a desire to prove himself. Mufasa’s death and Scar’s manipulation shatter his world, leaving him guilt-ridden and lost. Simba’s exile with Timon and Pumbaa showcases his ability to adapt and find joy, even in difficult circumstances. 

Yet, he remains haunted by the past. 

His encounter with Nala and Rafiki forces him to confront his responsibilities. 

Simba’s final battle with Scar isn’t just about reclaiming the throne, but about conquering his internal demons. 

His transformation into a mature and responsible king highlights themes of self-discovery, forgiveness, and the enduring power of legacy.

Mufasa represents the ideal ruler: wise, strong, and compassionate. He understands the delicate balance of the “circle of life” and teaches Simba about his role within it. 

Mufasa is a loving father, gently guiding Simba while instilling the importance of duty. His tragic death becomes the catalyst for Simba’s journey, and his memory serves as Simba’s guiding light in his darkest moments. 

Mufasa’s influence lives on through his son, symbolizing the lasting impact of a virtuous leader.

Scar is fueled by jealousy, resentment, and a twisted desire for power. Unlike Mufasa, he sees the kingdom as a means to satisfy his own ambitions and disregards the natural order. 

He is cunning, manipulative, and willing to do anything to achieve his goals, Scar’s insidious nature is highlighted by his exploitation of Simba’s innocence and his betrayal of his own family. 

He embodies the dangers of unchecked ambition and serves as a stark contrast to Mufasa’s benevolent leadership.

Nala is brave, independent, and loyal. She recognizes the Pride Lands’ decline under Scar’s rule, prompting her to seek help from Simba. 

Her love for Simba serves as a beacon of hope, reminding him of his home and his true identity. 

Nala isn’t just Simba’s love interest; she’s a strong character who actively challenges Scar and helps reclaim the kingdom.

Rafiki is the eccentric sage who guides Simba with wisdom and a touch of mystical playfulness. 

He understands the connection between the past, present, and future, and recognizes Mufasa’s spirit living on in Simba. Rafiki acts as a catalyst for Simba’s self-discovery, aiding in his understanding of his destiny and his place in the ‘circle of life’.

Timon and Pumbaa

This inseparable duo provides comic relief and an important lesson for Simba. Their “Hakuna Matata” philosophy represents a carefree approach to life, focused on avoiding problems and worries. 

While this gives Simba a chance to heal and temporarily escape his past, it also contrasts with his responsibility as king. 

However, Timon and Pumbaa’s unwavering loyalty and friendship ultimately help Simba return to his path, highlighting that a life of fulfillment requires embracing both joy and responsibility.

Zazu is a stickler for the rules and tradition, representing order and duty within the Pride Lands. He’s often exasperated by Simba’s youthful antics and serves as a reminder of the expectations placed on a future king. 

His loyalty to Mufasa continues after the king’s death, and his defiance of Scar shows his commitment to the rightful order of the kingdom.

Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed

These hyenas are Scar’s henchmen, driven by hunger and a desire for power. They operate as a unit, their cackling laughter emphasizing their villainous nature. 

They represent opportunistic chaos, exploiting Scar’s rule to destabilize the natural harmony of the Pride Lands. 

Their eventual demise underscores the consequences of greed and blind obedience.

The Circle of Life

The concept of the ‘circle of life’ is the heart of The Lion King’s philosophy. 

It emphasizes the interconnectedness of all living beings, the balance between life and death, and the understanding that every creature plays a vital role in the grand scheme of existence. 

Mufasa teaches Simba about respecting this delicate balance, and how a true king understands his place within it. Scar’s reign disrupts the circle of life, leading to drought and famine, highlighting the consequences of disregarding natural order. 

When Simba reclaims his throne, he re-establishes this balance, restoring harmony and prosperity to the Pride Lands.

Responsibility and Legacy

Simba’s journey is fundamentally about embracing responsibility. 

As a young cub, he’s eager to be king but doesn’t yet comprehend the weight of that role. His exile allows him to escape responsibility, but also leaves him unfulfilled. 

Through his encounters with Nala and Rafiki, Simba realizes he cannot run from his past or his destiny. By confronting Scar and reclaiming his throne, he accepts the mantle of leadership passed down from his father. 

The Lion King explores the importance of fulfilling one’s duty and the enduring impact a person’s actions can have on future generations.

Facing the Past and Finding Redemption

Guilt and trauma over Mufasa’s death plague Simba, leading him to believe he’s unworthy of being king. Scar exploits this vulnerability, making Simba feel responsible for his father’s demise.

Simba’s growth depends on confronting his past, acknowledging his pain, and ultimately forgiving himself. This struggle mirrors real-life experiences of loss and grief. The film doesn’t shy away from difficult emotions but ultimately offers a message of hope and healing. 

Simba’s act of confronting Scar is not only about reclaiming the throne but also reclaiming his own sense of self.

The Lion King Introduction Introduction

Release Year:  1994

Genre: Adventure, Animation, Family

Director:  Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff

Writer: Irene Mecchi, Joanathan Roberts, Linda Woolverton

Stars:  Jonathan Taylor Thomas , James Earl Jones , Jeremy Irons

Life was different in 1994. 

And we're not talking about incidentals like "there was no Internet" or "Brad Pitt was dating Gwyneth Paltrow." We're referring to the fact that the average Joe, circa 1994, would have had zero idea what "Hakuna Matata" meant, would maybe have felt kindly toward hyenas, and probably had very little idea about the social structure of lion prides.

But all of that changed with the release of The Lion King .

Part of the Second Disney Renaissance of the 1990s, The Lion King is an undisputed classic, a favorite of '90s kids (and their parents and children) everywhere. In addition to being set in Africa and gorgeously animated by a team of hyper-dedicated animators, The Lion King is a story of royal intrigue and power in the animal kingdom. 

It's Hamlet with paws.

If you enjoy watching lions grapple with issues moral, political, and existential in nature (or just grapple with evil hyenas), then this is definitely the movie for you. This is also the movie for you if you like watching stupendously successful films: Simba & Co. nabbed a worldwide total of $987,483,777—and The Lion King remains the highest-grossing 2D animated feature in history.

Whether you love or loathe the Disney brand, there's no disputing that The Lion King 's influence is as big as Mufasa's kingdom; this movie is known pretty much anywhere the sun shines. The film won three Golden Globes (Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical; Best Original Score – Motion Picture; and Best Original Song – Motion Picture, for Elton John's "Can You Feel the Love Tonight") and two Academy Awards (Best Original Score and Best Original Song). It even went on to inspire one of the longest-running musicals on Broadway.

Yup, The Lion King has cultural-icon status. It is to the '90s what Star Wars was to the '80s and Mean Girls was to the 2000s: a movie that seeped into the collective consciousness. 

In fact, we're still having nightmares set in elephant graveyards.

Why Should I Care?

For many of us, The Lion King isn't exactly the first title we think of when we think of "film studies." After all, what could all of those dusty VHSes in your basement possibly have to do with capital-S Serious stuff like academia and critical interpretation ?

The answer is: plenty. The Lion King is more than a cartoon for 6-year-old kids to watch while stuffing their faces with popcorn and Milk Duds—although it's totally that, too. The Lion King is a sophisticated moral fable about family, power, and redemption.

For one thing, this movie for kiddos is based on perhaps the most famous (and most studied) Shakespeare play out there: Hamlet .

Both the Bard's masterpiece and ol' Walt's '90s smash hit follow the same trajectory: young prince loves his daddy, his daddy is killed by his uncle, young prince gets revenge on his uncle. Except Hamlet is way more depressing—and doesn't have nearly the same number of Elton John love songs.

It's not every day that you come across a Disney cartoon that has thematic roots in a great work of English literature, but then, The Lion King isn't just any old Disney cartoon. It's one of the most famous, an indisputable jewel in the Disney crown.

But, fun musical numbers and similarities to Hamlet aside, The Lion King manages to pack an effective dramatic punch in its own right. As a story about the enduring power of love and loyalty to family, this movie restored audiences' faith in the values of the mid-1990s.

The Lion King was released in 1994, three years after the end of America's involvement in the Persian Gulf War . The United States was at the peak of its military and industrial might, the economy was booming, and a new generation of Millennials was being born. It was a time of comfort and security, and many were eager to see that reflected in their entertainment.

And The Lion King did just that. This movie is about a super-idyllic kingdom that goes through a period of woe (boo, Scar) and bounces right back—just compare the Pride Lands with the narrow-minded town in Beauty and the Beast. It's about the importance of family over pretty much everything else—compare Simba's character arc to Ariel's decision to leave home in The Little Mermaid. It's about the just nature of an established government—Mufasa is unlike, say, the bumbling Sultan in Aladdin.

With everything looking peaceful at home, more and more Americans were content with messages like these. In many ways, The Lion King was a product of its time—which means that studying The Lion King ain't just about studying a movie about a farting warthog and his lion cub buddy. It's about studying America during the 1990s.

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W hy's T his F unny?

Fiction | Novel | Early Reader Picture Book | Published in 1994

Plot Summary

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Production Analysis of The Lion King Essay

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Introduction

Progress of technologies seen in the film, emotional impact of the movie, works cited.

Animate film The Lion King from 2019 is a remake of the popular same-name hand-drawn cartoon. The action of both films takes place in the African savannah. They tell the story of a lion cub named Simba, who lost his father Mufasa because of his evil uncle Scar and was expelled from the pride. Years later, he returns to restore justice and regain the throne. In spite of the fact that the remake features spectacular photorealistic scenes made with the help of computer animation, it lacks emotional richness.

Researchers note that over the last two decades, digitalization and visual effects used while making animated films have developed greatly providing film-makers with a set of new opportunities (Bruckner et. al. 6). In this respect, The Lion King (2019) is a milestone from a technological perspective (Seitz). Jon Favreau, the director, who is good at creating the feeling of realness in animated films and his crew make the viewers feel like in the movie, not digitally created lions, monkeys, and other animals but real ones are shown (Seitz). According to Seitz, “this might be his best-directed film, if you judge purely in terms of how the scenes and sequences have been framed, lit, and cut together” (Seitz). So, the film-makers managed to create an animated film that looks like it has been shot with a camera.

The magnificence of the savannah is conveyed through employing long shots from the bird’s eye’s view and the high angle at the beginning of the film. Researchers note that shots of this kind are widely used by directors when they want to place a premium on the environment and show the position of the characters in it (Prince 9). Close-ups, on the contrary, emphasize the characters rather than the setting (Prince 9).

The Lion King 2019 features quite a lot of close-ups letting the “camera” (for it is a digitalized movie) follow the animals while they roam in water and rain or run through the meadows. The light reminds of the natural light of savannah which makes this motif different from the one of the original (Seitz). Plain, drab colors chosen are also true-to-life, therefore, the audience is, on the one hand, excited to see such a detailed representation of reality (Seitz). On the other hand, all these tools make people feel like they are watching rather a documentary film about nature than a fictional animated movie.

Although the technical components of The Lion King might deserve a high grade, it is possible to note that “the question becomes not if animators can create realistic animation, but if they should” (Greer 2). Actually, the faces of highly detailed digital characters look stiff and can hardly express the range of emotions required (Prince 13). That is why in the movie under analysis realistic animals are not capable of having proper facial expressions.

As a result, all the episodes that, according to the plot, should involve plenty of emotions, in fact, do not. Mufasa’s death, Scar’s monologues and other fragments of the remake which are intended to be highly affective fall flat on the spectators. Moreover, the vocal performances taken from the original movie do not correspond with the unemotional faces (Seitz). In the film, the sounds of the wild nature can be heard which aggravates the similarity of the film with a documentary.

To sum up, in The Lion King from 2019, greater emphasis is placed on the realistic representation of animals and nature not only in pictures but also in sounds. With the use of the latest visual effect and tools, the film-makers have achieved impressive realness. However, as for the emotional component, the movie might be not deep enough due to the technical inability to make digitalized characters convey proper emotions.

Bruckner, Franziska, ‎et al. Global Animation Theory: International Perspectives at Animafest Zagreb . Bloomsbury Academic, 2018.

Greer, Sarah. Simulating Life: Reimagining Realism in the Art of Animation . 2019. Web.

Prince, Stephen. Movies and Meaning: An Introduction to Film 6 th ed. Pearson Education, 2013.

Seitz, Matt. “ The Lion King Movie Review and Film Summary. ” rogerebert . 2019. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2021, June 20). Production Analysis of The Lion King. https://ivypanda.com/essays/production-analysis-of-the-lion-king/

"Production Analysis of The Lion King." IvyPanda , 20 June 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/production-analysis-of-the-lion-king/.

IvyPanda . (2021) 'Production Analysis of The Lion King'. 20 June.

IvyPanda . 2021. "Production Analysis of The Lion King." June 20, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/production-analysis-of-the-lion-king/.

1. IvyPanda . "Production Analysis of The Lion King." June 20, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/production-analysis-of-the-lion-king/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Production Analysis of The Lion King." June 20, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/production-analysis-of-the-lion-king/.

• Cast & crew

Mufasa: The Lion King

Simba, having become king of the Pride Lands, is determined for his cub to follow in his paw prints while the origins of his late father Mufasa are explored. Simba, having become king of the Pride Lands, is determined for his cub to follow in his paw prints while the origins of his late father Mufasa are explored. Simba, having become king of the Pride Lands, is determined for his cub to follow in his paw prints while the origins of his late father Mufasa are explored.

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• Trivia Keith David was previously in an episode of Timon & Pumbaa (1995) , a tv spinoff to the original 1994 traditionally animated film. He also filled in for James Earl Jones as Mufasa in The Lion King: Simba's Mighty Adventure (2000) and House of Mouse (2001) .

Rafiki : [from trailer] This story begins far beyond the mountains and the shadows. On the other side of the light, a lion was born without a drop of nobility in his blood. A lion who change our lives forever. The earth will shake, destiny awaits you.

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James Earl Jones, voice of Darth Vader and Mufasa, dies at 93

NEW YORK (AP) — James Earl Jones, who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen — eventually lending his deep, commanding voice to CNN, “The Lion King” and Darth Vader — has died. He was 93.

His agent, Barry McPherson, confirmed Jones died Monday morning at home. The cause was not immediately clear.

WATCH: From stutterer to star: How James Earl Jones found his voice

The pioneering Jones, who worked deep into his 80s, won two Emmys, a Golden Globe, two Tony Awards, a Grammy, the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors and was given an honorary Oscar and a special Tony for lifetime achievement. In 2022, a Broadway theater was renamed in his honor.

He cut an elegant figure late in life, with a wry sense of humor and a ferocious work habit. In 2015, he arrived at rehearsals for a Broadway run of “The Gin Game” having already memorized the play and with notebooks filled with comments from the creative team. He said he was always in service of the work.

“The need to storytell has always been with us,” he told The Associated Press then. “I think it first happened around campfires when the man came home and told his family he got the bear, the bear didn’t get him.”

Jones created such memorable film roles as the reclusive writer coaxed back into the spotlight in “Field of Dreams,” the boxer Jack Johnson in the stage and screen hit “The Great White Hope,” the writer Alex Haley in “Roots: The Next Generation” and a South African minister in “Cry, the Beloved Country.”

He was also a sought-after voice actor, expressing the villainy of Darth Vader (“No, I am your father,” commonly misremembered as “Luke, I am your father”), as well as the benign dignity of King Mufasa in Disney’s animated “The Lion King” and announcing “This is CNN” during station breaks. He won a 1977 Grammy for his performance on the “Great American Documents” audiobook.

“If you were an actor or aspired to be an actor, if you pounded the payment in these streets looks for jobs, one of the standards we always had was to be a James Earl Jones,” Samuel L. Jackson once said.

Some of his other films include “Dr. Strangelove,” “The Greatest” (with Muhammad Ali), “Conan the Barbarian,” “Three Fugitives” and playing an admiral in three Tom Clancy blockbuster adaptations — “The Hunt for Red October,” “Patriot Games” and “Clear and Present Danger.” In a rare romantic comedy, “Claudine,” Jones had an onscreen love affair with Diahann Carroll.

Jones made his Broadway debut in 1958’s “Sunrise At Campobello” and would win his two Tony Awards for “The Great White Hope” (1969) and “Fences” (1987). He also was nominated for “On Golden Pond” (2005) and “Gore Vidal’s The Best Man” (2012). He was celebrated for his command of Shakespeare and Athol Fugard alike. More recent Broadway appearances include “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” “The Iceman Cometh,” and “You Can’t Take It With You.”

As a rising stage and television actor, he appeared in “As the World Turns” in 1965, becoming one of the first African American actors in a continuing role in a daytime drama. He performed with the New York Shakespeare Festival Theater in “Othello,” “Macbeth” and “King Lear” and in off-Broadway plays.

WATCH: A look at the regional theaters fighting to save their historic art form

Jones was born by the light of an oil lamp in a shack in Arkabutla, Mississippi, on Jan. 17, 1931. His father, Robert Earl Jones, had deserted his wife before the baby’s arrival to pursue life as a boxer and, later, an actor.

When Jones was 6, his mother took him to her parents’ farm near Manistee, Michigan. His grandparents adopted the boy and raised him.

“A world ended for me, the safe world of childhood,” Jones wrote in his autobiography, “Voices and Silences.” “The move from Mississippi to Michigan was supposed to be a glorious event. For me it was a heartbreak, and not long after, I began to stutter.”

Too embarrassed to speak, he remained virtually mute for years, communicating with teachers and fellow students with handwritten notes. A sympathetic high school teacher, Donald Crouch, learned that the boy wrote poetry, and demanded that Jones read one of his poems aloud in class. He did so faultlessly.

Teacher and student worked together to restore the boy’s normal speech. “I could not get enough of speaking, debating, orating — acting,” he recalled in his book.

At the University of Michigan, he failed a pre-med exam and switched to drama, also playing four seasons of basketball. He served in the Army from 1953 to 1955.

In New York, he moved in with his father and enrolled with the American Theater Wing program for young actors. Father and son waxed floors to support themselves while looking for acting jobs.

True stardom came suddenly in 1970 with “The Great White Hope.” Howard Sackler’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play depicted the struggles of Jack Johnson, the first Black heavyweight boxing champion, amid the racism of early 20th-century America. In 1972, Jones repeated his role in the movie version and was nominated for an Academy Award as best actor.

Jones’ two wives were also actors. He married Julienne Marie Hendricks in 1967. After their divorce, he married Cecilia Hart, best known for her role as Stacey Erickson in the CBS police drama “Paris,” in 1982. (She died in 2016.) They had a son, Flynn Earl, born in 1983.

In 2022, the Cort Theatre on Broadway was renamed after Jones , with a ceremony that included Norm Lewis singing “Go the Distance,” Brian Stokes Mitchell singing “Make Them Hear You” and words from Mayor Eric Adams, Samuel L. Jackson and LaTanya Richardson Jackson.

“You can’t think of an artist that has served America more,” director Kenny Leon told the AP. “It’s like it seems like a small act, but it’s a huge action. It’s something we can look up and see that’s tangible.”

Citing his stutter as one of the reasons he wasn’t a political activist, Jones nonetheless hoped his art could change minds.

“I realized early on, from people like Athol Fugard, that you cannot change anybody’s mind, no matter what you do,” he told the AP. “As a preacher, as a scholar, you cannot change their mind. But you can change the way they feel.”

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Aaron Pierre: From Action Prince to Lion King

The British actor stars as an ex-Marine in the new Netflix thriller “Rebel Ridge” and as the titular cat in the upcoming “Mufasa: The Lion King.”

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By Brian Josephs

Aaron Pierre was an unsure British teenager when he took his first acting gig: a narrator in a secondary-school production of “Moby Dick.” The school didn’t have a dedicated drama program and produced a play once every three years; Pierre had focused on athletics before giving the stage a try.

As he recalled during a recent video call from his apartment in Los Angeles, his adolescent mind was thinking, “What’s going to happen to me walking through the halls if I do this play?”

The show turned out to be painless. He went out, hit his mark at the corner of stage left and looked at the audience as he said his few lines. “I remember getting backstage and just being like, ‘That was amazing,’” Pierre said.

The roles have grown a bit larger. Pierre, 30, played the hard-luck soldier Cassio in a 2018 production of “Othello” at the Globe Theater. The film and TV director Barry Jenkins saw him and was impressed enough to reach out to the actor on Twitter. That led to Pierre’s role as the yearning and enslaved Caesar in Jenkins’s mini-series “The Underground Railroad.”

Since then, Pierre has played an ill-fated rapper in M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller “Old” (2021) and Malcolm X in the anthology series “Genius: MLK/X.” He currently has another major role, in “Rebel Ridge” ( streaming on Netflix ), directed by Jeremy Saulnier (“Green Room”); Pierre plays Terry Richmond, an ex-Marine who faces off against civil forfeiture and a corrupt police force. In December, he voices the digitally animated lead of “Mufasa: The Lion King,” reuniting with both Jenkins and the actor Kelvin Harrison Jr., who played the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in “Genius.”

Pierre didn’t appear to be too caught up in the anticipation. “I don’t take myself seriously, but I do take my craft extremely seriously,” he said.

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Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Conservation — Symbiotic Relationships In The Lion King

Symbiotic Relationships in The Lion King

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James Earl Jones, legendary actor known for unmistakable baritone voice, dies at 93

One of the most famous voices of all time has gone silent.

James Earl Jones, whose prodigious acting talent was often overshadowed by his distinctive baritone over a seven-decade career both onstage and on the screen, died Monday, his representative said. He was 93.

A contemporary of Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte, Jones didn’t land the same coveted leading roles at a time when there were few to go around for Black actors in Hollywood, but he earned unmatched longevity as a character actor, from his first movie credit in 1964’s “Dr. Strangelove” to his reprisal of his role as King Joffer in the 2021 sequel to “Coming to America.”

“James Earl Jones doesn’t get enough credit for being a path-blazer for actors like Denzel Washington who came after him,” said Rae Dawn Chong, his co-star in the 1986 comedy “Soul Man.”

It was treading the boards of Broadway and beyond where Jones forged his place at the top of the marquee. Of his turn as the title character in the 1964 production of “Othello” in Central Park,  The New York Times gushed : “Mr. Jones commands a full, resonant voice and a supple body, and his jealous rages and frothing frenzy have not only size but also emotional credibility.”

It was, of course, that resonant voice that would eventually become his trademark.

While he earned two Tony Awards, two Emmy Awards, an honorary Academy Award and a Grammy over his long career, he may be best remembered for an uncredited role in “Star Wars” — supplying the voice for Darth Vader, which has reverberated far beyond that galaxy far, far away.

“I’m a journeyman,” Jones told “TODAY’s” Al Roker in a 2017 interview. “I wandered into some interesting situations.”

Making his journey all the more remarkable is that one of the most recognizable voices in Hollywood history had to overcome a severe stutter during his childhood in Mississippi and Michigan before he could take the first step.

Jones, born Jan. 17, 1931, in Arkabutla, Mississippi, said he grew up as a shy and quiet child, wary of speaking and drawing attention to his speech impediment. With his father, Robert, a boxer turned actor, having left home to establish a theater career in Chicago, Jones was shipped to his maternal grandparents’ farm in rural Michigan at age 5.

There, the trajectory of his life changed in high school, when an English teacher taught him how to sound out each word carefully. “I [could] now say things that great writers wrote. I would never have thought of it myself,” Jones told “TODAY” years later.

Jones discovered a love of acting at the University of Michigan, from which he graduated in 1955 after a two-year tour of duty in the Army.

That’s when he moved to New York City, as his father had years earlier, to break into acting. He worked as a janitor part time to pay the bills while he studied at the American Theatre Wing,  according to Biography.

With his booming baritone and stage presence, Jones didn’t have to wait long to get noticed, making his Broadway debut in the late 1950s in the play “Sunrise at Campobello.”

In 1961, he gained acclaim for the U.S. premiere of Jean Genet’s  “The Blacks” at the St. Mark’s Playhouse , which co-starred a cast of then-unknowns, including Cicely Tyson, Maya Angelou and Louis Gossett Jr.

Having reconnected with his father, the younger Jones appeared in several stage productions with him in New York, including “Infidel Caesar” and “Moon on a Rainbow Shawl” in 1962 and “Of Mice and Men” five years later.

The younger Jones became a regular in the Shakespeare in the Park program in 1962, with his lauded performance in “Othello” two years later catapulting him to stardom in the New York theater scene.

The production earned him more than critical accolades: Jones would ultimately marry his Desdemona, co-star Julienne Marie. The marriage, which lasted from 1968 through 1972, caused a mild stir at the time given the era’s racist taboos surrounding interracial marriage.

Being in New York, then also the center of the TV universe, had advantages for a working actor. Jones scored his first Emmy nomination in 1964 for a guest-starring turn in the drama “East Side/West Side.”

But national audiences would get their first exposure to him the same year in a small role in “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.”

Jones hit the pinnacle of any Broadway veteran’s career with the play “The Great White Hope,” in which he starred as a fictionalized version of the real-life boxer Jack Johnson. His performance earned him the Tony for best actor in a play in 1969, breaking the color barrier of the most important acting awards in theater.

“When he was ‘The Great White Hope,’ it was shortly after [Martin Luther] King’s assassination, and there were riots in the streets of the United States,” said Dominic Taylor, a professor of African American theater at UCLA. “And here is this Black man who wins for this role in which he’s Jack Johnson, basically. I don’t think people today are aware of how earthshaking that was.”

Jones would go on to star in the 1970 cinematic adaptation of the play, a turn that would earn him a Golden Globe and his only Academy Award nomination. Jones would lose the best actor Oscar to George C. Scott (“Patton”).

That early success, however, didn’t seem to translate into many more high-profile film roles in the 1970s, although he did star opposite Diahann Carroll in the 1974 dramedy “Claudine.”

“Hollywood back then only had room for a certain number of Black actors,” said Wilson Morales, the founder and editor of blackfilmandtv.com. “He never really got the big roles compared to Sidney Poitier.

“Almost all the roles that he had over the years, they were largely supporting roles,” Morales said of Jones.

Jones would win a Grammy for best spoken word recording in 1977, an early sign of the recognition for his voice.

His most visible on-screen role may have been playing author Alex Haley in the landmark 1977 television miniseries “Roots,” based on Haley’s family history.

Despite  the estimated 130 million viewers  who tuned in for “Roots,” it would turn out to be just the second-highest-profile gig he booked that year.

Director George Lucas tapped Jones to do some voiceover work for a quirky space opera called “Star Wars” to dub over Darth Vader actor David Prowse’s heavy British accent, made worse by the muffle effect of the mask.

Jones later said he asked to keep his name out of the credits because Prowse did all the work, but such humility wouldn’t keep him from being enshrined as part of the biggest pop culture phenomenon in modern history.

Jones married the actor Cecilia Hart in 1982, the same year he starred opposite budding action star Arnold Schwarzenegger as an evil sorcerer in “Conan the Barbarian.” The marriage would produce a son, Flynn, the same year, and it would last until Hart’s death of ovarian cancer in 2016.

Now a father, Jones continued to work steadily through the 1980s.

Chong remembered the first day she met Jones on the set of “Soul Man,” then intimidated as a girl who grew up with “Star Wars.”

“All the cast was a little afraid of him, not just because he was this towering great of an actor who was Othello in New York and his history,” Chong said. “But in fact, he [turned out to be[ a gentle giant, extremely generous. He’s very kind and soft-spoken.”

Settling into his 50s and past the expiration date for the leading man parts of the era, Jones piled together an impressive run of supporting parts, including roles in “Field of Dreams” (1987), “Matewan” (1987) and “The Hunt for Red October” (1990), a role he would reprise for two sequels.

Perhaps his most famous role of the decade — not counting “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi” (1983), of course — was as Eddie Murphy’s father in the 1988 comedy “Coming to America.”

“You have to remember ‘Coming to America’ was the biggest Black film of its time,” Morales said. “It was the ‘Black Panther’ of the era.”

He also kept one foot on the boards, earning his second Tony award in 1987 for August Wilson’s “Fences” — a role that Denzel Washington would play in a movie version 29 years later.

In 1990, Jones was cast as the lead in the TV drama “Gabriel’s Fire,” the type of signature role that might have been better appreciated had the series run on a premium cable network two decades later. At the time, however, TV execs considered the material too dark and canceled the show after one season.

Show co-creator Jacqueline Zambrano remembered being called to meet with Jones about a script during a break in shooting. In most cases, that meant the star would have diva-like demands for rewrites. “I sat down and immediately opened my notebook and I had my pen poised,” Zambrano said. “He started talking about a particular scene and asking me questions. Then we went on to another scene, and, you know, we talked as long as we could until they were ready for him on set.

“We both left, and I looked down at my notebook, and I had nothing written down. He didn’t have any notes. He didn’t want to tell me, ‘I want to fix this.’ He just wanted to understand the text. He just wanted to understand the character better.”

Jones shined enough in that limited time to earn his first prime-time Emmy for outstanding lead actor. (He won a second Emmy that night for his supporting turn in the TV movie “Heat Wave,” about the 1965 Watts race riots.)

In 1994, Jones lent his voice as Mufasa in Disney’s animated blockbuster “The Lion King.” He would return to the role in the live-action version 25 years later, the only actor from the original voice cast to return.

Over the ensuing three decades, Jones continued to work continuously — even after he was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 1995. He racked up Emmy nominations with guest-starring appearances on “Picket Fences,” “Under One Roof,” “Frasier” and “Everwood.” On Broadway, he notched two more Tony nominations — for a 2005 production of “On Golden Pond” and for a revival of Gore Vidal’s “The Best Man” seven years later.

In 2011, Jones was awarded an honorary Academy Award for his career as a whole. That he never won an Oscar for a specific movie role, denying him the coveted EGOT, is a lingering symbol of just how much he was underappreciated over a prolific and profound career.

Taylor, the UCLA professor, always includes a clip of Jones in the 1987 production of “Fences” in his master class on acting.

“He was a gargantuan presence but such a fine, precise, attuned actor onstage,” Taylor said. “It was beautiful to watch him work.”

CORRECTION (Sept. 10, 2024, 10:25 a.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated the name of “The Lion King” character. It was Mufasa, not Mustafa.

Ethan Sacks writes for NBCNews.com.

James Earl Jones, Distinguished Actor and Voice of Darth Vader, Dies at 93

James Earl Jones , the prolific film, TV and theater actor whose resonant, unmistakable baritone was most widely known as the voice of “ Star Wars ” villain Darth Vader , died Monday morning at his home in Dutchess County, N.Y., his rep confirmed to Variety. He was 93.

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Among his more than 80 film credits, Jones’ other notable movies include as a B-52 bombardier in Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 Cold War satire “Dr. Strangelove” (his feature film debut), as the first Black president of the United States in 1972’s “The Man,” as the fearsome villain in 1982’s “Conan the Barbarian,” as a reclusive author in 1989’s “Field of Dreams,” as a blind former baseball star in 1993’s “The Sandlot,” and as a minister living in apartheid South Africa in 1995’s “Cry, the Beloved Country.”

Jones earned a Kennedy Center Honor in 2002, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement award in 2009, an honorary Oscar in 2011 and a lifetime achievement Tony Award in 2017. His Grammy award in 1977 for spoken word album makes Jones only one a handful of actors to receive an EGOT.

Jones’ looming yet ultimately affable presence and rich speaking voice made him a natural for Shakespeare, and he played some of the great roles, such as Macbeth and Othello, for Joseph Papp’s American Shakespeare Festival. Jones narrated several documentaries, from 1972’s “Malcom X” to the 2007 Disneynature doc “Earth,” and, famously, he intoned the tagline “This is CNN” for the cable news channel.

His television credits, which number over 70, including many movies and miniseries such as “Roots” and “The Atlanta Child Murders,” recurring roles on “L.A. Law,” “Homicide: Life on the Street” and “Everwood,” and guest roles on shows like “The Simpsons,” “Picket Fences,” “Law & Order,” “Frasier” and “House.” 

As for his most famous role, Jones was paid $7,000 to lend his voice to Darth Vader in 1977’s “Star Wars: A New Hope,” but he declined screen credit for that film and its sequel, 1980’s “The Empire Strikes Back,” out of deference to the actor who played the role on screen, David Prowse. By 1983’s “Return of the Jedi,” however, Jones had become fully synonymous with one of the most memorable and terrifying villains in cinema history, and received credit for his work. He returned to Vader’s voice again for 2005’s “Episode III — Revenge of the Sith” and 2016’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” but for the 2022 Disney+ series “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” Jones instead authorized Lucasfilm to use archival recordings and AI technology to recreate Vader’s voice .

When asked in 2014 by the New York Times about how he’d kept his career alive for so long, Jones’ response evoked the kind of plainspoken humility that he had so often brought to his performances as well.

“The secret is never forgetting that you’re a journeyman actor and that nothing is your final thing, nothing is your greatest thing, nothing is your worst thing,” Jones said . “I still consider myself a novice.”

James Earl Jones was born in 1931 on a farm in in Arkabutla, Miss. His father, Robert Earl Jones, left home soon after to pursue his own acting career (the two more-or-less reconciled when the younger Jones was in his 20s, and they even performed together). When Jones was 5, he moved with his maternal grandparents to Michigan. The shock of the relocation induced a stammer so severe that he often could communicate only in writing. It wasn’t until high school when he started to overcome his stutter, when his English teacher, upon learning that Jones composed poetry, encouraged him to read his writing aloud in class.

As an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan, Jones initially set out to study medicine, but wound up more interested in drama. His first stage role was a small part in the 1957 Off Broadway production “Wedding in Japan.” He took side jobs to supplement occasional theater work in Broadway’s “Sunrise at Campobello,” “The Cool World” and “The Pretender.” He also appeared in summer stock.

Jones’ first big break into cinema came by way of Papp’s production of “The Merchant of Venice,” in which Jones played the Prince of Morocco to George C. Scott’s Shylock. When Stanley Kubrick came to see Scott, whom he was considering for one of the leads in “Dr. Strangelove,” the film director was so impressed that he cast Jones in the film, too. In 1966, Jones had the title role in “Macbeth” at the New York Shakespeare Festival, again to great acclaim. He also booked a recurring role on “As the World Turns” in 1966, marking the first time a Black actor had a continuing role on a daytime soap opera

Still, he was almost one of Broadway’s best-kept secrets until 1968 with his performance in Howard Sackler’s “The Great White Hope” as Jack Johnson, the first Black man to win the world heavyweight boxing championship. The Tony, the acclaim and its timing in the late ’60s propelled Jones into the spotlight at a time when it was difficult for Black actors to secure quality roles. The actor, however, has said that the accolades he received for for both the play and its film adaptation did not do that much for his career.

It wasn’t until 1977, when Jones’ voice terrified audiences for the first time as Darth Vader, that things truly began to shift for him. That same year, Jones also appeared in ABC’s “Roots” playing the author Alex Haley, whose genealogical novel of the same title inspired the groundbreaking miniseries. He never quite became an outright star in the classic sense of the word, but the back-to-back successes that year did ultimately make Jones a household name, whose presence connoted a stature and gravitas to projects that might otherwise be lacking.

Theatre is where Jones most frequently was a box office draw in his own right — and well into his 80s. He returned to Broadway in 2005 for a production of “On Golden Pond” opposite Leslie Uggams, drawing another Tony nomination. In 2008, he played Big Daddy in a production of Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” that featured an all-Black cast including Terrence Howard, Anika Noni Rose and Phylicia Rashad. 

Two years later, he returned to Broadway in a revival of “Driving Miss Daisy” opposite Vanessa Redgrave; the production’s move to London in 2011 meant he had to miss the Honorary Oscars ceremony in Los Angeles. Instead, Sir Ben Kingsley surprised Jones with his statuette in person after he’d concluded a matinee performance of the show. 

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