Saturday, September 24, 2011

the lion king.

today was a momentous, momentous day.

today, september twenty-fourth, two thousand and eleven, i saw the lion king in the theatre.

if you've read my blogs, you understand what this means. no, you actually don't. that's why i'm blogging about it.

back in the day when the lion king came out (1994), i was three. i saw it in the theatre with my parents and my brother, who was four. do i remember it?

no. of course not.

but today, i saw it in the theatre for the second time.

i didn't see it in 3D like the rest of my friends, and i didn't see it right when it came out like harry potter because i'm a student first before a crazed lion king fan. i have other things to attend to than to rush away and watch the lion king when i have placement paperwork to fill out and philosophy to study. another reason i didn't see it in 3D besides the fact that 3D is stupid and would ruin the movie is that my eyes can't see 3D. so really i'd just be paying extra bucks for some glasses.

no thank you.

my boyfriend and i drove to the alma movie theatre (a very shady place indeed) for the twelve forty showing of the lion king in good old 2D. there were four toddlers in the theatre and while the preflix was going, i quietly thought about how upset i would be if they ruined the lion king for me by crying, talking, or generally being toddlers. very unfair of me. but this is MY movie.

after the preflix were over, i wondered out loud whether they would have the previews that they have on my VHS tape. you know those previews. pocahontas (coming next summer) the aristocats (coming soon to VHS) and angels in the outfield back when christopher lloyd was decently young.

that didn't happen. the previews were for silly new animated movies. like the third alvin and the chipmunnks movie.

then it showed the WALT DISNEY PICTURES PRESENTS in red and i could hear the animals in the background in the dead silence. my whole body tensed. i was ready for this. it was time.

when that sun came up and lebo m began to sing "nyants ingoyama bagithi baba" i lost it. it was so big. it was so perfect. it was terrific, it was so epic.

this was my favorite movie (with arguably the best beginning of any movie in the world) coming to life right before my very eyes on a big, fat, movie screen.

i was so overcome with emotions i couldn't describe i sat there with my mouth open and tears streaming down my face.

the tears cleared up shortly after scar lost his little mouse lunch and i had finished singing the circle of life through my tears. i settled into the movie.

when mufasa died, there were more tears. i cry when mufasa dies even when i watch the lion king alone in my room on VHS while doing other things. this was absolutely no surprise.

i have seen the lion king probably fifty times or more. i watch it with rapt attention, i watch it while doing other things (like blogging and writing novels and reading), i watch it alone, i watch it with my family, i watch it with my boyfriend. i watch the lion king all the freakin' time.

but there was nothing like watching it in a movie theatre on a big screen. absolutely nothing.

everything was bigger. everything was better. i could hear the score more clearly than ever; hans zimmer's genius. i could see every expression, hear everything rumble with power of james earl jones voicing mufasa. all of this was crystal clear and perfect. this was the lion king.

i sang all the songs. i danced in my chair. i waved at the toddler in front of when he turned around, curious about how loudly i was singing hakuna matata. i enjoyed the lion king like i'd never enjoyed it before.

when simba took his place on pride rock and roared his kingdom, i cried. it was a struggle not to cry the whole entire movie, but here i was, losing it again, staring at the screen with my mouth open and tears sliding down my face.

when the credits started to roll, i realized it was over. i'd cried more here than i had at harry potter. the movie was over, it was time to go back to my life where i would never again see my favorite movie of all time in a theatre. this was its run, this was my run, and my god, the music in the credits was so fantastic.

i sat through all of the credits practically sobbing. luckily i'm a quiet sobber, so i mostly just shook with tears absolutely streaming down my face as elton john sang can you feel the love tonight and i got tears all over my glasses.

i do feel slightly bad about this. my boyfriend and i were the last ones in the theatre, and i could see the high school aged clean up kid watching us as the credits rolled. he wanted to clean the theatre and i was sitting here, hugging my knees and crying while my boyfriend rubbed my knee and kept saying, "it's okay, emily, it's okay."

the lion king is one of the bigger parts of my life. i've blogged about it before. it is obsessional. i firmly believe it is the best movie ever made. it has the best opening of any film in the world. disney has never come close to anything this fantastic, nor has anyone else.

the lion king is a pure masterpiece of a movie. it is my childhood. it is my adolescence, it is my college years, and it will be my adult years. then it will be my children's.

i won't go as far as to say "i am the lion king" but it's very nice to type it.

today, i saw the lion king in a movie theatre, and i was so moved by everything. it was absolutely magical. i have had a lot of magical life experiences like helping the homeless and traveling the world and becoming closer to God with 3,000 youth from around the nation in a gigantic auditorium, but this was up there with all of that. it honestly was.

this. was. terrific.

i don't know how to end this blog. i just keep seeing the opening of the circle of life on a big screen and i want to cry with elation. it is just so amazing.




this. is. the lion king.

No comments:

Post a Comment