Flashback: Remembering Hakuna Matata

As far as Disney films go, The Lion King is my favorite, all hands down. And, apparently, I’m not alone in liking this film. In 1994, it was the top grossing film of the year, earning more than $173 million dollars; Forrest Gump came in second. It’s been recorded as the highest-grossing animated film up until that year.

What made this film such a sensation?

Perhaps it was the universal themes of betrayal, legacy, and coming-of-age that resonated with its audience. Or that it appealed to lovers of Shakespeare (think Hamlet). Or that it had an all-star cast lending their voice to the cartoons (Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Mathew Broderic, James Earl Jones, and Whoopi Goldberg) and its music created by the inimitable Sir Elton John.

Now that I think of it. . . there was something else that made this film exciting, new, and different. It wasn’t set in the deserts of Arabia where we meet Aladdin or an enchanted fortress where we meet Snow White. Rather, it was set in Africa, a place where Disney or any pop culture medium hadn’t gone until then.

It was really something. For the duration of the film at least, I forgot all of the negative hype about Africa. It was no longer a “Dark Continent” where nightmares swirled like a Van Gough painting. I would imagine myself there—dancing, singing hakuna matata, growing up to join the nobility. And how I loved to say "Mufasa, ooo say it again" that memorable line from one of the hyena’s that Whoopi Goldberg voiced for. To think my world could be shook by one little Disney film about Africa. And that was almost sixteen years ago.

Flashback: Remember Grease?

Save for the film Grease, it seemed fated that I would shy away from all musicals. Though Grease is set in the 1950s, a number of its musical numbers and dance movements are stylized after disco which exploded on the scene in the 1970s. Grease was and still is a enticing opening into an era that I could only ask my parents and grandparents about. And while the film was very much dated by the time I had seen it, not a lot had changed in terms of being in high school. Weren’t we all doing the same things? Doing what youths do: coming-of-age, being concerned with all things sexy, working it out on the dance floor?

Yet still, even after the cultural meltdown of the 1970s and 1980s, there are leftovers: like how so many of us youngsters sported the coveted black leather jacket to show just how “cool” we are (An aside: Michael Jackson also contributed to the “coolness” of the leather jacket.)

Grease, both the musical and film, has made an indelible imprint on our cultural narrative. It’s one of the longest running shows in Broadway history, racking up 3,388 performances before closing in 1980 and two years before becoming a hit film in 1978, starring the John Travolta and the gorgeous Australian recording artist Olivia Newton-John who made her American film debut with Grease which grossed $96,300,000, making it the top film at the box office in 1978.