Analysing the opening for 'The Lion King'

Analysis:
The Lion King was made in 1994 and rated a PG. The production studio was Walt Disney Pictures and Walt Disney Feature Animation. The distribution studio was Buena Vista pictures. The director of this film was Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. The box office taking in the opening weekends were $40million. The awards won for this film were two Oscars for best music, and a golden globe for the best motion picture. It was nominated for multiple oscars and golden globe awards.

Target Audience:
The target audience for this film would be children from the age of 3-16. Animated disney films are generally associated with children, so the primary target audience would be children. The film is very innocent and happy through most of it, and it all ends up happy at the end, which matches with a typical Disney film. The genre of animated films is typically associated with children of that age, and disney is normally seen to be to do with children. It would be for both genders because these kind of films are aimed at both genders. The target audience would go to watch this film and expect a happy Disney move because most movies made by disney are very happy, so this will be a case of the familiar and satisfy the viewer's pleasures of going to watch that film.

Title and Credit Analysis:
There is no credits in the start of the lion king, but then when you get to the end of the opening scene there is a black background put over the whole scene and it says 'The Lion King' in very large and bold letters. This typography represents the narrative, because by making it big and bold and out there it shows that the main character, who is going to be the lion king later on in the film, is very important. The letters are large and intimidating, and this foreshadows the fact that the main character is also large and intimidating, and a big deal where he is.

Narrative:
The narrative is set up in lots of ways during the opening of this film. One of the ways is when the baby king is shown to the world for the first time, a very dramatic non-diagetic soundtrack plays and it shows his importance. This displays the narrative because later on in the film he goes on to become a very important part of Africa because he becomes the lion king. Presenting him to the world in such a dramatic way shows the audience the importance of his presence in the rest of the narrative. Also, when the father of the lion goes into the shadows and the baby lion king comes out of the shadows into the sunlight, it shows how the circle of life goes around, and the large lion will step down and the small lion will become king some day.

Music:
The non-diagetic soundtrack of the opening plays a huge part in foreshadowing the narrative. The song 'The circle of life' shows what is inevitably going to happen- the parent dies and the child lives. It shows this by the lyrics of the soundtrack. By all of the animals showing up to see the baby lion presented to the world and all of the dramatic music being played in the background, the non-diagetic soundtrack foreshadows the narrative. The non-diagetic soundtrack through the whole of the opening is a very dramatic sound and brings the audience in.

Atmosphere:
The atmosphere created by this opening is quite unique. It makes the audience feel like this is going to be quite a significant film, because of all the dramatic non-diagetic music and the presentation of the baby lion at the end of the opening. Everything builds up to that one moment of the lion king being presented to the world, so it creates an atmosphere of importance and makes the audience want to watch it more. The atmosphere is a very happy one, so this will attract children because children tend to enjoy watching very happy films in general. The camera starts out as a extra long shot then continues to zoom in until the main characters are in focus. This is another way to show the importance of the main characters in this film.

Characters:
The main characters are all shown in the opening. The main character, Simba, is shown near the end of the opening and many other characters are shown in the opening. Many of the characters in this opening don't hold  significance in the narrative of this film, but still play a big part in making the opening of this film what it is. The main character is represented as a baby in the start of this film and it is with its parents. The other important characters introduced in the opening of the film include a monkey, and a bird. They are all quite important to this film and this is shown in the opening of the film.

Mise En Scene/location:
The location is in Africa, in the middle of a field with o human habitation. This sets a good scene for the film because it shows the film is based on animals and humans do not get involved.  The mise en scene is mainly an animated large rock, which is the home of the main characters. The lighting is always at sunset in the opening and when it gets to the end of the opening it shows the light going down to present the main character, which makes them seem very important and shows their importance compared to the rest of the audience.