Since my first Retro-Review was Disney's The Lion King, I felt it natural to have my first spotlight of In The Mind Of be Scar, the main antagonist of the film who all at once is my favorite character from the film, my favorite Disney villain, and one of my all time favorite villains/characters in general.
As I have mentioned in my Retro-Review, there is something about Scar that I find so intriguing and I became immediately invested in him as his actions drive the first half of the film. To elaborate further, it is easy to sympathize with Scar since he basically is an older version of young Simba, as all he has dreamed of being is king of the Pridelands, and now to see that taken away from him is quite unfortunate, to say the least. Of course, none of this is being said to downplay Scar's actions, which prove him to be one of the most downright vile and sinister villains Disney has ever devised. At heart, Scar is a petty, foul-tempered, entitled bastard with no love or loyalty to anyone but himself and who will outright crush all who oppose him. No better is this exemplified than when he murders Mufasa and tricks Simba into believing that he was responsible for it before exiling him and sending the Hyenas to kill him. From there, Scar takes a backseat in the movie and has faced criticism for losing his menace and credibility as a villain. In his defense, he only appears in one scene before the final battle, has already achieved his goals, and all of his whining and complaining is actually perfectly in-character for him seeing as all that being king did was show how utterly pathetic and self-serving he really is. By the end, Scar gets his much deserved comeuppance, but he sure gives Simba the fight of his life, so while he doesn't have much to do and is out of focus for much of the second half (which is one reason why I consider it to be the weakest part,) I don't see why there were any issues with Scar himself.
Overall, Scar is a marvelous villain and a big part of why I love The Lion King so much. He was ambitious, sly, and perfectly capable of getting away with his schemes. Cap this all off with a slick character design, terrific voicework by Jeremy Irons, and a kickass villain song (which is sang superbly by Irons and Jim Cummings,) and Scar will be revered by me in a way other Disney villains haven't and I know he is one that will live on in infamy. LONG LIVE THE KING!
No comments:
Post a Comment