The Lion King
Acceptable with guidance. Age: 6+. A Catholic review of this movie for parents.
Our review
The Lion King is at its best on duty. A king serves rather than takes, the past can hurt but you can learn from it, and Hakuna Matata is exposed as running away. Scar's envy and tyranny are plainly evil. The reservation is the cosmology: dead kings watching from the stars, a shaman baboon summoning a father's spirit, and no Creator anywhere. Lovely as story, not true as taught.
For parents
Fine for school-age children; Mufasa's death and the hyenas are hard on the young. Ask: where is Mufasa now, and where are our dead? Teach the communion of saints and prayer for the dead (CCC 958) in place of stars and spirits, and ask what was wrong with Hakuna Matata.