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A Look At How "The Lion King" Reflects Today's Society
ultimately they are incredibly lazy and a burden to society at large. They need that strong influence to take care of them.
Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed are three characters in which I take issue. I felt that the Disney Corporation was incredibly racist when casting these three. By using the voice of a black person (Whoopi Goldberg) and a Hispanic person (Cheech Marin) for Shenzi and Banzai, then placing their characters in the bad part of the jungle (the ghetto when comparing to a city), and giving them a sidekick Ed who is constantly laughing hysterically due to Lord knows what, this just furthers the idea that blacks and Hispanics belong in the ghetto. To further their cause even more, Cheech’s past comes back to haunt him with Ed. Ed always has a crazy look in his eye and laughs uncontrollably. I feel it is a reasonable leap of faith to assume that Ed is constantly high on drugs. I just feel that this was a poor casting job. By casting a black woman, a Hispanic man, and a man high on drugs to live in the ghetto, it may create the image of all minorities living in this situation.
Sarabi and Sarafina act very well as the matriarchal figureheads of the lions. They provide that matronly, nurturing personality that all of us need from time to time. This type of person genuinely cares for their friends and family and go out of their way to ensure their safety.