Disney The Lion King Kids Movie Review

Movies

MBE partnered with Disney for this post

Content by Neima Pollak
MBE Staff Writer 

Photography by Janis Brett Elspas
MBE CEO

Opening Nationwide July 19

More than 25 years ago the original animated kids blockbuster movie Disney The Lion King (1994) played in theaters around the world. 

Lion at Sabi Sands Private Reserve, South Africa

Following in the footsteps of other animated Disney classics recently remade into live action pictures such as Cinderella, Alice Through the Looking Glass, and Dumbo, Disney is back with the The Lion King (2019). The new feature film roars onto big screens nationwide this Friday, July 19. This  motion picture actually falls into the new photoreal category, rather than live action, because it is so realistic yet completely animated.

Mommy Blog Expert attended an all-press screening of The Lion King this past week at Disney’s El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. You can, of course, see this in theaters nationwide starting this weekend, but if you are lucky enough to be in the Los Angeles area, consider seeing this at the El Capitan where you'll be treated to an augmented experience similar to what we had. 

The El Capitan Viewer Experience

Before the movie began, the audience was treated to a live performance by the El Capitan House Organist, Rob Richards, who played a series of Disney show tunes from movies ranging from The Lion King and The Little Mermaid to many others. After he finished playing, both musician and the massive antique Wurlitzer gilted 2500 pipe organ (built in 1928) were lowered below the stage. 

Me and Janis at El Capitan Theater, Hollywood

Then the curtains rose, augmented by a light show and lots of glitz to reveal a majestic backdrop echoing the vibe of the movie's Pride Lands setting. Other audience perks unique to El Capitan showings of The Lion King include an immersive mural wall, a gigantic Pride Rock photo op on stage and other photo opps with Pumbaa and Timon. 

Images Courtesy of Disney

Memorable, Engaging Characters 

No matter where you see this new Disney action adventure drama, whether in 3D like we did or in standard format, you will be enchanted by all the beloved characters. 

Returning from the 1994 original movie are all the talking African savanna animals, from regal dad King Mufasa (James Earl Jones), plucky Simba (Donald Glover), lion love interest Nala (Beyonce Knowles-Carter), adult male hyena Kamari (Keegan-Michael Key), and the eccentric, Zazu (John Oliver), to my own personal favorite: the hilarious duo of Timon and Pumbaa who are introduced to the audience through a particularly comical scene. 

No spoilers in this review, you’ll have to see the movie for yourself to see what happens. As is typical in many Disney family movies, this one has different sets of elements  -- visuals, dialogue, music, and some of the most magnificent and beautiful CGI effects -- meant to appeal toward grownups and children. Adults will laugh like hyenas at the sophisticated humor while kids will love all the fun songs and giggle at the human-like animal interactions. 

Image Courtesy of Disney

The Storyline

Even if you're familiar with the original animated movie storyline, which the new film follows fairly closely, you will be in suspense and on the edge of your seat the whole time. Filled with dramatic scenes one after the other, from to evil hyenas chasing down the young Simba and Nala, to the infamous stampede in the gorge, the action, drama and excitement keeps the story moving forward at a brisk pace.

Parental Discretion for Very Young Children

Keep in mind that unlike the G-rated 1994 The Lion King which you may remember from your childhood, the 2019 Lion King remake is rated PG and is directed by Jon Favreau who also directed Iron Man (2008) and Iron Man 2010). Though there is no profanity in the new version, there are some quite frightening, intense and violent scenes. So parents may want to consult the IMDB Parents Guide to evaluate how appropriate this is for the young cubs in your own pride.

Savanna and Lion Cub, Simbavati Private Reserve, South Africa

CGI and Production

Part of what makes this such an outstanding work of art to watch on the big screen is largely thanks to the incredible attention to CGI animation details throughout the project. One of the most astonishing scenes that stands out in my mind is when Mufasa and Scar are talking and you can see them visibly breathing just as real lions do. 

It's also worth noting that whenever any of the characters spoke, without fail, the animals’ lip movements were perfectly aligned with the dialogue. At times I found myself questioning if the herd of zebras was footage of actual zebras or whether it was computer generated. The visual effects in this movie are so realistic, making the animals and the various savanna environments absolutely breathtaking. 

Zebra at Simbavati Private Reserve, South Africa

The sound recording setup for this film was unlike the traditional approach often taken in earlier animated films. Rather than have the actors just stand behind music stands and read their lines into microphones, filmmakers constructed what they refer to as a “black box theater.” 

The idea behind the black box theater was to allow the actors more creative license to act, rather than just read from the script on specially-built stage for recording the film while also being photographed with multiple cameras as they spoke. The photos taken were then shared with the creative team to help guide characters’ minute movements during the animation process.

Go Behind the Scenes: Watch Disney's The Wild Cat Featurette now

About The Lion King

You can catch Simba and the rest of the gang on the big screen nationwide at theaters near you, starting July 19, 2019. Special showings with photo opps and more fun at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood run from July 18 through September 2. Learn more about The Lion King on the official movie site or by following the movie on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Kidspace Childrens Museum Pasadena Review

Family Fun

by Esther Pearl Kreiman
MBE Guest Mom Writer


The most amazing thing about Kidspace, located near Los Angeles, in Pasadena, California, is that every time we take our kids (two boys, ages two and four) here it gets better and better. 

MBE partnered with Kidspace Children's Museum for this post

On our most recent visit just a few weeks ago, thanks to Kidspace, my mom, kids and I got to experience even more of this wonderful children's interactive museum offering indoor and outdoor activities with climbing structures, clay activities, water play, a tricycle track and much more.  

Not only is this a kid-friendly place for children, it's also an engaging and manageable Southern California day trip which grandparents will enjoy.

The more we visit we're discovering that the opportunities for fun and education become multifaceted, more interactive and fun as the children grow and progress through various developmental stages. 

Age-appropriate Activities 

Kidspace is geared toward children ages 6 months through 10 years-old. For the youngest ones, there is a baby room for crawlers and non-crawlers, complete with age appropriate toys, exploring areas and even scheduled story time and classes. 

Beyond that room there is a "Physics Forest" for older kids and parents. Here families can try out different science-based activities including a bottle rocket, giant foam blocks, and even my kids' favorite pulley chairs where you pull yourself up about 8 or 9 feet and enjoy the ride down.

Outdoor Fun, Water Play & Photo Opps

Our next step is always the outdoor tricycle tracks. There is one track for toddlers, and another track for 5 to 9 year olds. For additional fun and interaction, the toddler track area is equipped with water tables and some small slides. My kids played happily in this area for about 40 minutes, then we all headed up a little hill to the outdoor pond with filtered water where little ones can splash around. There is also a separate area with fish and turtles that kids can look at but not touch. 

Since there's lots of water play activities, I highly recommend bringing water shoes, a change of clothes, and a towel. That way your kids will be dry and comfy after the water activities because there is still so much to do and explore. Water shoes for mom or other adults are helpful too, but you'll probably only get wet up to your shins. So as long as you're not wearing long pants or a long skirt you should be fine. 

After water play, before changing into dry clothes, is a good time for kids to play in the outdoor clay area, have fun with the outdoor musical instruments, or even "dig for fossils" like a real paleontologist. Next, stroll through the Kidspace vegetable garden before stopping at the restrooms to change into dry clothes.

Then, step into the indoor air conditioned climbing areas ready for more activities. There boys and girls can climb up a pretend anthill, read in a little reading nook, color a picture, create arts and crafts, or even dress-up in the make-believe theater. 

Interactive Nature Center

My kids' favorite part of the indoor play area on this trip was the nature center. We had so much fun looking at real snakes and toads through glass -- which this mom is super thankful for -- though they do have petting times scheduled for some creatures.  

There is also a real beehive which kids can view through glass to learn about bees and the importance of pollination. When they were younger, my kids didn't really notice this section on earlier Kidspace visits,  so we stayed at the slides and water tables. But, now that my oldest is 4 years old, this space seems fascinating to him. 

Image courtesy of Kidspace

New Exhibit Opening

This Friday, July 19 Kidspace unveils their newest exhibit, the Theater of Birds in partnership with an artist project from the Cloud Formation Lab. This outdoor installation is is designed to look like an upside down bird nest for young explorers to discover and learn about nature. Construction on this project began in January of 2019 and has the installation has since been used by resident artists for a variety of kids activities and workshops. 

The new discoveries every time we go is what makes Kidspace so engaging and why our family keeps coming back. As they grow kids of every age will find something new to explore with all the indoor and outdoor fun to keep your adventurers busy for several hours. The only thing I wish could have been better about the entire experience is that because seating in the lunch area cannot accommodate everyone at lunchtime at the same time. So parents who want to use the tables to feed the kids food you've brought from home might want to not wait until the kids are overly hungry and instead strategize, plan ahead, and be flexible on when you sit down to eat. 

We were on this trip from 10am to 1pm, for a total of 3 hours. We could have easily stayed and enjoyed for more time, but my two year old was ready for a nap after all the tricycling, splashing, climbing and running around. We will definitely be returning to Kidspace very soon.

About Kidspace Children's Museum

Kidspace Childrens Museum, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary of service to Southern California families, is located at 480 North Arroyo Boulevard, Pasadena, California 91103; phone 626-449-9144 . The children's 3.5 acre indoor and outdoor museum features 40 interactive exhibits with daily events and special monthly programs. For hours, activity schedule, admission details, and more information and tickets visit the official Kidspace website. You can also stay in the loop on everything Kidspace is up by following their social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

Basic Invite Design Your Own Cards Review

Celebrations


MBE partnered with Basic Invite for this post

by Neima Pollak
MBE Staff Writer

Unique Cards Designed by You

Nothing says I love you more than receiving a personalized paper-and-ink card in your snail mailbox. Now's the perfect time to get to work on designing your own original heartfelt cards for the holidays as well as any other special occasions in your life coming up to send to family and friends. Basic Invite is here to help make it happen with beautiful styles to choose from like these exquisite watercolor holiday cards and many other card styles which you can easily customize in a multitude of ways.

What Sets Basic Invite Apart

It's easy to get confused with so many online stationery companies out there. Basic Invite stands out from the rest, giving you free reign when designing all aspects of your stationery, from card style to font, color and much more. Additionally, Basic Invite is among a select few online stationery companies which will mail you an actual printed sample of your design so you can hold it in your own hand and see what it's like before placing your card order. 

This card making company even offers a unique and time-saving Address Capturing Service, allowing customers to share a link on Facebook, Instagram and other social media channels to request friends' and family's addresses. These addresses are then stored in your Basic Invite account and can be selected by you during the design process when it comes to addressing invites and cards. What's more is they offer recipient address printing at no cost on all card orders.

How Basic Invite Works

The process of designing a card on Basic Invites is very simple and straightforward. I tried designing a party invitation myself just to check it out and I had such an enjoyable time doing it that I wanted to keep designing more cards.

Step 1: Choose a Category

Select a category which fits the occasion for your card. Categories include Holidays, as well as Wedding, Graduation, Baby, Events, Stationery and Business cards, and multiple subcategories such as Save the Date (Wedding), Birth Announcements (Baby), Graduation (Events), and Thank You (Stationery). 

Step 2: Select a Template

After choosing a category, you will be presented with a number of templates that you can choose from to start designing your card, invite, announcement, etc. Some categories offer an option of uploading your own designs rather than using a pre-set template.

Step 3: Customize your card's elements including

• Shape of the card
• Type of paper 
• Optional foil elements
• Colors on the card (180+ colors to choose from)
• Text details (font, size, alignment, color,  line height, and case)
• Envelope color

Step 4: Designate Envelope Choices

Choosing from more than 40 different envelope colors, you can then personalize your addressing options (blank envelope, envelope with guest and return address or envelope with just the return address).

Step 5: Indicate Quantity of Cards You're Ordering

Step 6: Choose from a Variety of Paper Styles (some at an additional cost).

Step 7: Checkout and Wait to receive your Personalized Cards.

Start Thinking about the Holidays Early

Hard to believe we're already approaching mid-July and the holiday season is coming up fast -- only 6 months away! To help you get a head start on designing your holiday cards this month through July 31, 2019, Basic Invite is offering a 15% off promotion with the coupon code: 15FF51

Your potential as a designer does not end at just cards, either. With Basic Invite you can also easily design a personalized website for a wedding or a birthday, which also allow you to collect emails, manage RSVPs, and share event information with your guests. The best part is that designs you create will be optimized to maintain their beautiful aesthetic on mobile devices, desktop computers and tablets. 

About Basic Invite

Check out everything Basic Invite has to offer, especially the extra special holiday card designs right now. From options ranging from modern holiday cards to more traditional holiday photo cards there is something here for everyone's tastes. You can also get inspiration from the brand by following them on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter.

Take 15% Off
Basic Invite

Use Coupon Code 15FF51 at Checkout

Now through 7/31/19