Hi guys. My good friend Tigerfan45 requested that I make a blog based on movies that take place in Africa. I only know two that I can put on here, but its an idea that I'm up for. Besides, I do like Africa for some of the exotic wilderness and culture. Infact, a good friend of one of my aunts and uncles is a priest who helps people in Africa who are struggling. There's not much else for me to introduce, so let's get on with the program.
Africa Movie #1: The Lion King[]

Its the Circle of Life
I'll best most of you knew I was going to put this on here wouldn't you? Was it because this is a Disney Wiki, or because its one of my favorite Disney films. If you guessed both, you are correct-amundo. You all know the strengths about this movie already, so I will try my best not to say too much that I haven't said before. When it comes to animated movies about wilderness, I love how someplace far off and exotic takes advantage of as much detail as possible. This movie does so with the wildlife, which is pretty much all I wanted from this film. When I was a kid, I wasn't strong on a lot of hunter characters (just ask Bambi). For some reason, I just thought it would have ruined the whole movie. But anyway, we see all kinds of animals that one would find in the savannahs of Africa such as giraffes, hippos, elephants, wildebeest, antelopes, and of course lions, hence the title. After all, how could this movie be called The LION King without lions? Although there are no humans seen in this movie, viewers can hear African chants in some of the score, such as when Rafiki is doing his spiritual stuff, or when Simba is running in slow motion across the desert, and even in the beginning of the end credits. In addition to that, I think some of the songs have some African culture meanings hidden in them, particularly Circle of Life. I think the idea of that song was to teach us that life is never truly over even if someone does pass away. There are just new beginnings every time. At least that's how I interpreted it. Also, when the Diamond Edition of this movie was coming out, I saw a video on the Disney website that revealed that the animators learned it meant "No worries" in their language. But I have to admit, I've wondered what time period this movie took place in, since there were nothing involving humans at all. Could it have took place in the Middle Ages to match the fact that this movie is about lion royalty? Possibly? Oh well. All the stuff I mentioned before just makes The Lion King even better. I've talked about it plenty of times before, you all know about it and its marvelous strengths.
Africa Movie 2: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa[]

The Zoosters are back and this time they are in Africa.
Sometimes I want a grand masterpiece, but other times I'm more interested in comedy. That's pretty much how I compliment this movie. I like the first Madagascar too, and this one just continues the comedy. This time it did involve humans, driving on a tour jeep and a wildlife reserve like what we know about today that protects animals from poachers. And like Dreamworks sequels, it involved Alex the lion reuniting with his long-lost parents. I love how Dreamworks sequels explore a past event that was not revealed in the first film. Well, I admit I don't like t as much I did when it initially came out, but I still like it in general. One controversal issue was about the villain Makunga being a carbon copy of Scar from The Lion King, and yeah I have to admit he kind of his. I mean I think he's okay as a stand alone villain and Alec Baldwin does a good job voicing him, but still; the portion of an alpha lion being the loved ruler and a jealous rival-yeah. It did kind of rip off The Lion King. But there are plenty of other strengths that this movie has that I think makes up for it. I was worried that the characters would be forced to split up and be among their own kinds and be at war with each other-but no! It was about learning their wild sides and discovering both upsides and downsides. For instance, Alex learns through a lion tradition that lions are supposed to fight instead of dance which results in Alex's dad shunning him, or the fact that Marty wasn't as unique as he thought he was when he was with a bunch of zebras (they all seemed like Marty's clones, which I thought got a laugh), or that giraffes who have a spot on their neck means death for them (seriously, they're spotted animals-how can that mean death for them?), and Gloria's new hippo boyfriend which threatens Melman's crush on her. There's also the penguins doing more "spy stuff" and King Julien trying to claim himself king of Africa. Oh yes, and there's the fight with Alex and that old lady who beat him up in the subway in the first film. That fight they had near the beginning of the movie was very silly, with a lot of slapstick and Alex's funny facial reactions. So on the whole, would I call this a grand masterpiece. Probably not. But its still a good movie to check out. It shows us more about the Zoosters from the first Madagascar, and it shows where their kind came from, and there are laughs once in a while.
And those were the movies involving Africa that I enjoy. I hope you liked this blog and that these movies taught you some things about Africa.