The Lion King has family-friendly written all over it: it’s about cute animals, it’s made by Disney , and it has catchy songs.
Judging by the film’s opening weekend numbers, a lot of people (and a lot of kids) went the theater to watch the film.
But, one dad’s social media plea to other parents to keep the kids at home if they plan on seeing the movie has gone viral for a surprising reason.
“The Lion King” has become one of the biggest movies of the summer.
The highly anticipated live-action remake of the classic Disney film opened with a huge $185-million box office.
That’s no surprise considering people have been hyped about the movie since news of the live-action remake broke a few years ago.
When the first teaser trailer dropped in 2018, many fans of the film shared their childhood memories of watching it for the first time.
For many ’90s kids, this was THE movie they watched as a kid.
I know one of my earliest memories is being terrified of Scar, and I’m definitely not alone there!
It’s clear that this movie holds a special place in many people’s hearts.
People have connected to this movie for different reasons and those moments stayed with them as they grew up.
Some “kids” who grew up with the movie even went to see the new version with their moms.
This is truly what the circle of life is all about. They grow up so fast, don’t they?
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For fans who have seen the remake, they have praised the film for bringing them back to their childhood.
I haven’t seen it yet, but I know as soon as I hear the opening lines of “Hakuna Matata”, I’m going to have to resist the urge to sing along.
So it seems like “The Lion King” is the perfect family film, right?
Well, one Facebook post from a dad in New Zealand has gone viral for an unusual request.
Hikawera Ferris is a dad from Porirua, in the North Island of New Zealand.
His post features words and slang from the Maori language. He asked parents on Facebook to leave their kids at home if they plan on seeing The Lion King after 5 p.m.
His reason? So he and other adults can enjoy the movie in peace!
“To all the parents in porirua please do NOT take your kids to the movies tmrw night to watch lion king, it’s the holidays so take them during the day while us adults are at mahi [work],” said Hikawera Ferris in his Facebook post.
He also said he would have “no dramas” telling any noisy kids in the theater to quiet down.
We need to hear the talents of Beyoncé and Donald Glover bringing Nala and Simba to life!
I mean, I’m kind of on his side.
Watching a movie with little kids is not the greatest experience. They are loud, messy, and have to take a million bathroom breaks.
I know because I’ve attempted to take my son to the movies and will not try again for approximately four years.
Also, if you think about it, “The Lion King” was really always an adult movie.
Scar is legit one of the scariest movie villains of all time. He looks even creepier in the live-action version!
I think even some kids know that the film isn’t really for them.
Just read this hilarious Twitter post. Millennials ARE the target audience!
That being said, though, I think adults have been the ones crying during this movie.
One commenter on Hikawera’s post said people were crying in the theater during THAT death scene and I will probably be one of those people when I finally see this movie. Maybe we should cut the kids some slack?
Hikawera’s tounge-in-cheek post was “said with love” and quickly went viral.
It’s been shared over 1,600 times and Hikawera and has over 5,000 reactions.
Hikawera was even interviewed by his local news station about the post.
When you make the news, that’s how you know your post has gone truly viral.
While there has been a bit of backlash to the post, it seems a lot of people are actually supportive of this idea.
Many of us grew up with the movie, so we just want to re-live our childhoods for a few hours without being reminded that we are currently parents ourselves.
Plus, we should probably spare the kids from Mufasa’s death scene, right?
