Grade: B+

Verdict: It's baaack and bigger than ever.

Details: Starring the voices of Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Whoopi Goldberg. Directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. Rated G. 1 hour, 27 minutes.

See it: Local theaters and showtimes for The Lion King (IMAX)

Rate it: Write your own review

Review: "The Lion King" may be the most lionized Disney creation of all time, and in this media-mad age it's also become the most ubiquitous.

For any parent of kids under 12, the movie has been an incessant part of life's soundtrack for a decade, burning the words "Hakuna Matata" into our brains like some mystical mantra. Then there are the two "Lion King" direct-to-video sequels, the celebrated Broadway musical and the books, stuffed animals, games, pull-toys, puzzles and plethora of other merchandising marvels that Mom and Dad step on every time they try to put the kids to bed.

And just when you thought there was nothing else they could possibly do with or to "The Lion King," here comes "The Lion King" as an IMAX feature. The truly surprising thing is that it works well enough that even a weary parent like myself (whose 9-year-old had recently deemed it "babyish" and was finally beginning to live a "Lion King"-free life) could actually enjoy it again.

For those of you who have been on another planet since 1994, "The Lion King" is "Hamlet" with a happy ending, performed by jungle animals. The cub, Prince Simba, runs away in confusion when his father, King Mufasa, is killed by evil Uncle Scar, who then assumes the throne. Years later, grown-up Simba confronts his angst over Dad, then returns home to dispatch his nasty Uncle and claim his crown.

The new IMAX version actually involves much more than the same movie on a really big screen. The Disney animators and technicians have re-formatted the film frame by frame and created new elements from the original digital information. They also enhanced the colors and corrected scenes and characters that they thought could have been tighter or better drawn. And they re-drew or re-sized many characters in dimensions more befitting the gigantic IMAX proportions. The sound design was also altered to maximize the effects of the booming IMAX audio experience.

The scope and landscape of the film already were ideal for the IMAX format. From the magnificence of the opening sunrise to the sweeping panoramic vastness of the African veldt, the film was "big" to begin with — it was the TV screen that made it small.

And bigger turns out to be better. When the elephants stampede, they seem to rumble right into the theater with a thundering cacophony that made the 9-year-old duck in his seat. And when the malevolent Scar addresses the troops of hideous, goose-stepping hyenas in the musical production of "Be Prepared," it has all the grotesque grandeur of a Nuremberg rally.

The colors also are much more vibrant. Rafiki, the baboon, seems to have popped right out of a Rousseau painting. And the cavorting crocodiles and pink flamingos of the "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" number are brighter and bolder, in a jazzier treatment now reminiscent of the "Pink Elephants on Parade" segment in "Dumbo."

The successfully touring theater production of "The Lion King" may have influenced the Disney technicians; the musical numbers now seem to have the sumptuousness of a supremely choreographed Broadway show. You may even feel compelled to applaud for the inevitable but unquestionably show-stopping "Hakuna Matata."

But then again, some of the drama may simply come from the surprise of seeing something so familiar with such magnified size and sound.

The sense of motion that literally makes some people sick in many IMAX films is less dramatic, but can be experienced in a few scenes, such as when the herd of animals is on the move. And in a scene where Simba goes down to the river seeking his dead father, we move with him and through the thick jungle growth with a realistic sense of depth.

So, the bad news for parents may be that your "Lion King" days are not over. But, the good news is that the new IMAX version makes it really worth seeing again — at least one more time.

— Melinda Ennis, special to Cox News Service