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Movie clips for The Lion King can be found at YouTube. You might want to show one of these clips in class before starting your discussion.
The following videos pay homage to the hyenas.
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Following are a few quotes about racism in The Lion King; quotes to which students could react either in a class discussion or in a paper. We have hot linked the name of the author to the Internet site that has the entire article.
At the time of The Lion King's release, some were quick to point out its racist overtones, namely that the evil hyena triumvirate is voiced by Hispanic and Black actors. But that's a miscalculation of sorts, especially when you consider that minority voices are also responsible for some of the film's kinder characters. In the end, the film's racism is mostly subconscious and stems from the animators' elementary attempts to color-code evil for the film's target audience (what other explanation is there for Scar's black mane?). The Lion King is loaded with hoary biblical references (rays of light, burning bushes) and Shakespearean shout-outs, but that's all they are.
But around the same time Disney films were being scrutinized to minute degrees by the PC stormtroopers - the Arab complaints over racism in Aladdin (1992) and certainly the historical liberalities taken in Pocahontas (1995) were maybe justified, but the ones aimed at The Lion King just seem to be lazy nitpicking at an easy target.
Some readers will object to this analysis, arguing that The Lion King is a children's movie after all and shouldn't be interpreted as speaking to adult issues. But what is a children's movie, if not one that transmits the dominant values of the culture to young children in an entertaining manner, while at the same time confirming those values for adults. This movie addresses an important social issue that affects children, in their schools, churches, parks and neighborhoods. Unfortunately, it suggests that excluding people because their appearance or their heritage or their habits differ from those of the people in power is an acceptable social and political policy, one supported by tradition, history, and religion. The Lion King sugar-coats a bitter and powerful message about patriarchy, legitimacy and hierarchy.
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