I wasn’t very much into the Disney princess phenomenon. When most new animated movies came out, I wasn’t interested. I was much more interested in toys that came alive when I was out of the house or in an Arabian thief who had three wishes.

So needless to say, there was one movie that was released in my prime childhood years that I was completely obsessed with. That movie has been re-released in 3D and is back in theaters, and I couldn’t be happier.

“The Lion King” has been showing at most major theaters for a couple weeks now, and I have to be honest: I went to see it the very first weekend I could. Yes, I am 23. Yes, I still turn away when Mufasa falls to his death, but “The Lion King” is a classic, and re-mastering it for the big screen made it one of the best “new” movies this fall.

Be aware that the original animation seems primitive now that viewers have seen masterpieces like “Up” and “Toy Story 3,” but “The Lion King” is more than just animation.

For example, I give you the learning curve of “The Lion King.” Instead of watching gory videos in biology concerning the food chain, I doodled on a notebook. Why? Because I knew about the “Circle of Life” already. I get it — the lions eat the gazelle and the hyenas are scavengers. Disney taught me that.

When I was in high school, and I was reading “Hamlet,” why did I understand the feud between Hamlet’s uncle and father, and his need to come back and reclaim the throne? Yeah, it was Simba who made that entire scenario a little easier to understand. OK, that was a stretch, but it did help a little.

I am not going to say that “The Lion King” made me a reporter or changed my life, but I will say that it was the first in a long line of extremely popular animated animal movies. This is the last weekend it is in theaters. The chance to see it on the big screen, once again, in all its glory, should not be missed.

Contact Corianne Egan, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8652.