Directions: After you've watched the movie, use these story plots to help you remember the sequence events and characters.
The Lion King
List of Characters
The Lion King
List of Characters
A large number of animals gather around Pride Rock in Africa witnessing the arrival of Mufasa and Sarabi's newborn cub Simba. The king's brother Scar is displeased with the birth of Simba, the future king. As a young cub, Mufasa teaches Simba about being king. While touring Pride Rock, Simba asks about a shadowy place, and Mufasa tells him it is forbidden. The lesson is stopped when Zazu, the king's major domo hornbill adviser, informs him that hyenas have entered the Pride Lands. Mufasa tells Zazu to take Simba home while he gets rid of the hyenas. Later that day, Scar tells Simba that the shadowy place is in fact an elephant graveyard. Simba's curiosity is piqued, and he convinces his best friend Nala, a female lion cub, to come with him. Sarabi sends Zazu to keep an eye on the two cubs, but they soon leave him behind. They finally reach the elephant graveyard, where they come upon three spotted hyenas, Shenzi, Banzai and Ed. The hyenas chase after the cubs, but Mufasa rescues them. Mufasa sends Nala and Zazu back to Pride Rock, and admonishes Simba before teaching him about the stars. Simba learns that these stars represent the great kings of the past who will always be there to guide him.
Meanwhile, Scar plots with the hyenas to take over Pride Rock. On Scar's orders, the hyenas stampede a large pack of wildebeest into a gorge and Simba runs away. Mufasa learns of Simba's predicament, rescuing the cub. However, as Mufasa attempts to flee by climbing the gorge's walls, Scar throws him back down the gorge to his death. Scar tricks Simba into thinking that Mufasa's death resulted from the cub's carelessness. Ashamed, Simba flees the Pride Lands, intending to never return. In Simba's absence, Scar steps forward announcing Mufasa and Simba's death, and becomes the new king.
Simba collapses in the wasteland after his escape, but is found by Timon and Pumbaa, a meerkat and warthog. The duo nurse him back to health and take him in, teaching him their motto, "Hakuna Matata" (interpreted as "No Worries"). He then grows up with them.
During Scar's reign, the Pride Lands collapse. Rafiki, the baboon who baptized Simba, finds out that Simba is alive in the jungle. One day, Simba rescues Timon and Pumbaa from a hungry lioness and discovers that she is Nala. Simba learns from Nala that Scar's irresponsibility as the Great King of Pride Rock is leading to the suffering of its inhabitants. Still feeling guilt over Mufasa's defeat, Simba refuses to return. The wise Rafiki tracks Simba down and summons Mufasa's ghost for Simba. His ghost informs Simba that he must return to Pride Rock and become king; Simba refuses, but Mufasa's ghost tells him to remember that he is his son and the one true king.
Simba returns to Pride Rock with Nala, Timon, and Pumbaa, who all agree to help him fight. While Timon and Pumbaa distract the hyena guardians, Simba confronts Scar on Pride Rock. Scar forces Simba towards the edge of Pride Rock to kill him, informing him that he killed King Mufasa. Enraged at this realization, Simba leaps back up and pins Scar, forcing his uncle to reveal the truth to the other lionesses. A fight ensues with the lionesses, Timon, and Pumbaa against the hyenas while Simba confronts Scar alone at the top of Pride Rock. Scar begs Simba for mercy, accusing the hyenas of planning everything. Despite Simba sparing Scar, the lions attack again, and Simba eventually throws Scar off a cliff. Scar survives the fall, but is attacked and killed by the hyenas, who overheard his attempt to betray them.
When Scar and the hyenas are gone with the flames, Simba is greeted by Nala, the pride, Timon, Pumbaa, Zazu, and Rafiki. Simba walks up Pride Rock and remembered Mufasa's ghost appears in the clouds, then Simba hear the magnificent roar in which all the lionesses join. Sometime later, Pride Rock is restored to its former glory and Simba looks down happily at his kingdom with Nala, Timon, and Pumbaa by his side; Rafiki presents Simba and Nala's newborn cub to the inhabitants of the Pride Lands.
When the Huns, led by the ruthless Shan Yu (Miguel Ferrer), invade China, each family is given a conscription notice. Mulan's father, Fa Zhou has to serve in the army, but due to his age and previous war injuries, is doubtful that he would survive. Fa Mulan secretly disguises herself as a man, then takes her father's conscription notice, armor, and weapons so that he will not have to go. She rides away on her horse,Khan, to join the army, knowing that if she were caught she would be killed.
Mushu (Eddie Murphy), a small Chinese dragon, has been awakened by the family's First Ancestor (George Takei). Mushu had been demoted to gong ringer after a mishap with one of the ancestors when the other ancestors were awakened. After various choices of which guardian to send after Mulan, he is asked to awaken the "Great Stone Dragon". Mushu accidentally destroys the Dragon but realizes that this could be an opportunity to earn his place among the guardians again if he can make Mulan a war hero.
Mulan trains with a group led by Captain Li Shang (B.D. Wong), including fellow soldiers Ling (Gedde Watanabe), Yao (Harvey Fierstein), and Chien Po (Jerry Tondo). The troops complete their training, but Chi Fu (James Hong), the Emperor's meddling and misogynistic advisor, refuses to let them see battle, accusing the troops of being ill prepared. Mushu forges a letter from the General, ordering Shang to take his men to battle. The troops set out to meet General Li (James Shigeta), who has already left on a mission. However, Shang and his troops tragically discover that his father, the general and his men were killed in battle.
Shang and his troops continue, disheartened by their loss, when they are ambushed by Hun archers. After an initial attack, the Huns are believed to be defeated, but the troops soon discover otherwise. As they are setting up the last cannon to fire at the Huns, Mulan spots a precarious mound of snow on the upper mountainside. As the Huns charge down the mountain Mulan snatches the cannon and fires the rocket at the snow mound. The collision of the rocket and the snow mound causes an avalanche which spreads over the charging Huns, burying them. Shang's soldiers take refuge while Mulan rescues Shang from being swept away by the snow. The Chinese soldiers initially cheer for their victory, but quickly become somber after Mulan discovers that she is bleeding; she had been wounded by a swipe of Shan Yu's sword before the avalanche burys Shan Yu and his army. Shang quickly summons a doctor just as Mulan faints.
During treatment, Mulan's true identity is discovered. Shang is notified and is expected to execute Mulan, but spares her life and considers his pardon an exchange for Mulan saving his own life. Instead, Shang expels her from the army. Mulan decides to return home but hears the Huns emerging from the snow that had blanketed them during the earlier battle. She tries to warn Shang's troops as they are heralded by citizens in a parade for their war efforts, but they do not listen. As the Emperor (Pat Morita) addresses the crowd, the Huns, disguised as parade characters, kidnap him.
Shang and his troops try to follow the Huns into the palace but are unsuccessful. Mulan devises a ploy with the other soldiers to dress as concubines, scale a palace wall and infiltrate the palace. When the Huns lower their defenses in the presence of the "women", Mulan and her friends swiftly dispatch them all. During this attack the Emperor is safely removed from the palace by Chien Po, but Shang and Mulan are both trapped on the balcony with Shan Yu. Shan Yu is about kill Shang when Mulan gets his attention. He recognizes her from the mountain battle and gives chase. Mulan lures him onto the palace rooftop where they face each other in personal combat, until Mushu, as arranged by Mulan, propels a huge firecracker that hits Shan Yu and carries him off to his death. The fate of the remaining five Hun warriors is never fully disclosed.
The Emperor meets Mulan and, in an accusatory tone, lists Mulan's crimes, but he pardons her. The Emperor then bows to Mulan, which is considered an extremely high honor as it implies being of a higher status than the Emperor, while the hundreds of observers kow-tow (an Eastern bowing position with one's face and palms to the floor). The Emperor then offers Mulan a position in his staff, but Mulan politely declines the offer and confesses that she wants to return home. He gives her Shan Yu's sword, along with hiscrest, for her to bring home and give honor to her family.
Upon her return, Mulan expects to be reprimanded but is instead embraced by her family. Shang arrives to talk with Mulan, having been encouraged to propose by the Emperor. The ancestors reluctantly agree to make Mushu a guardian once more.
Star Wars
The galaxy is in a civil war, and spies for the Rebel Alliance have stolen plans to the Galactic Empire's Death Star, a heavily armed and armored space station capable of destroying an entire planet. Rebel leader Princess Leia is in possession of the plans, but her ship is captured by Imperial forces under the command of the evil lord Darth Vader. Before she is captured, Leia hides the plans in the memory of an astromech droid called R2-D2, along with a holographic recording. The droid, accompanied by fellow protocol droid C-3PO, escape from the captured ship to the desert planet Tatooine.
The droids are captured by Jawa traders, who sell the pair to moisture farmers Owen and Beru Lars and their nephew, Luke Skywalker. While cleaning R2-D2, Luke accidentally triggers part of Leia's message, in which she requests help from Obi-Wan Kenobi. After wondering if she is referring to Ben Kenobi, a hermit living nearby, Luke retires for the evening. The next morning, Luke finds R2-D2 searching for Obi-Wan, and meets Ben, who reveals himself to be Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan tells Luke of his days as aJedi Knight, who were a faction of former galactic peacekeepers with supernatural powers derived from an energy field called the Force, and who were conquered by the Empire. Contrary to his uncle's assertions, Luke learns that his father fought alongside Obi-Wan as a Jedi Knight before he was betrayed and killed by Vader, Obi-Wan's former pupil who turned to the dark side of the Force. Obi-Wan then offers Luke his father's lightsaber.
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| Click here for a list of Star Wars Ep. IV: A New Hope characters. |
Obi-Wan views Leia's complete message in which she begs him to take the Death Star plans to her home planet of Alderaan and give them to her father for analysis. Obi-Wan invites Luke to accompany him to Alderaan and become a student of the Force. Luke initially declines, but changes his mind after discovering that Imperial stormtrooperssearching for C-3PO and R2-D2 have destroyed his home and killed his aunt and uncle. Obi-Wan and Luke visit the Mos Eisley Cantina, a bar, and hire smuggler Han Soloand his Wookiee first mate Chewbacca to transport them on their ship, the Millennium Falcon.
Upon the Falcon 's arrival at the location, they find out that Alderaan has been destroyed by order of the Death Star's commanding officer, Grand Moff Tarkin, as a demonstration of the Death Star's power. The Falcon is captured by the Death Star's tractor beam and brought into its hangar bay. While Obi-Wan goes to disable the tractor beam, Luke discovers that Leia is imprisoned aboard and, with the help of Han and Chewbacca, rescues her. After several harrowing escapes, the group makes its way back to the Falcon. Obi-Wan engages in a lightsaber duel with Darth Vader and is killed. The Falcon escapes the Death Star, but carries a homing device that enables Tarkin and Vader to track it to the rebels' hidden base on Yavin 4.
The rebels' analysis of the Death Star plans reveals a vulnerable exhaust port that connects to the station's main reactor; they plan a mission to attack it. Luke joins the rebel assault squadron while Han collects his payment for the transport and intends to leave despite Luke's request that he stay and help. In the ensuing battle, the rebels suffer heavy losses after several unsuccessful attack runs, leaving Luke one of the few surviving pilots. Vader leads a squad of TIE fighters and prepares to attack Luke's X-wingship, but Han returns and fires on the Imperials, sending Vader spiraling away. Helped by spiritual advice from Obi-Wan instructing him to use the Force, Luke successfully destroys the Death Star, killing Tarkin seconds before he can fire on the rebel base. Leia later awards Luke and Han medals for their heroism.
The Wizard of Oz
The film starts in sepia-tinted Kansas in the early 1900s. Dorothy Gale lives with her dog Toto on the farm of her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. Dorothy and Toto get in trouble with a cruel neighbor, Miss Almira Gulch, when Toto bites her. However, Dorothy's family and the farmhands are all too busy to pay attention to her. Miss Gulch arrives with permission from the sheriff to have Toto euthanized. He is taken away, but escapes and returns to Dorothy; she then decides to run away from home with Toto to escape Miss Gulch. They meet Professor Marvel, a phony fortune teller, who realizes Dorothy has run away and tricks her via his crystal ball into believing that her aunt is ill so that she may return home. She races home as a powerful tornado develops. Unable to get into the storm cellar, she seeks safety in her bedroom. A wind-blown window sash hits her head and she falls unconscious on her bed. She wakes to find the house spinning in the air, held aloft by the twister. In the storm outside the window she sees an elderly lady in a chair, several farm animals, two men rowing a boat, as well as Miss Gulch pedaling her bicycle, who transforms into a cackling witch flying on a broomstick.
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| Click here for a list of Oz characters. |
On her way to the Emerald City, Dorothy meets and befriends the Scarecrow who wants a brain, the Tin Woodman who desires a heart, and the Cowardly Lion who is in need of courage. Dorothy invites each of them to accompany her. After encountering the Witch, who attempts to deter them from their destination, they finally reach the Emerald City. Inside, after being initially rejected, they are permitted to see the Wizard (appearing to them in the form of a large head surrounded by fire) who agrees to grant their wishes when they bring him the Witch of the West's broom.
On their quest to the Witch's castle, the group pass through the Haunted Forest while the Witch views their progress through a crystal ball. She then sends her flying monkeys to ambush the four and capture Dorothy and Toto. At the castle, the Witch fails to get the slippers off of Dorothy due to a magical barrier, remembering that Dorothy must first be killed. Toto escapes and leads her friends to the castle. After defeating three Winkie Guards and stealing their uniforms, they march inside and free her, but the Witch and her guards trap them. The Scarecrow drops a chandelier onto the Winkies, the group is chased across the battlements, before being trapped on both sides. The Witch sets fire to the Scarecrow and Dorothy splashes a bucket of water onto the flames; the Witch, also hit by it, melts. The guards rejoice that she is dead and give Dorothy the charred broom in gratitude.
Back at the Emerald City, the Wizard refuses to grant their wishes. Toto exposes the "Wizard" as a normal middle-aged man who has been operating and controlling the wizard; he admits to being a humbug and a bad wizard. Nonetheless, he grants their wishes by giving the Scarecrow a diploma, the Lion a medal, and the Tin Man a heart-shaped watch, enough to convince them that what they sought had been achieved. He then prepares to get Dorothy home in his hot air balloon but Toto chases a cat, Dorothy follows, and it leaves without her. Glinda arrives and tells her that she can still return home by tapping her heels together three times and repeating, "There's no place like home".[7] After bidding a tearful goodbye to her friends, Dorothy returns home, coming to consciousness on her bed surrounded by her family, the farmhands, Professor Marvel, and Toto.
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