Emma Kidd Kidd 1

English 1201

Prof. Stalbird

February 9, 2020
Can You Feel The Love Tonight

There are two music videos of the song, “Can You Feel The Love Tonight”, from the hit

Disney movie, The Lion King. They are sung by two different artists, Elton John and Pentatonix.

There are differences between the two videos that would make them appeal to separate

audiences. There are similarities though, which still connect both videos to the movie. The

distinctions are mainly artistic, while the similarities are more in the meaning of the song.

Regarding differences between the two videos, the Elton John version would appeal to

both children and adults. In his version, he included clips from The Lion King movie into the

video. Clips from the movie would appeal more to younger children because the movie is

animated, which would keep them more entertained. While children might enjoy his video for the

animated scenes, adults may enjoy it for other reasons. One reason being Elton John is an

older artist, so adults will be more familiar with him and his other music. The second reason is

that Elton John’s version was closer to the song in the movie. He also played the piano in the

video, while Pentatonix used more synthesizers in their version.

The Pentatonix video would appeal to teenagers because it has a more modern tone

with less orchestra instruments. Children would probably not like this video as much because

there are no clips from the movie like there was in Elton John’s version. The setting is a film

studio with only plants as props. There is just a background that makes it look like the

Pentatonix band members are outside in the wild. One other reason why children would not be

entertained as much by this version is because it is hard to identify whether or not the band

members are supposed to represent characters from the movie. The singers from Pentatonix

wear outfits that have animal prints on them, but the outfits do not make them look like any

particular character from the movie.

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Another difference between the two versions is that there is more cultural diversity

among the people in the Pentatonix video. In the Elton John version, there is only Elton John,

who is caucasian, and there are the animated characters, like Zazu, Mufasa, Simba, and Nala.

In the Pentatonix video, the band members are of different ethnicities, including Caucasian,

African-American, and multiethnic. They also have band members of both genders. This may

make the Pentatonix version appeal to a wider audience.

Elton John uses clips from the Lion King movie and that adds more meaning to the video

because it gives examples of the characters showing love for one another. When he sings about

love, clips are shown of two characters from the movie showing their affection for each other.

For example, thirty-two seconds into the video, the lyrics say, “An enchanted moment, and it

sees me through”. After this clip, a video from the movie is shown of Mufasa, Sarabi (the mom

of Simba), and Simba. This scene is right after Simba was born, and Mufasa and Sarabi are

holding him and licking him, showing their love for him, as well as each other. Using these clips

shows more meaning to the video because there is evidence of the characters showing love.

The Elton John version would appeal to logos while the Pentatonix video does not.

Again, the Elton John video uses clips of the movie. The clips are of the characters showing

love for each other or searching for their loved ones. For example, a scene of little Simba

searching for Nala is shown at one minute and nineteen seconds into the video, and then they

find each other and gaze at each other with excited looks on their faces. These video clips show

logos because there is logic that the song is about love and there are scenes of the characters

showing their love for each other.

One similarity between the two versions of the song is that they both appeal to pathos.

They appeal to pathos in different and similar ways. They are similar in the fact that they have

the same lyrics. The lyrics are about loving each other and showing that affection and finding

love. Love is a topic that causes emotion. They are different in the fact that, once again, Elton

John’s version uses clips from the actual movie. The Pentatonix video does not. When watching
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the movie clips, people might get emotional over how cute the scenes are. When they see the

family Mufasa, Sarabi, and Simba all cuddling up together at the beginning of the video they

might feel the emotional connection between the movie, song, and video.

A few of the similarities and differences between the two versions of “Can You Feel The

Love Tonight” have been described above. Some examples include the instruments used in the

music, the diversity of the singers, the backdrops and settings used, the costumes, the overall

theme, and the rhetorical appeals. These features may make one video more appealing than

the other to certain people, which is why artists make different versions of the same song.

Works Cited
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John, Elton. Can You Feel The Love Tonight. Youtube, 4 Nov. 2017,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjgWWjkNbhU Accessed 9 Feb. 2020

Pentatonix. Can You Feel The Love Tonight? YouTube, 23 Aug. 2019,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT1Kzk7akjQ Accessed 9 Feb. 2020