Aug 08 2008
Christian The Lion Goes Viral
Reunion with Christian
It seems like everyone on earth has heard about Chrisitan the Lion by now – and has watched the You Tube video at least twice. Look at those numbers! 10,500,000 views. Dozens of people have uploaded their own versions of the video, with almost 20 million more views. That is going viral in a big way.
If you haven’t heard the story, two young men, Ace and Robert, in the 1960′s discovered a lion cub for sale at Harrod’s in London. They hated to see him caged, and so they bought him, took him home, and named him Christian. Eventually, Christian outgrew the London flat where all three lived, and the men decided to re-patriate him to Africa, with the help of George Adamson (of Born Free fame). Chrisitian quickly adapted to the wild, where he formed a pride of his own. Ace and Robert wanted to visit him one last time and were told that, as Christian was now a totally wild lion, that was impossible. They went anyway. Watch the video to see the result.
A short time ago, Barbara Walters showed this clip on The View. The story, now over 30 years old, became an overnight sensation. It has been written about in newspapers, picked up by local TV newscasts, embedded in countless web sites, and re-run endlessly on You Tube. And, on top of that, it has sparked sales of the full story of Christian, available on DVD, and engendered a wave of donations to the George Adamson African Wildlife Preservation Trust.
According to You Tube, the original video is now:
#1 – Top Rated (All Time) – Global
#1 – Top Rated (All Time) – Pets & Animals – Global
Why Has This Video Gotten 10 Million Hits?
So what accounts for this spectacular result? Why has a 35 year old story caused such a storm?
- The video is short, so any one can make time to watch it.
- The narrative is easy to follow
- The main character (lion) overcomes a challenge (captivity)
- The suppporting characters (Robert & Ace) follow their hearts
- Goodness is rewarded
- Love endures
- The sound track perfectly compliments the subject matter
You can probably add other elements for success to that list – but the formula is simple and as old as the hills: love conquers all.
What Can You Learn From Christian The Lion?
- Tell a story that involves your audience, that has a strong emotional appeal.
- Use music to reinforce the emotional impact.
Christian’s reunion with Ace and Robert reaches its emotional climax just as the song reaches its crescendo. If you play this video with the sound off, you lose at least half of the impact. Is there a better illustration of the dictum that video is 60% audio? You may not be able to license Whitney Houston for your next You Tube video, but you can certainly find something that matches the mood of your production.
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[...] – bookmarked by 3 members originally found by alphalim on 2008-08-23 Christian The Lion Goes Viral http://ghostleg.com/blog/2008/08/christian-the-lion-goes-viral/ – bookmarked by 4 members [...]
I saw this on Oprah the other day!!!!! I started Crying!!!!