I agree with you blueswede. I enjoy the positive showing of the father in the movie too. That is why I like the lion king so much. A father will take care of his son and even die for him. And the young boy finally realize that someday he is following his father's foodstep too.
I still love bambi, until today I can never hunt any animal. Credit that to bambi. It still have an enormous impact on me.
I agree that most Japanese animated movie are targetting the whole audiences, not just kids. That is why their storylines and meaning usually have to be deeper, more complex. Actually, the more recent American cartoons seems to target more and more adult audiences as well as children. I like the direction of what they are going.