Not My Lion King?

The early buzz from the world premiere of The Lion King maybe strong, but since this clip was released from the remake of Disney’s animated classic, I for one am not happy with what I’m seeing.

The oG Animated Classic

The Lion Kingis a 1994 American animated musical film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 32nd Disney animated feature film, and the fifth animated film produced during a period known as the Disney Renaissance. The Lion King was directed by Roger Allersand Rob Minkoff, produced by Don Hahn, and has a screenplay credited to Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. Its original songs were written by composer Elton John and lyricist Tim Rice, with a score by Hans Zimmer. The film features an ensemble voice cast that includes Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Moira Kelly, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Rowan Atkinson, Robert Guillaume, Madge Sinclair, Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, and Jim Cummings. The story takes place in a kingdom of lions in Africa and was influenced by William Shakespeare's Hamlet.

The Lion King was released on June 24, 1994, to a positive reaction from critics, who praised the film for its music, story, and animation. However, the film also drew several controversies, particularly for its similarities to Osamu Tezuka's 1960s anime series Kimba the White Lion. With an initial worldwide gross of $766 million, it finished its theatrical run as the highest-grossing release of 1994 and the second-highest-grossing film of all time. It is also the highest-grossing traditionally animated film of all time, as well as the best-selling film on home video, having sold over 30 million VHStapes. The film has led to many derived works, such as a Broadway adaptation; two direct-to-video follow-ups—the sequel, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride(1998), and the prequel/parallel, The Lion King 1½(2004); two television series, Timon and Pumbaaand The Lion Guard; and a 3D re-release, in 2011 (which I did go see and was very unpleased with the 3D).

The remake

Plans for a remake of The Lion King were confirmed in September 2016 following the success of the studio's The Jungle Book, also directed by Favreau. Much of the main cast signed in early 2017 and principal production began in mid-2017 on a blue screen stage in Los Angeles.

On September 28, 2016, Walt Disney Pictures confirmed that Jon Favreau would be directing a remake of the 1994 animated film The Lion King, which would feature the songs from the 1994 film, following a string of recent box office successes on the other Disney live-action remake films such as Maleficent, Cinderella, Favreau's The Jungle Book and Beauty and the Beast, with the latter three also earning critical praise. On October 13, 2016, it was reported that Disney had hired Jeff Nathanson to write the screenplay for the remake,with the story written by Brenda Chapman, who was the original film's head of story.

In November, talking with ComingSoon.net, Favreau said the virtual cinematography technology he used in The Jungle Book would be used to a greater degree in The Lion King. Although the media reported The Lion King to be a live-action film, it actually utilizes photorealistic computer-generated animation. Disney also did not describe it as live-action, only stating it would follow the "technologically groundbreaking" approach of The Jungle Book. While the film acts as a remake of the 1994 animated film, Favreau was inspired by the Broadway adaptation of the film for certains aspects of the remake's plot, particularly Nala and Sarabi's roles. Favreau also aimed to develop his own take on the original film's story with what he said was "the spectacle of a BBC wildlife documentary".

My reaction to the clip

During Donald Glover‘s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live earlier this week, they showed a quick clip of him singing as adult Simba along with his pals Timon (Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa (Seth Rogen) was shown. and showed a clip from the lion king and honestly, I am worried. The problem with making a photo realistic film is that you lose the energy of the animated characters. The cartoon was so vibrant compared to this National Geographic documentary we are about to see. You can’t make them do anything that looks remotely cartoonish and thus you lose what makes the animated movie so much more vibrant. At the same time, the effects used to bring these animals to life are amazing.

I’m still going to go see it but I can tell already what’s going to turn me off but hey, I already got my tickets. I just got to get used to the new voices to old songs and the CGI animals acting like real animals.


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