The Lion King (2019) – 5 out of 5
The 1994 Disney animated film The Lion King has a special place in my heart; as it does with numerous other individuals. It has endless memorable moments, the animation is incredible, it is funny and the music is some of Disney’s best—I still get goosebumps when I hear Elton John belt out “The Circle of Life.” So, when Disney decided to re-adapt it with photorealistic animals, there was two ways I could have progressed: I could have let toxic nostalgia take over and claim that it can’t be remade and proceed to cry that the supposed originality of the company is gone (which is inherently false since the company was started by adapting someone else’s work and I won’t even bother getting into how the story is adapted from Hamlet and plagiarized from Kimba the White Lion) or I could be excited to see a product that brings me so much joy retold and hold the potential to bring me even more happiness. I chose the latter. I went to see Disney’s new telling of The Lion King and I loved it!
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| Walt Disney Pictures "Oh, Simba. Come sit over here! The breeze will make your fur look majestic!" |
King Mufasa (James Earl Jones) and Queen Sarabi (Alfre Woodard), who rule over the Pride Lands of Africa, give birth to a cub; Simba (JD McCrary). This young lion is destined to rule; much to the displeasure of his uncle; Scar (Chiwetel Ejiofor). Scar devises a plan and plots with a heard of hyenas and kills Mufasa and convinces Simba he was responsible. Simba flees the kingdom and meets up with a meerkat and warthog named Timon (Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa (Seth Rogen). They teach him to forget the past but, as the years go by, Scar’s rule causes the Pride Lands to die. Desperate to stop him, Simba’s childhood friend Nala (Beyoncé) seeks out the adult Simba (Donald Glover) in hopes that he will embrace his destiny, stop his uncle, and become the ruler the Pride Lands need.
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| Walt Disney Pictures "You wanna go, bro?" |
Real Talk: I’m a sucker for that Disney magic and it can so easily overtake me. The very second the film started with that iconic sunrise, I was already tearing up and stoked to see this beloved Disney movie retold in a new format. While nostalgia definitely played a part in my enjoyment of the movie, there is no denying that it is doing exactly what Disney does best. Yes, they are basically remaking something they already done and that can irk some people badly but Disney understands we are storytellers and story audiences by nature and that re-telling and re-experiencing stories doesn’t dilute the power they have because we have been doing this with tales since the dawn of time. Not much has changed in this telling of The Lion King but that never once made it feel like a rehash or like it wasn’t trying because all the advancements in technology and the new cast made it feel like I was experiencing The Lion King for the first time…even though I knew all the words to the songs.
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| Walt Disney Pictures Look at him, just sitting there just can't waitin' to be kingin'. |
The most striking thing about this feature is the special effects. The other re-adaptation of a Disney animated film that director Jon Favreau did was The Jungle Book and I was blown-away by that one and the way they brought to life the animals. I actually find it way more entertaining that the cartoon. That same level of incredible special effects is brought in on this one as well. The photorealistic animals are insane. I know some critiques of the film involve the dreaded uncanny valley of these computer-generated creatures but I found this not to be an issue and was very quickly absorbed into the reality of the film. There were times that, if it wasn’t for the animals literally speaking, I could have believed I was watching a nature documentary because they looked so realistic. While some felt this method also robbed the feature of a lot of the emotion I felt it only assisted because the animators did a great job of creating life within the animals and that includes creating believable emotional reactions.
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| Walt Disney Pictures Zazu is about to educate Simba on the nuances of complex issues through detailed research, insane stunt gags, and adult humor. |
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| Walt Disney Pictures Pumbaa reminds me of myself...because I'm fat and, truth be told, I'm a talking warthog. |
Making quality and believable computer animated characters is one thing but to truly give them the necessary spark they require you need a tremendous actor giving them voice. This film has got an absolutely stellar cast. It’s already cool beans to hear the original Mufasa reprise his role—I don’t necessary get into the nonsense that only one person can ever truly play one role but James Earl Jones is pretty much Mufasa—but you’ve also got amazingly talented singers and performers like Donald Glover and Beyoncé. You have proven funny performers like Billy Eichner, Seth Rogen, Keegan-Michael Key and Eric André delivering in the more comedic roles like Timon and Pumbaa and the hyenas. John Oliver felt tailor-made to be Mufasa’s majordomo Zazu but the performance I was completely hooked by was Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar. Jeremy Irons was great in the cartoon and I appreciate that Ejiofor isn’t trying to replicate what he did but Ejiofor brought a very chilling and villainous aura to Scar. Every word Ejiofor said felt drenched in treachery and malice. He was utterly captivating.
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| Walt Disney Pictures Somebody peed my pants when he was talking. |
For the most part, the film is pretty dead-on close to the animated film that came in the 90s. While the performers are different, the songs are still the same (and hearing Beyoncé and Donald Glover sing “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” is unbelievable) and a lot of the visuals are shot-for-shot recreations. While this could be seen as a sign of laziness I found this to be Jon Favreau honoring but also not messing with a working formula. That isn’t to say that there was nothing new in the tale itself because there are some great moments that play off of expectations and create humor from changing directions before the familiar moment arrives. These moments are a lot of fun and showcase that even though you know the film there are still some amusing new moments to enjoy.
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| Walt Disney Pictures Awww. Nala is wiping her morning eye crusties on Simba's face. |
It’s still at its core, it’s still very much like the cartoon but that doesn’t rob The Lion King of its merit or entertainment value. The use of next-level special effects brought about a new visual component that was just incredible to witness, the new cast is just tremendous, it’s got all the familiar heart and humor, and all those catchy songs were great to hear all over again. I won’t say that it is better or even worse than the original cartoon but rather it is just a new way to experience the story and proved to be a lot of fun.
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