Disney marked entire generations since its creation and they have no plans in stopping that wheel. Most of its popularity comes from their movies that are filled with magic and beautiful messages about life. So it is not surprising that Disney aims to remake a 1994 classic in this era of live action adaptations. The Lion King announcement let fans really excited and the trailer released back in November 2018 left everyone wanting more. But don’t worry! In order to fill your anxiety here are 8 interesting facts about The Lion King live action and the original.
The Lions
Casting the right actor is extremely important for a movie. And this remake might bring changes in Hollywood because we live in 2019 and representativity matters. For this movie, Disney chose to cast all the lions with black actors and pop culture icons such as Donald Glover and the stunning Beyoncé Knowles-Carter. And the lion is a good fit for them because it’s a figure of empowerment that they already represent. The other lions will be played by James Earl Jones, Alfree Woodard and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Return of the King
The only actor that will have a chance to relive his role in the original is James Earl Jones. His performance as Mufasa is remarkable, even if brief. That said, is hard to imagine someone else’s voice telling Simba: “Everything the light touches is our kingdom”. Strange enough this will be the third time James Earl Jones plays an African King. His first time as royalty was in the movie Coming to Africa. In which he played with Madge Sinclair as his queen. Coincidence or not Jones and Sinclair reunited in The Lion King playing Simba’s parents, Mufasa and Sarabi.
Original Score
James Earl Jones is not the only one returning to The Lion King. The Oscar winners Hans Zimmer and Sir Elthon John are also back. They’ll be in charge of producing the new score for the film and to adapt the original lyrics. So be prepared to relive the most notorious songs of the 1994 classic with Donald Glover and Beyoncé. And it’s safe to say that we’re looking forward to see their performance of “Can You Feel The Love Tonight?”
Bamblet
The plot was supposed to be the first original story for Disney but it ended up having two great inspirations. The most famous one is Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The play helped in setting an emotional story-line and in adding drama and depth in characters like Simba and Scar. The other one is Bambi. The movie inspired the crew working on The Lion King. That way, they could make Simba surpass obstacles and find a way to discover his place in the world. Because of this, some even started calling it Bamblet.
Slow Death
Right at the beginning we are introduced to one of the saddest deaths in Disney movies. But here’s what you don’t know. It took almost 3 years to end the life of the former king of Pride Rock. Although Scar’s plan was good, visual effects were not. The team needed a new program to animate the two and a half minute wildebeest stampede. The process took a lot of time because they had to make sure that all the animals could run without bumping into each other.
Direction and Technology
The choice was obvious. Because after the success of the Iron Man movies and The Jungle Book, Jon Favreau was Disney’s first and only option. In order to make the Pride Rock Kingdom real and the performances more touching there was a heavy use of technology. The director also used video-game and virtual reality software to animate the film. That way, the crew and cast could visualize their work as they were creating it.
Surprising Success
As a surprise for many, Disney expected a lot from other film at the time. Pocahontas was a sure hit for Disney and they bet on it to be a success. But what they didn’t expect is that The Lion King exploded on theaters. It sold about 55 millions of copies, turning the animated film into the best selling home video of all time. And that was the case until Frozen surpassed it in 2013.
Sales
Disney isn’t the only one betting in The Lion King. Bloomingdale’s has a section inspired in the movie. The items vary between clothes and accessories with bright colours and prints. Above that, the store is offering discounts UP TO 70% OFF! So don’t miss the opportunity to dress up to the movie premiere.
It’s hard to wait another second with all the news. In any case, the movie will premiere on July 19th. We can’t wait to find out if The Lion King live action will live up the emotions like the original one.
