Did you see an animated movie called The Lion King (1994)? Then, you already have seen the new The Lion King 2.0 directed by Jon Favreau! Same characters, same story, it is a shot for shot recreation. The only difference it was rendered in CG and has stunt casting with mostly new voices. Favreau of course has previously directed The Jungle Book (2016) which did a great job in making the story from the 1967 animated film fresh, brought in interesting voices, and did a fine job of world building. I wish he devoted his energy in making a sequel for that movie. The script is by Jeff Nathanson who wrote Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017), it is more a transcription of the first Lion King.
The credit should all go to the animation writers; story by Brenda Chapman, with characters by Irene Mecchi (she is co-created with the book of the musical), Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. It was co-directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. The recent Aladdin goes its own way with the characters, the musical had fun with the story, and the original of course is perfect. The best version of The Lion King story was in the musical. The animated story was intact, but the vision was vibrant; songs from the Lion King inspired album, Return to Pride Rock (1995), the characters brought to life with costumes, all manner of movement and puppetry, innovative dancing and set design. Favreau has decided to ignore anything from the musical, which celebrated the spirit of Africa, and instead just hit the duplicate button on the computer for the film.
The credit should all go to the animation writers; story by Brenda Chapman, with characters by Irene Mecchi (she is co-created with the book of the musical), Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. It was co-directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. The recent Aladdin goes its own way with the characters, the musical had fun with the story, and the original of course is perfect. The best version of The Lion King story was in the musical. The animated story was intact, but the vision was vibrant; songs from the Lion King inspired album, Return to Pride Rock (1995), the characters brought to life with costumes, all manner of movement and puppetry, innovative dancing and set design. Favreau has decided to ignore anything from the musical, which celebrated the spirit of Africa, and instead just hit the duplicate button on the computer for the film.
The movie opens with a song called “Circle of Life”, it has animals heading past Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. This is all identical to the animated film with a Pride Rock that has the animated design. Rafiki, the baboon, climbs up to daub the lion cub, whom we of course know as Simba, and spoiler alert!, he sneezes. So to replicate the emotion of the original, the CG animators just used the same poses of Simba, in the arms of his mother, Sarabi. So, I wouldn’t go so far as saying the film is “soulless”, since it is just copying the original. In terms of “realism”, this movie was entirely animated, they didn’t film real animals and CG animated their mouths. This is computer generated animals with CG animation.
There are scenes where the animals scratch themselves, but that is about the extent of real animal behavior. We pick up with Scar voiced by Chiwetel Ejiofor. A brilliant actor who has starred in dramas like 12 Years a Slave (2013) and also popular movies like the upcoming Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. He tries his best to add some depth to the character, we get hints that he tried to contest his brother, Mufasa, and may have recieved his facial scar from it. Then, what was his name before, Yufasa? The scene where he toys with a mouse is extended a minute with it crawling around Pride Rock. Then, we see the king’s messanger and assistant, the hornbill Zazu voiced by John Oliver. This where the movie goes off script, we get good improv lines from the comedians that seem to bring a little fun to the film.
There are scenes where the animals scratch themselves, but that is about the extent of real animal behavior. We pick up with Scar voiced by Chiwetel Ejiofor. A brilliant actor who has starred in dramas like 12 Years a Slave (2013) and also popular movies like the upcoming Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. He tries his best to add some depth to the character, we get hints that he tried to contest his brother, Mufasa, and may have recieved his facial scar from it. Then, what was his name before, Yufasa? The scene where he toys with a mouse is extended a minute with it crawling around Pride Rock. Then, we see the king’s messanger and assistant, the hornbill Zazu voiced by John Oliver. This where the movie goes off script, we get good improv lines from the comedians that seem to bring a little fun to the film.
Rafiki, voiced by John Kani, returns to his tree home. Kani is known for palying T’Chaka in Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Black Panther (2018). He sees fireflies clustered around the tree and Rafiki puts a worm beneath them. Then, he drops red dirt on them, to reveal the shape of the lion he names Simba. Morning, the young cub, Simba (JD McCrary), is of course restless to go on patrol with his father, Mufasa (James Earl Jones). McCrary is the young star of the Disney Channel series K.C. Undercover. He does a fair job of voicing Simba, but of course I would have preferred any of the current musical actors.
It is of course it is great that James Earl Jones, one of the most distinctive baritones, returning to his iconic voice role. He also returned to voice Mufasa in The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar (2015) and of course Darth Vader in Star Wars: Rebels. He is being honored as a Disney Legend at the D23 Expo this year. Still, there is no new aspect to Mufasa’s character in this movie. Mufasa takes Simba to a rocky outcrop to show him the extent of the kingdom, the Pride Lands, the duty to protect it, and to avoid the dangerous Shadowland. Scar plants the tempting hint of the Elephant Graveyard in the Shadowland to his nephew. Simba is sent to the lionesses where his friend, young Nala (Shahadi Wright Joseph) is given a bath by her mother. Joseph is also incredible in Us and her singing is on point, previously she was in the tv movie Hairspary Live! (2016).
It is of course it is great that James Earl Jones, one of the most distinctive baritones, returning to his iconic voice role. He also returned to voice Mufasa in The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar (2015) and of course Darth Vader in Star Wars: Rebels. He is being honored as a Disney Legend at the D23 Expo this year. Still, there is no new aspect to Mufasa’s character in this movie. Mufasa takes Simba to a rocky outcrop to show him the extent of the kingdom, the Pride Lands, the duty to protect it, and to avoid the dangerous Shadowland. Scar plants the tempting hint of the Elephant Graveyard in the Shadowland to his nephew. Simba is sent to the lionesses where his friend, young Nala (Shahadi Wright Joseph) is given a bath by her mother. Joseph is also incredible in Us and her singing is on point, previously she was in the tv movie Hairspary Live! (2016).
Simba says they are going to the Watering Hole and his mother sends along Zazu to watch over them. This leads to “I Just Can’t Wait to be King”, there was a preview of it at the AMPYs, Disney’s music award show, and McCrary’s vocals were not strong, but of course they work in the context of the film. The strange part that I noticed was that the song lyric, “Everybody look left/ everyone look right.” In the animated movie, it was a way to get the animals at the watering hole to distract Zazu, but that part of the song just passes by so some of the fun is lost. Simba is headed to the Elephant’s Graveyard to prove himself as a lion, of course Nala shows him that she is stronger pinning him down. Then, they see the Elephant’s Graveyard which is a flat landscape with some hot springs pits.
The “realism” dampens the dramatic reveal of the Elephant’s Graveyard to what I noticed, there was no elephants, no giant tusks or skeletons. A disappointing world building unlike what was in Jungle Book. There are of course hyenas with the more African sounding named duo of Kamari (Keegan-Michael Key) and Azizi (Eric André) instead of Banzai and Ed. Key was reunited with his comedy partner, Jordan Peele, in Toy Story 4, and is in the upcoming Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance series. André provides voices for Disenhantment and wrote and hosted The Eric André Show. They are given the improv so have some funny lines. I wanted more of Kamari and Azizi, they should have their own show. The vicious leader, Shenzi (Florence Kasumba) sends them after Simba. She also appeared in Black Panther with John Kani. We find out that Shenzi has fought Mufasa before.
The “realism” dampens the dramatic reveal of the Elephant’s Graveyard to what I noticed, there was no elephants, no giant tusks or skeletons. A disappointing world building unlike what was in Jungle Book. There are of course hyenas with the more African sounding named duo of Kamari (Keegan-Michael Key) and Azizi (Eric André) instead of Banzai and Ed. Key was reunited with his comedy partner, Jordan Peele, in Toy Story 4, and is in the upcoming Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance series. André provides voices for Disenhantment and wrote and hosted The Eric André Show. They are given the improv so have some funny lines. I wanted more of Kamari and Azizi, they should have their own show. The vicious leader, Shenzi (Florence Kasumba) sends them after Simba. She also appeared in Black Panther with John Kani. We find out that Shenzi has fought Mufasa before.
The hyenas biting and snarling at the cubs might be disturbing to young audience members. Simba and Nala of course manage to escape and Simba has a heart to heart talk with Mufasa. The hyenas are met by Scar who mentions their constant hunger has stripped the land clean. Scar starts a version of “Be Prepared”, it is short and more of spoken remarks, “Hey, be prepared, ok?” There isn’t volcanic rising of the rocks, the silliness of the hyenas, dramatic lighting or bursts of steam. The next morning, we have the gorge with Scar leaving Simba to practice his roar. Then, there is the stampede of the Wildebeests. Zazu informs Mufasa and they race to help Simba.
The conclusion of this scene was very disturbing to little viewers in the animated film and an infant cried in this showing. Simba is told by Scar to run and then sends the hyenas after him. Simba topples over a cliff so Azizi and Kamari don’t try to follow him down. Next, we get Simba wandering across sand dunes. He collapses and then we get the arrival of the duo of warthog and meerkat, Pumbaa (Seth Rogan) and Timon (Billy Eichner). Rogen voiced the very funny B.O.B. in Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) and Master Mantis in the Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016). Eichner has voice work playing Chief Pig in The Angry Birds Movie (2016) and plays Mr. Ambrose in the Bob’s Burgers series. They are allowed to improv and have fun with their parts.
The conclusion of this scene was very disturbing to little viewers in the animated film and an infant cried in this showing. Simba is told by Scar to run and then sends the hyenas after him. Simba topples over a cliff so Azizi and Kamari don’t try to follow him down. Next, we get Simba wandering across sand dunes. He collapses and then we get the arrival of the duo of warthog and meerkat, Pumbaa (Seth Rogan) and Timon (Billy Eichner). Rogen voiced the very funny B.O.B. in Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) and Master Mantis in the Kung Fu Panda 3 (2016). Eichner has voice work playing Chief Pig in The Angry Birds Movie (2016) and plays Mr. Ambrose in the Bob’s Burgers series. They are allowed to improv and have fun with their parts.
We get them singing “Hakuna Matata”, there are other animals in their jungle paradise; a guinea fowl, bush baby, and elephant shrew, no names. Of course with all of the realism in the story, a predator feeding on grubs would not be possible, only small mammals would be able to function on that diet. In other words, this is just cartoon logic. We also see a thriving jungle culture, but no identification of the land. Simba transitions to his adult form, now voiced by Donald Glover. He is a completely brilliant actor in his show Atlanta and also voicing Miles Morales in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series. Still, this film, Glover doesn’t seem to own the part. He keeps to the script pages and doesn’t improv or bringing his own singing style to the songs. This is also true of Beyoncé. She has voiced Queen Tara in the Epic (2013) animated movie and Shine in the tv movie Wow Wow Wubbzy: Wubb Idol (2009).
It appears to be meaningful enough for Beyoncé to have produced The Lion King: The Gift album. Nala is introduced with other lionesses so I couldn’t distinguish her until I heard Beyoncé’s voice and thought oh, that’s Nala. There is a slightly more expanded part for Nala, but no “Shadowlands” from the musical where Nala honors her pride, but has to leave them. “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” is strange since it is set in the daytime with no change of the lyrics. Beyoncé is one of the finest singers, but her flourishes in the song don’t fit well with the story of two childhood friends and their shy, emerging love. We have Simba face his destiny, gather his friends, and make the final confrontation with Scar. It is strange that the story is about finding the courage to face your past, but the filmmakers seemed to just recycle the past. The filmmaking is timid in adding new details to the story, but The Lion King still has the same mane as the first movie!
It appears to be meaningful enough for Beyoncé to have produced The Lion King: The Gift album. Nala is introduced with other lionesses so I couldn’t distinguish her until I heard Beyoncé’s voice and thought oh, that’s Nala. There is a slightly more expanded part for Nala, but no “Shadowlands” from the musical where Nala honors her pride, but has to leave them. “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” is strange since it is set in the daytime with no change of the lyrics. Beyoncé is one of the finest singers, but her flourishes in the song don’t fit well with the story of two childhood friends and their shy, emerging love. We have Simba face his destiny, gather his friends, and make the final confrontation with Scar. It is strange that the story is about finding the courage to face your past, but the filmmakers seemed to just recycle the past. The filmmaking is timid in adding new details to the story, but The Lion King still has the same mane as the first movie!
Two Roars out of Five!
#TheLionKing, #JonFavreau, #BrendaChapman, #IreneMecchi, #JohnOliver, #KeeganMichaelKey, #EricAndre, #SethRogen, #BillyEichner.
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