The Lion King (2019) review

In 1991, Walt Disney Animation began production on two different films that would be the studio’s next big projects after the one-two punch of that year’s Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin the following year. Of the two films, the one that the studio ended up placing most of its focus on was an adaptation of the story of the Native American woman known as Pocahontas, and because it ended up attracting most of Disney’s prominent animators, the other film was primarily developed by the studio’s ‘B-Team’. Ironically, though, the B-Team would end up producing the more critically acclaimed affair; we, of course, know their project… as The Lion King. When it was released in the summer of 1994, The Lion King quickly became one of the biggest films of its time. It currently stands as the highest-grossing traditionally animated film of all-time at over $968 million worldwide, which also means that it was Disney Animation’s highest-grossing film for nearly two decades until it was ultimately out-grossed by Frozen in 2013. It’s also notably the best-selling VHS title of all-time with over 32 million copies sold. But now it’s joined the ranks of other Disney classics as the latest in Disney’s line of live-action remakes… however, calling this one ‘live-action’ would technically be false. Instead, this new version of The Lion King is a CGI remake of the original as it mirrors the style of the 2016 remake of The Jungle Book through its use of photorealistic environments and characters. The two films even share the same director in Jon Favreau AKA the man who effectively launched the MCU with the original Iron Man and is also responsible for modern classics like Elf and Chef. And while this one is sure to be a controversial release because of how it ultimately ‘remakes’ its predecessor, fans of the original Lion King will still probably find this to be an incredibly fun and gorgeously animated interpretation of an all-time Disney classic.

In the vast kingdom that is the Pride Lands of Africa, Mufasa, the King of Pride Rock (voiced by James Earl Jones) and his queen Sarabi (voiced by Alfre Woodard) celebrate the birth of their son, Simba. As he begins to grow up, Simba (voiced as a child by JD McCrary and as an adult by Donald Glover) eagerly anticipates the day when he will take his father’s place as King. However, unbeknownst to Simba, his uncle Scar (voiced by Chiwetel Ejiofor) secretly plots to get rid of both him and his father so that he can take over the Pride Lands. To do so, Scar puts Simba in increasingly terrifying situations that eventually results in a devastating tragedy, and when Scar has Simba fooled into thinking that the accident was his fault, Simba ends up running away from his home. After a while, he meets the happy-go-lucky duo of Timon the Meerkat (voiced by Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa the Warthog (voiced by Seth Rogen), who end up taking him in and showing him the benefits of their carefree lifestyle. But as Simba matures into adulthood, his childhood friend Nala (voiced as a child by Shahadi Wright Joseph and as an adult by Beyoncé) comes back into his life to warn him that Scar’s takeover of the Pride Lands has led it to ruin. Thus, Simba must now overcome the demons of his past to save his home from his diabolical uncle and to properly take his place as the new king of Pride Rock.

This new take on The Lion King is easily the closest that any of the recent Disney remakes have gotten when it comes to closely replicating their original counterparts. This isn’t a case like Maleficent, which retold the story of Sleeping Beauty from the titular villain’s perspective, or Pete’s Dragon, which nixed the original’s musical numbers in favor of a more traditional narrative. For all intent and purposes, this is the same exact story from the 1994 film with the same exact outcome. The only major differences from a narrative perspective come from minor deviations in dialogue and a different intro for Nala after she’s become an adult. As such, this could quite arguably be the most controversial Disney remake yet because of how tightly it adheres to the original film without really doing anything differently. And yet, at the same time, because it’s still The Lion King, it could potentially be argued that, at the very least, the film does maintain the original’s strong script and hits the biggest emotional moments just as effectively (i.e. that one scene that we always remember from this story). Nothing significant from the story is lost and nothing is added in that would drastically change anything. Ultimately, though, the biggest selling point of this film is its visuals. As noted in the intro, this film carries over the same method that Favreau used on The Jungle Book in which everything in it (save for Mowgli) was digitally created. And while some may take issue with the fact that the overall drive for realism results in certain moments from the original being toned down, it’s still an impressive feat of VFX work from the same team that won an Oscar for their work on Jungle Book.

Another key aspect of this film is its voice cast, as Jon Favreau selected a top-notch voice cast to portray these iconic characters. JD McCrary and Donald Glover (who have notably worked together before) headline the project excellently as Simba as a young cub and adult lion, respectively, thanks in large part to the terrific camaraderie/chemistry that they have with their co-stars. McCrary and Shahadi Wright Joseph are phenomenal together as young Simba and Nala, and while adult Nala’s role in the story isn’t really expanded upon too much when compared to the original film, Beyoncé does do a solid job in the role. Meanwhile, Chiwetel Ejiofor is a damn good replacement for Jeremy Irons in the role of Scar as he perfectly maintains that same, great sinister persona that was pivotal in making Scar such an iconic Disney villain. But as for Mufasa, the filmmakers clearly knew that there was no way you could replace the legendary voice that portrayed the character in the original film. Yes, James Earl Jones is back once again to reprise his role as the King of Pride Rock, and he is still just as commanding and awesome as he was in the original film. And to close out the main cast, we have Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen, who serve as phenomenal replacements for Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella in the roles of Timon and Pumbaa. As many others have noted, they’re the biggest standouts of the film and their riffing is the primary source of the remake’s new material, whether it’s an entertaining fourth-wall gag or a downright brilliant homage to another Disney classic.

I have the feeling that this is the one Disney remake that some people were expecting me to be completely against. After all, the original Lion King still stands as my favorite Disney animated film of all-time. Well, to that I say… you’ve read my reviews of the other recent Disney remakes, right? If I haven’t made it clear before, I’m perfectly fine with this new trend of live-action remakes of classic Disney films (even though this one technically isn’t ‘live-action’) because I recognize that the old films will still be there when all’s said and done. More importantly, their legacies won’t be tarnished by a ‘lousy’ remake because they’re quite frankly better than they’re often given credit for. However, even with that said, I fully recognize that I won’t even remotely be able to convince any of the ‘live-action remake’ critics that this one is worthwhile because it’s almost literally the same as its traditionally-animated counterpart save for a CGI makeover. And because the CG is highly intent on maintaining a sense of realism, this means that this version of The Lion King is a lot more grounded compared to its predecessor (e.g. don’t expect Timon to don a hula skirt and ask some hyenas if they’re “aching for some bacon”). Despite this, Jon Favreau does do an excellent job of maintaining the same spirit of the original even with a different visual aesthetic. And at the end of the day, that visual aesthetic is the main reason to watch this film because it’s clear that the visual effects team went above and beyond to create an impressively photorealistic-looking film to the point where it could potentially pass as some kind of nature documentary. As such, while some may view this as the most pointless Disney remake yet, there’s no denying that it’s one of the best-looking films of 2019.

Rating: 5/5!