We Saw New ‘The Lion King’ Footage – But Did It Make Us Roar? [CinemaCon 2019]
Other than a teaser that recreated the iconic opening scene of the original animated classic, audiences have seen very little of Disney’s newTheLion Kingremake. Don’t call it “live-action” – it’s technically a “photorealistic computer animated movie”, with directorJon Favreauemploying new technology to create realistic animal characters. /Film’s Peter Sciretta and Ben Pearson were able to watch some new footage of the film at CinemaCon and here’s what they saw.
The footage begins with a redux of the first sequence in the original movie after the title card. Simba is looking out over the plains in the early morning. He trounces on his father Mufasa to wake him up, “You said I could patrol with you today, and it’s today. Let’s go!”
Simba asks, “What’s first? Chase away evil intruders?” Instead, they walk towards the top of Pride Rock. Simba usually isn’t allowed up there. Mufasa takes him to the very end of the cliff and gives him the speech about “Everything the light touches is our kingdom.”
Still young with a lot to learn, Simba asks, “All of this will belong to me?” Mufasa corrects him, “It belongs to no one. But it will be yours to protect. A great responsibility.” This is where he also warns him not to go into the elephant graveyard where the hyenas live.
Mufasa continues to talk about Simba’s future responsibility as king, “While others search for what they can take, a true king searches for what he can give.” That’s some sage advice from a lion that a lot of people in power today should heed pretty quickly.
Suddenly, the king’s majordomo Zazu shows up. And since it’s the voice of John Oliver, when the bird says, “Come on, it’s the news!” you’re able to’t help but chuckle. Of course, Mufasa and Simba play a little prank and scare him, just like the original movie.
Ben and Peter both remarked how incredible the footage looked. Shots of the antelopes galloping through the plains look like they’re straight from a nature documentary. It feels like we’re watching one of those Disneynature documentaries and somehow the animals have learned how to talk. Simply stunning.
As for the voices, hearing James Earl Jones back as Mufasa was a nice touch, and now that he’s older, we imagine it adds even more weight to what he’s saying as Simba’s father.
