The Lion King is a 2019 American computer-animated musical film distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and directed by Jon Favreau. It is a It is a photorealistic remake of the Disney animated film of the same name in 1994.
Why It Rocks
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- Like Dinosaur, it combined groundbreaking CG-animated characters with live-action backgrounds.
- A huge improvement over the Aladdin remake.
- It was Jon Favreau's very first fully-animated film.
- The updated songs are great, except for "Be Prepared".
- In particular, the original opening featuring "Circle of Life" returns.
- The CGI-animation received its grandest form.
- The computer-generated imagery is magnificent and looks incredibly realistic, and all the main characters along with the other animals (including some that were changed in the film) are very accurate-looking to their species.
- Scar's realistic design was pure terrifying.
- Great voice acting.
- Beautiful scenery.
- The new version of Mufasa's spirit in the clouds is the only one that this movie does an okay job, despite the fact that the spirit didn't fully move in the original.
- It was the best Disney animated movie, in the infamous Disney/Fox era.
- Most of the scene are recreated shot-for-shot from the 2D-animated film.
- A pure heartwarming ending.
- The hyenas, particularly Shenzi, are more powerful, menacing and terrifying than their original counterparts; in particular, Scar's death in this film manages to be very faithful to the original, but also manages to be much more terrifying than the original version, since he fights the hyenas back before being eaten alive and delivering a terrifying scream before dying, something that the original didn't have.
- The fight between Simba and Scar are a lot more dramatic than the original 1994 film.
- The death of Mufasa was more heartbreaking than the original.
- Zazu is still a tolerable character, and he is arguably a bit less of a Megward the Wizard than he was in the original.
- Some of the scenes are epic and dramatic for the PG rating.
- Timon and Pumbaa are still enjoyable and arguably funnier than in the original film, thanks to Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen.
- A major improvement over Jon Favreau's last live-action/CGI film, The Jungle Book (2016).
- On that note, this film stays more faithful to the original, unlike Jon Favreau's last film as we mentioned earlier.
Bad Qualities Edit
- The updated version of "Be Prepared" sounds unprepared.Similarly Scar sounds more bored than deleciously evil lke he did in the original.
- It is criticized by critics for being a cash cow.
- False advertising: The film is marketed as a live-action remake, when in reality, it is supposed to be a photo-realistic computer-animated film. Jon Favreau himself repeatedly claimed that it was live-action, before admitting that the entire film is computer-animated except for the opening shot of the sun rising.
Reception Edit
Despite it not being advertised as an animated film, it received most positive reception, becoming the best animated movie of 2019, as well as the best computer-animated feature film in America, since Toy Story.
Box office Edit
As of October 20, 2019, The Lion King has grossed $543 million in the United States and Canada, and $1.109 billion in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.652 billion.
The film had a global debut of $446 million, the ninth largest of all-time and the biggest opening for an animated film. On July 30, 2019, the film grossed $1 billion dollars, becoming the 42nd film to ever reach the milestone, as well as fastest animated film to gross $1 billion, doing so in 21 days, surpassing Incredibles 2 (46 days). The Lion King is the highest-grossing animated film of all time, the highest-grossing musical film of all time, the highest-grossing remake of all time, the highest-grossing Walt Disney Pictures film of all time, the highest-grossing film of Favreau's career, the second highest-grossing film of 2019, and the 7th highest-grossing film of all-time
Critical response Edit
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 53% based on 386 reviews, and an average rating of 6/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "While it can take pride in its visual achievements, The Lion King is a by-the-numbers retelling that lacks the energy and heart that made the original so beloved – though for some fans that may just be enough." Metacritic gave the film a weighted average score of 55 out of 100, based on 53 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an average four out of five stars.
