5. The Lion King (2019)
Directed by: Jon Favreau
Written by: Jeff Nathanson
Starring: Donald Glover, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, John Kani, John Oliver, Alfre Woodard, Florence Kasumba, Eric André, Keegan Michael-Key, JD McCrary, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and James Earl Jones
Music by: Hans Zimmer
Rated: PG
In the Pride Lands which is an African kingdom of animals ruled by lions, a young lion cub named Simba (JD McCrary and Donald Glover), is next in the line for the throne. However, after Simba’s cruel Uncle Scar (Chiwetel Ejiofor), murders his beloved father, Mufasa (James Earl Jones) and blames Simba for it, the little cub is forced to go into exile. Growing up with a meerkat named Timon (Billy Eichner) and a Warthog named Pumbaa (Seth Rogen), a chance encounter with his childhood friend Nala (Shahadi Wright Joseph and Beyonce Knowles-Carter), and a wise mandrill named Rafiki (John Kani), will force Simba to make a choice about how to deal with Scar….
Although most of the films released during the 1989-1999 time period known as the Disney Renaissance such as The Little Mermaid , Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin are all regarded as some of the best mainstream animated films at the time in a pre-Pixar environment, The Lion King was (no pun intended), a different beast altogether. Aside from its controversial Kimba the White Lion rip-off claims, this epic tale of the trials of Simba the lion took additional inspiration from Hamlet and the Bible Stories of Joseph and Moses, some of the best hand-drawn animation seen at the time and amazing songs from the likes of Elton John and Tim Rice, to create the highest-grossing hand-drawn animated film of all time, with numerous sequels, tv shows and a stage musical by Julie Taymor, that became a massive success in its own right, adding to the legacy of this timeless animal story.
One would think that this film would be safe from the live-action remake obsession that started with Tim Burton’s 2010 Alice in Wonderland film, given its impact on popular culture. However, after having a huge success with 2016’s photorealistic retelling of The Jungle Book, Iron Man director Jon Favreau brings us another example of the groundbreaking visual style from that film with this new film. However, aside from the visuals, this is possibly not only his worst film, but this is also the worst example of the laziness of these remakes.
While the likes of the 2017 and 2019 remakes of Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin have been heavily criticised for being shot-by-shot remakes with no identity, at least those films did add some different elements such as new songs and characters that gave those films some of their own identity. In the case of The Lion King however, about ninety percent of the film literally traces over the original film so much that if it wasn’t made by the same company, it would have been sued to bankruptcy. It’s clear that Jon had no amount of the creative freedom that Julie Taymor was given to her stage adaptation with her unique character designs and unique form of visual storytelling, making this feel soulless in comparison.
The over-reliance on realism is another problem, as real animals are much harder to depict human emotions onto, making this feel incredibly out-of-place with some of the more cartoony moments of this film. Aside from Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen’s more extreme take on Timon and Pumbaa, the voice-acting from the likes of Donald Glover, Beyoncé and Chiwetel Ejiofor is mostly bland and flat. Even James Earl Jones, the only returning actor from the original film reprising his role as Mufasa, sounds off, mostly due to his advanced age which made it difficult for him to keep up his usual amazing voice-acting skills, in his final years of doing voice-acting, along with his Star Wars roles.
Overall, this photorealistic take on The Lion King, is yet another example as to why the 1990s remake of Psycho should not be used as an inspiration for making remakes, no matter how visually impressive it looks.
Rating: 1.5/5
4. Mufasa: The Lion King (2024)
Directed by: Barry Jenkins
Written by: Jeff Nathanson
Starring: Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Tiffany Boone, Mads Mikkelsen, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, John Kani, Donald Glover, Blue Ivy Carter, Thandiwe Newton, Lennie James, Anika Noni Rose, Keith David and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter
Music by: David Metzger and Nicholas Britell
Rated: PG
A few years after Simba (Donald Glover) saved the Pride Lands and became king, both the young lion and his queen, Nala (Beyoncé Knowles-Carter) have become parents to a female cub named Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter). When Simba and Nala leave to attend a ritual ceremony, Kiara’s babysitters, Rafiki (John Kani), Timon (Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa (Seth Rogen) decide to tell her a legendary story of her grandfather, the late King Mufasa (Aaron Pierre), during his childhood as a stray cub, his adoption into a royal family where he becomes a brother to that Pride’s prince, Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and an incredible journey he takes across Africa, along with his brother, his future mate, Sarabi (Tiffany Boone), and eventually Zazu (Preston Nyman) and even a younger Rafiki (Kagiso Lediga), that will eventually lead to his destiny as King of Pride Rock…
Despite the fact that the 2019 photorealistic animated remake of 1994’s legendary classic, The Lion King, ended up becoming the highest grossing worldwide animated film for five years, Jon Favreau’s take on the legendary story of Simba, has also become infamous as the least original, and the most completely pointless example of Disney’s recent obsession with live-action remakes, which isn’t made better with its overly realistic animation style.
However, even if the sequels to Disney’s remakes such as Alice Through the Looking-Glass and Maleficent: Mistriss of Evil, haven’t done as well financially as the remakes, there is a lot of potential for the premise of an origin story of Simba’s late father, King Mufasa, whose original voice actor, James Earl Jones, passed away earlier in 2024, which is also on the thirtieth anniversary of the 1994 film.
This is made more apparent by the hiring of Best Picture winner director of Moonlight , Barry Jenkins, and the fact that the animators have listened to previous complaints and have made these animal characters, a lot more expressive in their emotions. However, even if Jenkins does lose a lot of the creativity of his previous films as a result of going into mainstream cinema, he does manage to tell the origin story of the Pride Lands, with powerful animation and a strong use of cinematic storytelling in the cinematography and editing.
While being a very good origin story for Mufasa, Sarabi, Zazu and Rafiki, some minor plotholes and a terrible depiction of the fall of the lion that will become Scar, Taka, prevents Mufasa: The Lion King from reaching its true potential. However, Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Mads Mikkelsen do great jobs as younger versions of Mufasa, Scar and the new white lion antagonist, Kiros, as well as returning faces from the 2019 film, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner and John Kani’s takes on Pumbaa, Timon and Rafiki.
Overall, Mufasa: The Lion King, despite being attached to one of the least popular Disney remakes, was always going to be a much better film solely on the more expressive character animation, some good songs from Lin-Manuel-Miranda and having an original story about one of the most beloved Disney characters out there. It may not be perfect, but given the quality of most Disney remakes these days, that’s a massive achievement.
Rated: 3/5
3. The Lion King 1 1/2 (2004)
Directed by: Bradley Raymond
Written by: Tom Rogers
Starring: Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Julie Kavner, Jerry Stiller, Matthew Broderick, Robert Guillaume, Moria Kelly, Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin and Jim Cummings
Music by: Don L. Harper
Rated: U
Timon (Nathan Lane) and Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella), relate their backstory while watching The Lion King in a cinema. After being thrown out of his meerkat colony for messing up sentry duty, Timon and Pumbaa embark on an epic quest for a new home and to find out the true meaning of “Hakuna Matata”…
Standing out from any other sequel or spin-off to the Disney’s Animation studios Canon, The Lion King 1 1/2 is a prequel, a midquel, and a parody of The Lion King that shifts the spotlight to Timon and Pumbaa, that manages to be both outrageously funny, yet surprisingly heart-warming at the same time.
Aside from a few plotholes regarding Rafiki (Robert Guillaume) and some missed opportunities for funnier jokes, the Mystery Science Theater-style framing device of the duo commenting during the film and the riffs on the “Circle of Life” and “I Just Can’t Wait to be King” are so funny, that it’s kinda sad how a straight-to-DVD film is willing to show more creativity than a certain $260 remake.
Overall, The Lion King 1 1/2 is a highly entertaining Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead-style twist on the 1994 classic that is a much-watch for Timon and Pumbaa fans, even if the TV Show is pretty much ignored in this story.
Rating: 3.5/5
2. The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride (1998)
Directed by: Darrell Rooney
Written by: Flip Kobler and Cindy Marcus
Starring: Neve Campbell, Matthew Broderick, Jason Marsden, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Moria Kelly, Robert Guillaume, Suzanne Pleshette, Andy Dick and Lacey Chabert
Music by: Nick Glennie-Smith
Rated: U
The Pride Lands have been restored to peace and Simba (Matthew Broderick) and Nala (Moira Kelly) now have a beautiful daughter named Kiara (Neve Campbell). However, Zira (Suzanne Pleshette), a supporter of Scar (Jim Cummings), has raised an army of lionesses to retake the throne. She assigns her son Kovu (Jason Marsden) to assassinate Simba, but things get complicated when he starts falling in love with Kiara.
Despite having massive plotholes regarding the origins of the Outsider Lionesses and underwhelming arcs for the likes of characters such as Zazu (Edward Hibbert), Timon (Nathan Lane) and Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella), it’s easy to see why The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride has a large cult following in Disney fandom.
The animation, for direct-to-video standards, is very impressive, the songs, including the iconic “He Lives in You from the mindblowing Broadway show, are outstanding and although the old characters don’t get much to do, the new characters such as Kiara, Kovu, and the villainous Zira are solid additions.
Overall, The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride is a sweet, yet flawed take on a lion version of Romeo and Juliet, much like how the first film took influence from Hamlet.
Rating: 3.5/5
1. The Lion King (1994)
Directed by: Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff
Written by: Irene Mecchi, Linda Woolverton and Jonathan Roberts
Starring: Matthew Broderick, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Moria Kelly, Niketa Calame, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Robert Guillaume, Rowan Atkinson, Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, Jim Cummings and Madge Sinclair
Music by: Hans Zimmer
Rated: U
Deep within the Pride Lands, an African kingdom of animals is ruled by lions. Simba (Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Matthew Broderick), the cub of the current king, Mufasa (James Earl Jones), is expected to become the next ruler. However, Scar (Jeremy Irons), Mufasa’s evil brother, kills Simba’s father and frames the young lion for his death. Forced into exile, Simba finds a new lifestyle of having “no worries” from the meerkat Timon (Nathan Lane) and the warthog, Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella). But when a childhood friend of his, Nala (Moria Kelly) comes back into his life, Simba must finally face his past and his destiny…
With the Biblical, Shakespearian (and anime) influences, The Lion King, in terms of visuals and narrative ambition, is one of Walt Disney Animation Studio’s most cinematic films. This is impressive given its troubled production where Oliver and Company’s George Scribner was removed from the original nature documentary version of the early version, King of the Kalahari, Disney President Frank Wells died in a helicopter crash during production and the animators were forced to work from home before it was cool, due to a massive earthquake. Although the act of balancing both the drama with the comedy could have been done better in the second half, the majority of the epic narrative is helped with the incredible animation and Hans Zimmer’s haunting score.
Along with Andy Gaskill and Chris Sanders’s beautiful art direction and production design and the slightly flawed, yet powerful message about redemption and the pitch-perfect voice acting from the likes of James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, and Nathan Lane, It is not surprising why The Lion King became the second-highest grossing film ever at the time of its release.
Overall, much has already been said about The Lion King already, so take a look at how the “Circle of Life” took Disney Animation to the highest peak in the Renaissance era.
Rating: 5/5
Chaz’s Cinematic Odyssey 