How To Make A “Live Action” Lion King
I didn’t see this movie in theaters, probably; it came out in 1994, and I was too young to remember. I DO remember seeing Oliver & Company in theaters and then going to see Hunchback of Notre Dame when I was too young to remember it.
My family went to see The Lion King on stage in May. It was touring, and we had seen it about seven years ago when it came to Miami. Though we had to move a few times because we accidentally sat in the wrong seat, the show was amazing. I was tearing up during Simba’s song to the stars, asking where his father was, and when he talked to Mufasa in the clouds.
How Disney Should Do Their Reboot
Because The Lion King is an iconic story, with some pretty terrible sequels, some funny spinoffs like the 90s show Timon and Pumbaa, it’s really hard to redo it and believe that people will return to watch it. Especially for me, I’m annoyed that a 3d rendering of photorealistic African savannah animals was added to the “live-action” lineup. People have roasted the realism because it means we don’t get the emotional, heartbreaking expressions. Simba looks like a cute lion cub that will sit in a too-small box.
I will say the casting is spot on; Donald Glover as Simba is totally my choice, as is John Oliver for Zazu. John Oliver is the only person I could imagine as a hornbill. Even better, it allows for some parody news host references.
The Broadway show takes advantage of the fact that it’s performed live onstage. Heck, in “The Circle of Life” they march a giant elephant puppet through the audience aisle and onto the stage. Zazu mocks the curtains used for “I Just Can’t Wait to be King” and Rafiki at certain points sings directly to us.
The solution would be to combine the Broadway show with colorful movie sets. Several movies have done this, like The Magic Flute. Show the actors getting ready for the stage, and when the show starts, show a transition to the Pride Lands as an endless horizon. That way it’s something new, but also is a “reboot”. It also looks less lazy than redoing the original movie shot by shot. New audiences can see the elaborate dance moves and stage effects, without having to wait for a show to come to their city.
Obviously, we are not getting this, and it sucks. We are getting a 3D animated movie, which is not what we wanted. But then, we don’t want any of these reboots. I love Broadway, and I’d kill to see more stage show adaptations like Tangled.
Disney, give us more movies that emulate the writing quality of The Lion King. We don’t need the same carbon copies of classic films. Show us what you’re doing in other mediums. Or, if we have to get more unwanted Lion King, show people how wonderful and different the stage version is.