The Lion King (Live-Action)

[Sotiris]

A new trailer has just been released! It's the Circle of Life opening sequence again. Wasn't this used as a proof-of-concept and shown at various cons? Will it be featured in the actual film as is? I can't help but feel underwhelmed. They need to show us something new. Interesting that we still haven't seen the characters talk.

Even the new poster is meh.


Source: https://twitter.com/disneylionking/stat ... 1126517761


They reused the concept they sent to licensees for merch purposes.

[nomad2010]

A new trailer has just been released! It's the Circle of Life opening sequence again. Wasn't this used as a proof-of-concept and shown at various cons? Will it be featured in the actual film as is? I can't help but feel underwhelmed. They need to show us something new. Interesting that we still haven't seen the characters talk.

I’m sure this spot would’ve normally gone to Aladdin with it being the next big release after Dumbo but with the backlash to the trailer and the scramble to fix things they placed this and cut it slightly to fit the minute mark just to keep attention off Aladdin a little longer.

[Kyle]

That rhino looks unfinished, I did a double take to make sure this was an official trailer.

[Vlad]

This was so awesome! I loved the visuals and the CGI. Baby Simba is so freaking cute...I'm gonna bawl my eyes out when I see this in theaters.

[Sotiris]

Q: You’re playing Scar, the Jeremy Irons role, in the “Lion King” reboot with Beyoncé and Donald Glover. Did you feel any pressure reworking such a beloved film?

Chiwetel Ejiofor: It’s just very exciting. Obviously the original was so incredible and so sort of legendary. But like anything else, you have to kind of put that to one side and just try and play the part and see what happens.

Q: Could you maybe slip into your Scar voice for a moment?

Chiwetel Ejiofor: [Laughs] We’ll have to wait and hear it.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/movi ... iofor.html

[blackcauldron85]

I'm having a brain fart. This movie isn't using live-action backgrounds (like Dinosaur), right?

[Sotiris]

^Nope. It's all CG.

[blackcauldron85]

^Thank you!

[D82]

A clip from The Lion King was also sceened at today's Disney shareholders meeting. Here are a couple of descriptions of the footage shown:

Lion King looks amazin. We see the clip with Simba waking up his parents and wanting his dad to take him on patrol. They go up on the rock, we get the "everything the light touches talk", then down to see Zazu and we close with the pounce. It looks completely real.

Source: https://twitter.com/Ladewig/status/1103731069981990913

For Lion King we saw the mostly finished scene of Simba waking Mufasa and going on patrol and the speech about "everything the light touches." They'll need to pass out tissues to everyone that sees this movie.

We also hear the morning report from Zazu that included several jokes including mention of a couple giraffes necking. Zazu looked really cool - a type of bird I've never seen before. Simba then pounces on him as he gives his report.

Source: https://twitter.com/MatthewHansenUT/sta ... 8931847168

[Sotiris]

Book cover and T-shirts.


Source: https://twitter.com/IryPixar/status/1113526711159853057

[D82]

^Timon and Pumbaa look quite different than in the animated movie.

Here are footage descriptions from CinemaCon. It seems it's the same footage shown at the shareholders meeting:

The footage for “The Lion King” showed the famous “everything the light touches” scene between Mufasa and Simba. Like the teaser trailer that debuted last year, the scene is essentially a shot-for-shot remake of Disney’s animated “The Lion King.” However, the effects blew nearly everyone in attendance away.

Source: https://www.indiewire.com/2019/04/the-l ... 202055502/

The roughly five minute clip followed a young Simba (JD McCrary) and his father Mufasa (James Earl Jones, returning in all his baritoned glory) as they survey their kingdom in the Pride Lands.

“Look, Simba, everything the light touches is our kingdom,” Mufasa intones, instructing the princeling that “a king’s time as ruler rises and falls like the sun. One day, Simba, the sun will set on my time here, and will rise with you as the new king.”

Source: https://variety.com/2019/film/news/lion ... 203179960/

"Footage sees Mufasa sleeping and getting woken up by an enthusiastic and relentless Simba. Sarabi tells him, 'Your son’s awake.' They emerge from their cave near Pride Rock," ComicBook.com's Brandon Davis reported of the footage. "Simba is eager to learn from his father. His father, however, heads to the top of a rock to let out a roar. 'Dad? I’m not supposed to go up here,' Simba says . 'Look Simba,' Mufasa says. 'Everything the light touches is our Kingdom...One day Simba, the sun wil set on my time here, and rise with you as the new king.'

"'All of this will belong to me?'" Davis continued. "'It belongs to no one but it will be yours to protect.' 'Everything the light touches?...And beyond those shadows?' 'You must not go there Simba...While others look at what they can take a true king searches for what he can give.'"

"The two walk elsewhere, past impressively computerized spiders, elephant, and antelope. Simba questions how they protect the antelope when they eat them," Davis detailed. "Mufasa explains that when they die, they become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. They are 'all united in the circle of life.' Zazu comes across them. Mufasa encourages Simba to pounce at him, hiding in the tall grass. Simba does just that before rolling around, laughing with his father."

Source: https://comicbook.com/movies/2019/04/03 ... er-teaser/

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 can’t help but chuckle. Of course, Mufasa and Simba play a little prank and scare him, just like the original movie.

Source: https://www.slashfilm.com/the-lion-king ... -reaction/

[Atlantica]

Full Official Trailer :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TavVZMewpY

[Sotiris]

I'm still not sold on this. The designs and the animation look uncanny and off-putting and it takes me out of the story. Perhaps they should have used puppetry and animatronics instead of CG. Maybe then it would have looked more organic and natural. I suspect they only showed us like a second of the characters moving their mouths because they're trying to hide how weird they look when talking.

It was great hearing Hans Zimmer's iconic score though.

I always felt that the semi-photorealistic CG route was wrong for The Lion King remake. They should have reimagined the story with human characters. I'm not suggesting people with animal headgear like the Broadway adaptation - that's too theatrical for the screen - but transposing the story to make it about people instead of lions. Set it in a fictional tribe with an all-Black cast filled with African imagery and aesthetic. Something like Black Panther.

[Atlantica]

I always felt that the semi-photorealistic CG route was wrong for The Lion King remake. They should have reimagined the story with human characters. I'm not suggesting people with animal headgear like the Broadway adaptation - that's too theatrical for the screen - but transposing the story to make it about people instead of lions. Set it in a fictional tribe with an all-Black cast filled with African imagery and aesthetic. Something like Black Panther.

Oooo now that sounds like a cool idea ! An interesting twist on it. This really does feel, especially from that trailer, like it is a copy and paste CGI version of The Lion King. Properly. If that's what it intended to be then fair enough ( why you'd want to though, I'm still not sure ), just don't try and target as a 'live action version' ... as it isn't.

[Sotiris]

This really does feel, especially from that trailer, like it is a copy and paste CGI version of The Lion King. Properly.

Sure, just not as interesting, breathtaking, epic or beautiful as the original. An inferior copy in every respect.

[Farerb]

It looks awful. I'll probably only listen to the soundtrack.

[Sotiris]

I'll probably only listen to the soundtrack.

I'm really looking forward to the soundtrack as well. Especially to the new song written by Elton John and Tim Rice.

[REINIER]

Scar...pumbaa ...horrendous...nothing to do with the 2D counterpart, albeit infinetely better, just this 3D conversion is just plain lazy and unimaginative. And having James Earl Jones reprise but not Jeremy Irons is an insult to the character that is Scar. Either invite both...or neither

[Sotiris]

There's currently some Scar-related backlash online. People are complaining that he looks too mangy, has a disproportionately elongated face and enlarged head, he's not emotive and doesn't sound menacing enough. Other are claiming he has been "straight-washed" since he lacks the feminine traits of the original character. What do you think?

Personally, I don't have a problem with him not being feminine since the practice of gay-coding villains is a dubious one to start with. I do agree about the underwhelming design and off proportions though. He just doesn't look good.

[REINIER]

I think that all the above sums it up nicely...I agree on all parts. Mostly the overall look is troublesome. If it was just Scar though, I could overlook it maybe..but this whole look is like a lesser African Cats...Disney released that already ...And already I like that documentary infinitely better without seeing this CGI trainwreck