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TomatoNut95
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The Lion King!!!

I sooooooo cannot wait to see the real-looking remake of the Disney Lion King! I grew up with the cartoon, and I intend to grow old with it. It's really amazing how realistic the animals look! And I was pleased to hear James Earl Jones will be voicing Mufasa again! As soon as the new-made arrives on DVD, am gonna plop on my bed with a bag of popcorn!! :-()

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TomatoNut95
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Since apparently no one else on this forum is a Lion King fan and never responded to this thread, I'll will talk to myself. :lol:
Nobody has to read this if they don't want to or if you're not a Lion King fan but if you do, 'Be Prepared' for a long, drawn-out, detailed description of what was wrong with the 2019 remake. :>

This movie got a lot of criticism saying there was no emotion in this movie. They are half correct. But Disney's main point on this remake was realism, people need to realize that REAL animals cannot express the human emotions that were displayed in the cartoon such as smiling or crying. The fear, happiness and love could still be seen merely by paying close attention to the characters face. I had no problem seeing the love on Simba's face as he gazed at Nala. Scar's pupils dilated when Surabi caught his slip of the tongue(when he told Simba he saw the fear in Mufasa's eyes before he died) clearly showing fear.

The part that IS correct on the poor emotion is the voicing. James Earl Jones, because of his age, has lost the strength in his voice. His hearty laugh during his playtimes with Simba was not as strong as it was 25 years ago. The way Mufasa asked Scar to help him there at the gorge ledge sounded more like he was asking his brother to help him with his homework, not save his life. It was more like, 'help me, would ya?' instead of that desperate, 'Brother! Help me!'.
Scar was tolerable, I suppose. His voice was definitely evil-sounding like a villain's should, but is nothing compared to Jeremey Irons.
Pumbaa and Timon's were totally the worst of all. Timon's singing voice, however, was pretty good.
Rafiki personality, along with his voice were totally different. He went from wise-cracking, to plain wise, taking some of the humor from the movie.

Most of the changes from the 1994 film were not to my liking. In this remake, they added the scene that showed Nala escaping Pride Rock to seek help. It was praised by some, saying how it was never shown in 1994 how she left. I always assumed she went out to hunt with the other lionesses and just kept right on going. Besides, that scene showing her escape/leaving made her appearance in the forest less of a surprise to the audience. And since Zazu wasn't a prisoner in a ribcage like in the cartoon, I don't know why he didn't just fly away and leave Pride Rock.
Scar also seemed to have a romantic interest in Surabi. Mufasa stated to Scar he should respect his king and queen. When Scar made the remark of saying he had deep respect for the queen..[and not the King] I was like, 'he must have a thing for Surabi'. And near the end, Scar asked Surabi to be his queen, whereas in 1994 he saw her nothing more than one of the other lionesses and slapped her when she remarked that Scar wasn't half the king Mufasa was. But in the remake, Scar and Surabi actually started fighting, taking away the appearance of the frail, old lioness in the original movie.

Many of people's(and mine) favorite little quips given by the characters were left out such as Scars: 'the little hairball', Rafiki's: 'squash-banana' and 'it is time', Simbas: 'Mr. Banana-beak', and Pumbaa's: 'They call me, Mister Pig!' The added line, however, by Mufasa's 'ghost': I never left you, and never will' was a line that I wish had been in the 1994 movie. Many of the new lines were unnecessary, such as Scar's: 'A boy who kills a king' seemed pointless to me, and Nala's(or was that Surabi) command to the other lionesses to attack seemed unnecessary. In the original film, the lionesses didn't need a command to attack. Their reason to attack was hearing Scar admit Mufasa's murder.

Some pieces were too rushed. When Nala arrived in the forest and fought with Simba, the recognition between the two old friends was rushed.
1994: Simba: Nala? Is that really you? Nala: Who are you? Simba: It's me; Simba. Nala: Simba? Whoooaaaa!!!
2019: Simba: Nala? Nala: Simba? Me: What?? Not even an, huh? or a, 'who in the world are you?'

Now for the music.
The instrumental music was just as great as ever! Hans Zimmer did a good one! The other songs were a different story.
'I Just Can't Wait to be King' was excellent. I love the change-up from the animals dancing around to being more realistic, and Simba and Nala running about in the beautiful African scenery. The only thing I didn't like was Zazu talked too much. I don't like a bunch of talking mixed in with music.
'Be Prepared' was the worst changed up song ever. So many people, including me, gave that one a major thumbs-down. It turned into more of a short speech than a song. I will be skipping that bummed-out song on the soundtrack.
'Can You Feel the Love Tonight' was too different for me because of Beyoncé's overpowering voice. She practically covered up Danny Glover. She may as well have sung that a solo.
'Hakuna Matata' was a disappointment mainly because of the poor choice in voicing. And not too pleased with the added talking animals in Timon and Pumbaa's forest.
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight'. I like how Timon and Pumbaa's little duet was drawn out longer, especially since Timon's singing voice was quite well. I was actually upset that it got interrupted by Nala's attack. The prancing gazelles, however, gave it immaturity.

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>>>Hans Zimmer

That guy is great. I watched a documentary about soundtracks and he was interviewed and discussed. Apparently he brings a rock band background to his compositions, maybe he was one of the first to do that. They show him recounting how he agonizes at the beginning of a project, how he doubts himself and yet his projects come out well to his relief.

I'm unsure about some of these cartoon to realism remakes, particularly with animals. As you said, the lack of emotions was a missing element.

Maybe this is an imperfect comparison but it's different I suppose when remaking a comic book (Superman) into a live action movie or a TV series (Walking Dead) because now these humans gain an extra dimension from comic books.

I saw the Broadway show and thought it was pretty good but I have to say I preferred the animated movie over the Broadway production.

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There is no beating the animated. But If I were in charge of directing the remake, I definitely would've done it differently. I would've asked James Earl Jones to project better, put more feeling into his voicing if he could. His laugh and cry for help just seemed so flat. The animal realism was great, and no problem there. People just aren't studying the character's faces close enough to see their fear, anger, love and happiness. It is the voicing that lacks emphasis and feeling.

But the Hans Zimmer scores were terrific, especially Reflections of Mufasa and the Stampede seemed more intense. I've been listening to the scores on YouTube almost all day!



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