Written by Jon Williams
When Disney released The Lion King into theaters in 1994, it was an instant hit. Using animation to bring the classic tale of Shakespeare’s Hamlet to the animal kingdom, the movie featured a star-studded voice cast including James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Whoopi Goldberg, and Matthew Broderick, to name just a few. It made more than $300 million during its initial theatrical run, won Academy Awards for its music, and spawned two direct-to-video sequels, The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride and The Lion King 1½, not to mention a Broadway play.
Now, as we approach the movie’s 25th anniversary,
Disney is preparing to release a live-action (or photorealistic CGI, at least) remake
of The Lion King. Coming in July of
2019, it is set to feature even more famous voices, if that’s possible, than
the original. James Earl Jones will once again lend his iconic voice to Mufasa,
and he’ll be joined by Chiwetel
Ejiofor, Donald
Glover, Alfre
Woodard, Keegan-Michael
Key, Seth
Rogen, and John
Oliver. Oh, and Beyoncé.
The first teaser trailer for the movie dropped last week during the NFL games
on Thanksgiving Day and has already been viewed hundreds of millions of times
online.
The new movie is being directed by Jon
Favreau, who is no stranger to this type of project, having brought the 2016
live-action version of The
Jungle Book following the 1967 animated classic, which is currently in
Disney’s Vault. Other recent live-action updates of Disney’s animated classics
include 2017’s Beauty
and the Beast (from 1991’s
animated version), 2015’s Cinderella
(1950’s animated version, currently in the Vault), and 2010’s Alice
in Wonderland (from 1951’s
animated version). Lest anyone think this is a new concept, however, please
recall the 1996 live-action version of 101
Dalmatians, adapted from the 1961 animated original (both of which are
currently unavailable).
Of course, Disney’s lineup of animated classics is a rich
vein to mine, and there are a number of other live-action adaptations in the
works. 2019 will be a big year for them, with Dumbo
(from director Tim
Burton, who also did Alice in
Wonderland) in March and Aladdin (starring
Will
Smith as the Genie) in May. Lady
and the Tramp is also on the agenda for some point during the year,
while 2020 will see an adaptation of Mulan.
A remake of Pinocchio
is still further out on the horizon, but has been in the news in the past
couple of days due to the possibility of Tom
Hanks joining the cast in the key role of Geppetto.
These live-action remakes have proved to be incredibly
popular, and the original animated versions have proven to be all-time classics
for generations. Make sure you have both versions of all these wonderful movies
on your shelves for patrons to enjoy.