The Lion King Trailer Excites Movie Fans

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 25^th 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.