D23 live-action ‘Lion King’ footage brings some fans to tears, Hugh Jackman rumored to voice Scar
Is Lion King like Star Wars for some fans? One fan site made link after witnessing the amazing live-action footage previewed at D23. Directed by Jon Favreau, who helmed the fantastic re-imagining of The Jungle Book, Lion King appears to be set to amaze the fans.
The same visual effects are being used to bring photorealistic animals to life and the footage screened was the scene where Simba is held up into the sky by Rafiki as the other animals gaze upon them. It was an exact recreation of this moment from the movie. Here’s a sneak look in YouTube
From Slash Film: “Imagine this, except all the animals, from the rhinos to the elephants, looked real. Our own Peter Sciretta said he got chills because of how realistic they looked on screen and some fans were even spotted crying because of the sheer beauty of the imagery, almost like this was their Star Wars. Peter even went out of his way to reiterate how gorgeous the footage looked and how real the animals appeared.”
The panel, hosted by the film’s producer Don Hahn, this “Lion King” retrospective was amazing, including a surprise appearance by Whoopi Goldberg and ending with a choir flooding the aisles, being led in a rendition of “Circle of Life” performed by the film’s original singer Carmen Twillie.
Rob Minkoff, the co-director of the original film detailed the history animation during the project, revealing how unique and difficult it was: “The reason was that when we were making The Lion King it was the first time in the history of the Walt Disney Studio that two movies were being made at the same time — The Lion King and Pocahontas.”
He continued: “Pocahontas was seen as the prestige film (Minkoff said Jeffrey Katzenberg had called it ‘a home run’ and described it as ‘West Side Story meets Romeo & Juliet meets Dances with Wolves‘), while The Lion King was more of an experimental doodle. Katzenberg promised that if The Lion King made $50 million, he’d get down on his hands and knees. When the movie tidily made that, the producer and directors held him to his promise. We made him do it!”
They discussed how bad the original “Circle of Life” really was and how they landed Mark Henn, a legendary Disney animator, to work up the villain…no, Simba.
“I was excited to put the princess aside for the change and looked to do something different,” Henn said. “What really attracted me was Scar. I campaigned to get the character and had this Rex Reed version of Scar. I wanted to get out of my princes box.” But others thought he was better suited for Simba, the most important character in the movie. “I had some very good council who told me, ‘Simba is the key to this movie. If Simba doesn’t work, the movie doesn’t work.’ It’s hard to say no to that.”
This was a fun, fun experience for fans who may have learned for the first time: Timon and Pumbaa Originally Sang ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’ only to have Elton John put them in their place, saying “You destroyed my song. The only reason I did this movie was to write a big Disney love song” Minkoff recounted.
The Lion King will be coming back out on home video, with the film getting its first-ever digital release, thanks to Disney Movies Anywhere. It’ll be on digital August 15 and on Blu-ray August 29
While it was never confirmed during the panel, X-Men star Hugh Jackman is rumored to be provided the voice behind the famous villain Scar.
James Earl Jones has been announced to reprise his role as Mufasa, the role he originated in the 1994 animated movie, and Donald Glover is providing his voice as the up and coming king Simba. Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen will be the voices behind Timon and Pumbaa, and John Oliver is playing the red-billed hornbill Zazu, the king’s majordomo.
The Lion King is slated to hit theaters on July 19, 2019.
