“Hakuna Matata” is reduced to the backing sound of Timon, Pumbaa, and Simba simply walking through the jungle. Similarly, Scar’s menacing “Be Prepared” lose some of its power when the hyenas’ response is muted by the CGI animals’ limited mobility.
The 2019 edition strips “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” of its mischievous fun by eliminating (for understandable reasons) the psychedelic elements. * Simba and Nala perched atop an ostrich that crowned a tower composed partly of zebras, giraffes, and hippos as the prince belted his anthem. The 1994 “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King,” sung by Jason Weaver (though young Simba was voiced by Jonathan Taylor Thomas), was a kaleidoscopic sequence that shone in no small part because of the hilarious physical hijinks of the animals surrounding the young lion. The gaps between the original’s ebullience and the comparatively prosaic remake are most obvious in the new film’s early musical scenes. The ensuing film is an uncanny production, a sometimes bizarre mélange of Planet Earth–esque visuals and youthful, animalian dialogue. The remake’s divergences yield uneven results, and ditching the wondrous possibility of animation creates a quandary: Cartoon chameleons resting near animated lions are one thing, but it’s harder to place lifelike renderings of these creatures next to each other on a sun-drenched savanna and make the whole scene look natural.
But even if Millennial audiences are capable of feeling the devastation of Mufasa’s death anew, the 2019 movie presents larger concerns. The new Lion King hews closely to the original’s script Disney teased the overlaps with a trailer that replicated the early-’90s promotional video shot for shot. The Jon Favreau–directed movie is at once a nostalgia play- Some millennials have kids of their own now!-and an attempt by the company to reach younger audiences. As such, it’s both a stand-alone work and a fascinating example of Disney’s competing business and artistic priorities. The new Lion King is among the first few in the litany of live-action remakes that the entertainment conglomerate has begun debuting. The forthcoming CGI remake of the film, which will have its wide release next Friday, demands a bit more of the adults who grew up with the tale.
But the royal intrigue and interspecies relationships were tied together with some undeniably catchy musical sequences, and the vividly rendered animations created a dynamic cinematic universe. Yes, animals of all stripes communed in relative harmony before that. Sure, there was a Hamlet-esque regicide plot line among some lions. For the Millennials who experienced The Lion King as children, Disney’s mega-popular 1994 animated feature likely didn’t require much suspension of disbelief.
0 kommentar(er)
