While we were all settling into our food comas on Thanksgiving, Disney decided to give us something to talk about: a new Lion King teaser trailer! The live-action remake will be coming out in July of 2019. We learned about the star-studded cast earlier this year: Donald Glover, Billy Eichner and Seth Rogan, to name a few. We also learned that queen Beyoncé would be playing the female lead, Nala. But most notably, we learned that James Earl Jones would be reprising his role as Mufasa. The trailer has been highly anticipated, and it already has over 50 million views on YouTube:
The trailer received a mixed reaction from viewers. Here’s what we can tell so far:
The Movie Will Be CGI
When we heard that the movie would be “live-action,” no one knew exactly what that meant. Obviously, we knew they weren’t training lions and warthogs to sing, but we weren’t sure what they were going for. My first thought was something along the lines of the attire in Lion King the Musical, where they vaguely look like the animals but are still human. Instead, they went for a similar approach to the new Jungle Book movie that came out in 2016. The images are computer generated, but they’re very realistic and absolutely stunning. Whether you’re happy about this or not, you can’t deny the cuteness of CGI baby Simba.
The Movie Should Be Very Similar to the Original
Another thing that was unclear before the trailer was what the script of this new movie would be like. Would there be major rewrites? Would the plot change at all? Would we still get all of the songs we know and love? While nothing has been officially stated, we do know that every scene in the trailer mirrors a scene in the original. It even had the original version of “Circle of Life.” This doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be a shot-for-shot remake, but it does mean that the movie should have a very similar plot and story to the original rather than a whole new telling of the story.
James Earl Jones Has Still Got It
When the trailer begins, the first thing we hear is that familiar voice stating that “everything the light touches is our kingdom.” Let me tell you, that got the tears flowing. Disney clearly realized that no one else could match that incredible, unmistakable voice. As soon as I heard it, so many amazing memories flooded back. He’s truly the only one who can voice Mufasa, and it will be really exciting to have that again. Just don’t think about that one scene…
Some people are thrilled to relive their childhood in a new way. Others are sick of the remakes and just want new content. I’m personally looking forward to this new movie. The original Lion King was always my favorite as a kid. Plus they have an all-star cast, stunning CGI, and a beautiful trailer that brought back childhood memories. Whether you are excited or nervous about the movie, it will be interesting to see what Disney does with the remake. After all, it is the circle of life!