I watched the original Lion King so much as a kid. I loved the animation and the songs. So, when I saw the trailer for the remake- it was a stab in the back. I don’t understand the point of even calling the remake “Live Action” when the only thing that is not made by computers in the movie is the first opening scene with the sun. That’s it.
There are many changes between the original and the remake. Here are a few:
Be Prepared is no longer the banger it was known for. Scar doesn’t really sing it, it’s more according to my roommate “dramatic poetry”. I agree with her. The scene isn’t as dramatic as it is in the original movie.
Also, Scar wants Sarabi to be his queen. It makes everything REALLY weird. I know this was supposed to be in the original movie, but they cut it out. SO WHY DID THEY PUT IT BACK IN? It makes me uncomfortable just thinking about it. If I could’ve skipped the scenes in the movie theater I would have.
Timon also doesn’t do his hula dance in the movie to distract the hyenas, instead he sings “Be Our Guest”. I don’t really mind this change since they both are equally funny.
My main issue with the remake is the look of everything. The lions have no expressions. You may think that lions have only two expressions, but they are just as emotive as humans. It was hard to watch Mufasa’s death scene since it was so hard to cry. I could barely tell that Simba was sad. I have always cried watching that scene in the original, but in the remake it’s hard to feel ANY emotion. Simba always has the same damn expression. If you muted the sound, you would not be able to tell what anyone was feeling.
Another issue I have is Simba’s voice acting, mostly when he is a kid. I know it’s hard for kids to act, but the original voice actor did a way better job than the new voice actor. His singing voice is especially weird; I’m guessing they auto-tuned his voice. I just don’t like it as much as the original.
In all, if I had a choice of watching the original Lion King and the remake, I would always choose the original. The songs and acting are better. I enjoy watching 2D animation more, and the characters actually have emotions. Beyoncé may be in the remake but that doesn’t change my opinion.
I would rate the movie a 6.5/10. It’s okay, just not that good. If you really want to relive your childhood, just watch the original.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UW Stout chapter.