Disney has been on a roll giving their passionate fan base simultaneous love letters to technology and their storied animated past. Many of their animation classics have come to life with live action flicks that have lit up the box office, including three in 2019 alone. There was Dumbo, Aladdin and now The Lion King. All three were hits, but none in the league that Simba and his pals are inhabiting currently. The film, which is now out on Blu-Ray, DVD and digital formats, banked $1.629 billion and is now the highest grossing live action film in The Mouse House’s history that didn’t come from Pixar, Lucasfilm or Marvel.
Back in 1994, a little movie that could arrived in cinemas that told a slightly varied version of Shakespeare’s Hamlet landed and audiences were enamored. It was a remarkable achievement in animation and scored Oscars for Best Original Song (Elton John’s Can You Feel the Love Tonight) and Best Score (Hans Zimmer). It was buzzed about for Best Picture but failed to secure one of those then five spots. One could argue that the Best Animated Feature category, launched in 2002, was in part spurred on by the fact that there was no place for a film like The Lion King to win Oscar gold, other than with music. Over the years, its’ adoring fan base has grown exponentially and even produced a Broadway musical sensation that has toured the world.
With so many of Disney’s animated classics getting the live action treatment, it became a question of when, not if, they would tackle their iconic The Lion King. The key, for many, had to be technology and finding the right filmmaker to even consider the possibility of crafting something that could tarnish the legacy of the original flick. When Jon Favreau stunned the world with his live action version of The Jungle Book, Disney knew they had the man who could achieve greatness in this rapidly emerging realm. Thankfully, they waited for technology to catch up to the point where the visuals of The Lion King 2019 would have you insisting that that was a real lion that Favreau yelled, “action” to instead of a CG crafted character.
Now, we could have a whole different article written about does a film get to call itself live action if everything in the field of audience vision is generated by a computer? So many animated films in 2019 are done on computer anyway, right?! But, that’s neither here nor there for this The Lion King Blu-Ray review.
The thing is, our thoughts are well documented in our theatrical The Lion King review. What we cherished and wholeheartedly embraced when Favreau’s flick was in theaters was the technical wizardry that seemed to know no bounds. Those are the very reasons why this Blu-Ray release is firmly a must-own. Disney, traditionally, produces some extraordinary home video releases and knows the importance of bonus features that run the gamut from making-ofs, to answering questions such as, “how did they do that?” and entertaining pieces that make us laugh at the most, smile at the least and generally be mesmerized by the filmmaking prowess exhibited by every artist that was tapped to collectively create moviemaking genius.
The jaw-dropping marveling that I felt witnessing The Lion King 2019 was only enhanced exponentially by the over an hour of extras that send the Blu-Ray release into the stratosphere of awesomeness.
Backing up a bit, one must salute the casting by Favreau and his team. After all, you cannot remake a classic unless everyone involved goes over the ensemble creation with the most astute of insightful work. Donald Glover is a revelation as Simba and matching him note-for-note, literally, is Beyoncé as Simba’s boyhood friend/adulthood romantic interest, Nala. The two are incredible together and as they frolic, we have fun, as they sing, we soar. Flawless casting. Also riveting choices are Seth Rogen as Pumbaa and Billy Eichner as Timon. Those were not easy feet (and hooves) to replicate as Nathan Lane gave what has become an iconic turn as Timon in the original and Ernie Sabella did the same with Pumbaa. But, those two are forgotten (not fully, we promise!) the moment Simba’s fate runs right smack into Timon and Pumbaa. In another stroke of genius, they brought back James Earl Jones as Simba’s dad, Mufasa. I mean, who else could they even remotely think about for that role other than the master?!
Where Jeremy Irons chilled us to our core as Scar, dare we say the turn by Chiwetel Ejiofor feels even more sinister and that sibling rivalry is given a fresh swath of fear that further explains how Simba would witness one thing and then disappear for what seems like forever to his pride. John Oliver is stellar as Zazu, with Keegan-Michael Key’s Kamari just slaying it.
Another wise decision, in terms of the extras, was to focus on the music. As the first film was so legendary with its score and songs, focusing on the new music and how the classic tracks were utilized is both entertaining and wholly enlightening.
The Journey to ‘The Lion King is a three-part documentary that could not do a better job at chronicling the life story that was the making of this movie. The terrific trifecta are The Music, The Magic and The Timeless Tale. The music behind-the-scenes featurette is a perfect place to start, given the legacy Lion King and music have collectively. The cast and crew offer priceless interviews that not only showcase how it came together, but even more effectively, puts it into a larger societal context and one can see (even more than prior) why this production is so beloved.
The Magic takes us to the front lines of how Favreau and his team intertwined live action landscapes with their CG created animal characters. As mentioned previously, waiting for the right tech to be available was key to being able to successfully pull this off and as seen in The Magic, that technology was invaluable to making this dream a reality.
The final of the three part featurette, The Timeless Tale, find select members of the cast and filmmakers waxing poetic about the rich legacy of the 1994 film and how the 2019 incarnation enhances that and pushes it further. Prepare to nod in agreement throughout this particular bonus feature!
Disney has always pushed hands-on experience to adding layers to everything they do, for example, filmmakers heading to Scandinavia for Frozen. Perfecting the Pride gives us a front row seat to when filmmakers went to Africa to immerses themselves in the world of The Lion King that they would be recreating for the live action remake. It is unreal the amount of inspiration that can occur on these trips and the bonus features that most assuredly arrives on these Disney home video releases do an impeccable job at capturing how first-hand muses spawn picture perfect motion pictures.
Speaking of pride, Pride Lands Pedia follows the friendly dung beetle as the creature offers insight into his so-called “roll” through the African landscape—giving viewers a literal birds eye, er, sorry—bug’s eye—view of the rich environment that serves as our Lion locale.
There’s also Protect the Pride, a prideful altruistic benefit that found Favreau and the Lion Recovery Fund showcasing how conservationists are doing their best to ensure a future for the titular creatures that could not be more integral to the future of natural life in Africa. This is also a fantastic featurette to inspire your young ones into action to do their part to help the planet that they inherit.
More to Be Scene finds viewers heading into the recording studio and brilliantly gives us layer-by-layer progressions of some of most important moments in The Lion King—specifically The Circle of Life, I Just Can’t Wait to be King and Hakuna Matata. Especially for longtime fans of the institution that is The Lion King, this is one bonus featurette you do not want to miss.
Since MTV never shows us videos anymore, the inclusion of two music videos is a delight, Never Too Late from Elton John and Spirit from Beyoncé.
Song Selection gives us a number of sing-along versions of various beloved songs that will allow you to channel your inner The Lion King characters with old and new classics, Circle of Life, I Just Can’t Wait to be King, Be Prepared, Hakuna Matata, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Spirit and Never Too Late.
Given that the man who made this happen from those early stages of discussion, Favreau, was so integral to the movie magic that hit theaters and now must sit in your video library, turn on that filmmaker commentary track for further appreciation for what Favreau does and has done. In some ways, we get inside his mind to see how he was inspired to tackle whatever creative expressions are on his filmmaking dance card. The man is a genius.
Film Grade: B
Bonus Features: A+