LIFESTYLE

The Lion King is officially out today

Hakuna Matata

Helena Saadeh

18-July-2019

The Lion King is officially out today

 25 years after the release of the classic Disney, The Lion King returns to life in 2019. Disney studios have called Jon Favreau (Iron Man, The Book of the Jungle) to make a film in real shots but still, a film digital animation since Jon Favreau did not film moving animals but directly imagined them in CGI. A total of 86 animal species were created and animated from more than 240,000 photos taken during the film crew's trip to the African savannah.  Remaining very faithful to the cartoon, dialogues to the shots, this photo-realistic reboot by Jon Favreau is equally poignant and moral.

The sun rising on the savannah to the sound of The Hymn of Life, the animals marching towards the rock of the king to cheer the little Simba, their future sovereign, presented to the people by the faithful Rafiki ... The Lion King is one of the most beautiful stories that cinema has created. The 2019 version had to be at the height of this sensational opening. And Jon Favreau did not disappoint us. The opening scene where the animals, more real than life, perceive the call of their king and go together to the heart of the kingdom, is equally spectacular and solar. Judged as a technical feat in 1994, the wildebeest scene chasing Simba has kept its intensity 25 years later, just like the scene of Mufasa's astonishing appearance in the stars.

To make this beautiful wildlife more human, actors and renowned artists compose the cast of the voices of King Lion 2.0.  Donald Glover will lend his voice to Simba, Beyoncé to Nala, James Earl Jones to Mufasa, Chiwetel Ejiofor to Scar and Alfre Woodard to Sarabi. On the French side, Jean Reno doubles King Mufasa again, Rayane Bensetti the adult version of Simba and Jamel Debouze the incorrigible Timon.