Out of all of Disney’s upcoming remakes of their animated movies, THE LION KING could possibly be the king of them all. One of the studio's most cherished classics, THE JUNGLE BOOK’s Jon Favreau is using ground-breaking visual effects to give the story of Simba new life, and now we have the very first footage teasing what he and his team have been working on. If you were to ever grab your tiny pet/child/niece/nephew and hold them up to the sky, shouting the opening LION KING music, now would be the time.
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While I’ve watched all of the recent remakes – like CINDERELLA, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and JUNGLE BOOK – and have a general interest in seeing the upcoming ones (DUMBO, ALADDIN), THE LION KING is the only one I’m excited/nervous about. The 1994 original is my favorite animated movie and is the first movie I ever remember obsessing about. As much as I want to see Favreau work his magic on it as he did JUNGLE BOOK, I can’t help but be worried it won’t be up to snuff. Based on the footage my nerves are slightly more at ease because, frankly, this thing looks absolutely gorgeous. The digital effects look a lot like JUNGLE BOOK (no doubt more refinement to be done over the next few months), and when that music kicks in it's like seeing the iconic scene play out as if through fresh eyes.
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THE LION KING is in theaters July 19, 2019 and stars Donald Glover, Beyonce Knowles-Carter, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Keegan-Michael Key, Alfre Woodard, John Oliver, Eric Andre, Billy Eichner, Seth Rogen and James Earl Jones returning to voice Mufasa as he did in the original movie. So awesome.