"Nants ingonyama bagithi baba
Sithi uhhmm ingonyama
Nants ingonyama bagithi baba
Sithi uhhmm ingonyama
Ingonyama
Siyo nqoba
Ingonyama
Ingonyama nengw' enamabaa"
For those of you who can’t read Swahili, or didn’t grow up in the 90’s, those are the famous opening lines to Disney’s The Lion King, and the first lines to The Circle of Life. Arguably one of the best animated films ever created, fans of the film may have reason to rejoice, as it was announced this week that a new, “live action," CGI version of The Lion King is going to be produced, with Jon Favreau tapped to direct. Favreau, is the man behind movies like Elf, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and this years, The Jungle Book, which was a financial and critical success.
Now, I said that fans might have reason to rejoice, and that is because the concept already has had greatly mixed reactions. Some fans are excited to see a new take on this classic film, but many die-hards are apprehensive that the film won’t translate well to a live action CGI format, in part due to the fact that there aren’t any human characters in the film.
We seem to be in an age of Disney remakes; translating classic animated films into live action/CGI combinations. It started with Maleficent, which was not a true remake, but rather a retelling. It continued with Cinderella, Tarzan, The Jungle Book and Pete’s Dragon. Coming soon is Beauty and the Beast, and The Little Mermaid.
Personally, The Lion King would not have been at the top of my list for remakes. It is my absolute favorite film, but I feel there are many Disney movies that would better lend themselves to a live action remake. The top of my list would absolutely be Pocahontas. A truly underrated film, especially when it comes to Disney stock, Pocahontas could easily translate to live action and become a truly magical story of a real life Native American princess.
Next would be Mulan, followed by Aladdin, although, you could have no one as the Genie but the late, great, Robin Williams. Next would be Hercules, the classic Greek myth of the son of Zeus, who goes from "zero to hero."
While this has become the circle of life for Disney, I’m honestly a little worried over this new venture. We need to be prepared for the fact that people may not be "feeling the love" when Favreau's live-action film is released. But, as they say, "Hakuna Matata."
Through my nervousness over the new Lion King project, overall, I’m excited to see this interpretation of my favorite film come to life. Anyone who has seen the broadway version knows that it translated extremely well to stage, so it may be that live action will fare well too.
