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The Lion King (2019 film)

The Lion King is a 2019 American musical drama film directed by Jon Favreau, written by Jeff Nathanson, and produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Fairview Entertainment. It is a photorealistic animated remake of Disney's traditionally animated 1994 film The Lion King. The film stars the voices of Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alfre Woodard, Billy Eichner, John Kani, John Oliver, Florence Kasumba, Eric André, Keegan-Michael Key, JD McCrary, Shahadi Wright Joseph, with Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, and James Earl Jones (reprising his voice role). The plot follows Simba, a young lion who must embrace his role as the rightful king of his homeland following the murder of his father, Mufasa, at the hands of his uncle, Scar.

The Lion King

Jon Favreau

Jeff Nathanson

Disney's The Lion King[1]
  • Jon Favreau
  • Jeffrey Silver
  • Karen Gilchrist

Caleb Deschanel

Hans Zimmer

Walt Disney Studios
Motion Pictures

  • July 9, 2019 (2019-07-09) (Hollywood)
  • July 19, 2019 (2019-07-19) (United States)

118 minutes[2]

United States

English

$250–260 million[3][4]

$1.663 billion[5]

Plans for a remake of 1994's The Lion King were confirmed in September 2016 following box office successes for Disney remakes such as The Jungle Book (2016). Favreau was inspired by certain roles of characters in the Broadway adaptation and developed upon elements of the original film's story. Much of the main cast signed in early 2017, and principal photography began in mid-2017 on a blue screen stage in Los Angeles. The "virtual-reality tools" utilized in The Jungle Book's cinematography were used to a greater degree during filming of The Lion King. Composers Hans Zimmer, Elton John, and lyricist Tim Rice returned to compose the score alongside Knowles-Carter, who assisted John in the reworking of the soundtrack and wrote a new song for the film, titled "Spirit", which she also performed. The film is one of the most expensive films ever made, as well as the most-expensive Disney live-action remake.


The Lion King premiered in Hollywood, Los Angeles on July 9, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 19, 2019, in the Dolby Cinema, RealD 3D, and IMAX formats. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but was a hit at the box-office, grossing over $1.6 billion worldwide during its theatrical run, and broke several box-office records, including becoming the highest-grossing animated film of all time since August 2019. It also became the seventh-highest-grossing film of all time and the second-highest-grossing film of 2019, as well as the highest-grossing Disney readaptation to date. The film received nominations for Best Animated Feature Film and Original Song categories at the 77th Golden Globe Awards and 25th Critics' Choice Awards. It was also nominated at 73rd British Academy Film Awards and 92nd Academy Awards, both for visual effects. A prequel film, titled Mufasa: The Lion King, is set for release on December 20, 2024, with Barry Jenkins attached to direct.

Plot

In the Pride Lands of Africa, a pride of lions rule over the animal kingdom from Pride Rock. King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi present their newborn son, Simba, to the gathering animals by Rafiki the mandrill, the kingdom's shaman and advisor.


Mufasa shows Simba the Pride Lands and explains to him the responsibilities of kingship and the "circle of life", which connects all living things. Mufasa's younger brother, Scar, covets the throne and plots to get rid of Mufasa and Simba, so he may become king. One day, Simba and his best friend Nala explore an elephant graveyard, where they are chased by a clan of spotted hyenas led by the ruthless Shenzi. Mufasa hears about the incident from his majordomo, the hornbill Zazu, and rescues the cubs. Though upset with Simba for disobeying him and putting himself and Nala in danger, Mufasa forgives him and explains that the great kings of the past watch over them from the night sky, from which he will one day watch over Simba. Meanwhile, Scar, who planned the whole thing, visits the hyenas and convinces them to help him overthrow Mufasa in exchange for hunting rights in the Pride Lands.


Scar sets a trap for Mufasa and Simba, luring Simba into a gorge and having the hyenas drive a large herd of wildebeest into a stampede that will trample him. He informs Mufasa of Simba's peril, knowing that he will rush to save him. Mufasa saves Simba but ends up hanging perilously from the gorge's edge. Scar refuses to help Mufasa, instead sending him falling to his death. He then tricks Simba into thinking that the tragedy was his fault and tells him to leave the Pride Lands and never return. He orders the hyenas to kill him, but Simba escapes. Scar tells the pride that the stampede killed Mufasa and Simba and steps forward as the new king, allowing the hyenas to live in the Pride Lands.


Two outcasts, Timon and Pumbaa, a meerkat and warthog, rescue Simba, who collapses in a desert. Simba grows up in the oasis with his two new friends and other animals, living a carefree life under the motto "hakuna matata" ("no worries" in Swahili).


A grown-up Simba rescues Timon and Pumbaa from a hungry lioness, who turns out to be Nala. She and Simba reunite and fall in love, and she urges him to return home, telling him that the Pride Lands have become a drought-stricken wasteland under Scar's reign. Out of guilt of supposedly causing Mufasa's death, Simba refuses and storms off. He then encounters Rafiki, who tells him that Mufasa's spirit lives on in Simba. Simba is visited by the ghost of Mufasa in the night sky, who tells him that he must take his rightful place as king. Realizing that he'd been running from his past for too long, Simba decides to return to the Pride Lands.


Aided by his friends, Simba sneaks past the hyenas at Pride Rock and confronts Scar, who was about to fight Sarabi. Scar taunts Simba over his role in Mufasa's death and backs him to the edge of the rock, where he reveals to him that he murdered Mufasa. Enraged, Simba tells the truth to the rest of the pride. Scar attempts to defend himself, but his knowledge of Mufasa's last moment (despite having previously claimed that he arrived too late at the gorge) exposes his role in Mufasa's death. Timon, Pumbaa, Rafiki, Zazu, and the lionesses fend off the hyenas while Scar, attempting to escape, is cornered at a ledge near the top of Pride Rock. Scar begs for mercy and attempts to blame his crimes on the hyenas; Simba spares his life but orders him to leave the Pride Lands forever. Scar refuses and attacks Simba, but Simba throws him off the cliff after a brief fight. Scar survives the fall but gets attacked and mauled to death by the hyenas, who overheard his attempt to betray them. Afterward, Simba takes over the kingship and makes Nala his queen.


With the Pride Lands restored to its usual state, Rafiki presents Simba and Nala's newborn cub to the assembled animals, continuing the circle of life.

Donald Glover

[6]

as Pumbaa:
A slow-witted warthog who befriends and adopts a young Simba after he runs away from home. Rogen said, "[a]s an actor, I [...] don't think I'm right for every role—there are a lot of roles I don't think I'm right for even in movies I'm making—but Pumbaa was one I knew I could do well".[7] Favreau encouraged Rogen and Timon's Billy Eichner, who did their voice recordings together, to improvise a lot.[8] Rogen's casting would also mark the first time that Pumbaa was not played by Ernie Sabella, who had reprised the role for every Disney project the character was involved in up to that point.

Seth Rogen

as Scar:
The treacherous brother of Mufasa, the brother-in-law of Sarabi and the uncle of Simba who seeks to take the mantle of king of the Pride Lands. Ejiofor described Scar as more "psychologically possessed" and "brutalized" than in the original film.[7] Ejiofor said that "especially with Scar, whether it's a vocal quality that allows for a certain confidence or a certain aggression, to always know that at the end of it you're playing somebody who has the capacity to turn everything on its head in a split second with outrageous acts of violence—that can completely change the temperature of a scene".[7] Ejiofor also said that "[Scar and Mufasa's] relationship is completely destroyed and brutalized by Scar's way of thinking. He's possessed with this disease of his own ego and his own want".[6] Favreau said of casting Ejiofor, "[He] is just a fantastic actor, who brings us a bit of the mid-Atlantic cadence and a new take on the character. He brings that feeling of a Shakespearean villain to bear because of his background as an actor. It's wonderful when you have somebody as experienced and seasoned as Chiwetel; he just breathes such wonderful life into this character."[1]

Chiwetel Ejiofor

as Sarabi:
The Queen of the Pride Lands, Mufasa's wife, and Simba's mother.

Alfre Woodard

as Timon:
A wise-cracking meerkat who befriends and adopts a young Simba after he runs away from home. Eichner described Timon as "physically the smallest character, but he has one of the bigger personalities, and I love the combination of those two things. I kind of played into Timon, as I've done with many characters of mine, [the notion that] he might be small in stature but he has a huge sense of entitlement, which is always funny to play," and that "when Timon speaks and when he's quote-unquote 'being funny', he's very loud and boisterous, but [his] singing allows this vulnerable side, a slightly softer side, especially in 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight' and other moments."[8] Eichner also talked about having "what some may consider a gay sensibility" that he brought to the table when he voiced Timon.[9]

Billy Eichner

as Rafiki:
A wise mandrill who serves as the shaman of the Pride Lands, and a close friend of Mufasa's.[10] Likening his role to that of a grandfather, Kani said, "Rafiki reminds all of us of that special wise relative. His wisdom, humor and his loyalty to the Mufasa dynasty is what warms our hearts towards him. [He's] always happy and wisecracking jokes as lessons of life and survival."[1]

John Kani

as Zazu:
A hornbill who is the majordomo to the King of the Pride Lands. Speaking of his role, Oliver said, "I think Zazu is basically a bird who likes structure. He just wants things to be as they should be. I think there are British echoes there because we tend to favor structure in lieu of having an emotional reaction to anything."[1]

John Oliver

Beyoncé Knowles-Carter

[11]

as Mufasa:
The King of the Pride Lands, Sarabi's husband and the father of Simba. Jones reprises his role from the original 1994 animated film. According to Favreau, Jones' lines remain mostly the same from the original film.[7] Ejiofor said that "the comfort of [Jones reprising his role] is going to be very rewarding in taking [the audience] on this journey again. It's a once-in-a-generation vocal quality".[7][14] Favreau saw Jones' return as "carrying the legacy across" the original film and the remake, and felt that his voice's change in tonality compared to the original film "served the role well because he sounds like a king who's ruled for a long time".[15]

James Earl Jones

Keegan-Michael Key, and Eric André voice Shenzi, Kamari, and Azizi: The Matriarch of the spotted hyena clan and her two lieutenants who join forces with Scar in order to kill Mufasa. While Shenzi is a character that was featured in the original 1994 animated film, Kamari and Azizi are the respective names of new characters loosely based on Banzai and Ed from the original film. The hyenas' characterizations were heavily altered from the original film's, as Favreau felt that they "had to change a lot" to fit the remake's realistic style, stating that "[a] lot of the stuff around them [in the original film] was very stylised".[16] Kasumba elaborated, declaring that "[t]hose hyenas were funny. These hyenas are dangerous."[1] Kasumba also voices Shenzi in the German dub of the film.[17]

Florence Kasumba

Additionally, Penny Johnson Jerald voices Sarafina, Nala's mother.[1] Amy Sedaris, Chance the Rapper, Josh McCrary, and Phil LaMarr voice a guineafowl, a bushbaby, an elephant shrew, and a topi (miscredited as an impala), respectively, Timon and Pumbaa's neighbors in the oasis.[1][18] J. Lee voices a hyena that chases after Timon and Pumbaa.[1]

Release

Theatrical

The Lion King premiered in Hollywood on July 9, 2019.[73] The film was theatrically released in the United States on July 19, 2019,[74] in IMAX and 3D.[75][76] It is one of the first theatrical films to be released on Disney+, alongside Aladdin, Toy Story 4, Frozen II, Captain Marvel, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.[77] The film began its international rollout a week before its domestic release, starting with July 12 in China.[78]

Home media

The Lion King was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Digital HD on October 11, 2019, followed by a DVD, Blu-ray, and Ultra HD Blu-ray release on October 22.[79] It started streaming on Disney+ on January 28, 2020.[80] With the launch of Disney+Hotstar in India on April 3, 2020,[81] the film was made available in India as well in multiple languages.

Reception

Box office

The Lion King grossed $543.638 million in the United States and Canada, and $1.119 billion in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.663 billion.[5]


The film had a global debut of $446 million, the ninth-largest of all time and the biggest opening for an animated film.[82] On July 30, 2019, The Lion King passed the $1 billion mark at the global box office.[83] The Lion King became the highest-grossing animated film of all time,[84][85][N 1] the highest-grossing musical film of all time,[87] the highest-grossing remake of all time, the second-highest-grossing film of 2019,[88] and the seventh-highest-grossing film of all time.[89] Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $580 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.[66]

Official website

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