“There have been so many times that you drag me to a movie that I would have never seen otherwise, and it’s really good” Quoth the BFFF later that weekend in Jersey, when we were on the subject of The Lion King, which yes I dragged him to (although Long Shot was the specific example he mentioned). While I technically didn’t make him see The Lion King with me, I told him that I had every intention of seeing it that one day that we had to hang in NYC, so he could come with or meet me later. He made the right choice.
Man Disney is really cramming in these live action remakes, huh? Well “live action” in this case. Practically shot for shot in this case. Which meant that I had to brace myself for a certain scene involving a certain daddy lion voiced by a certain actor.
The animation looked beautiful, and the new voice cast was pretty great. But just like all the others of these, a week later I’ve forgotten about it. Any emotional moments I was feeling were mostly echoed off what the animated version makes me feel. I listened to the soundtrack so many times as a kid, that hearing it in this version triggered automatic responses in me.
So if it was all the same stuff, was it even worth it? Absolutely! It was about re-experiencing something I love in a new way. For the most part, what I was really living for were the new ad libs and small variations. The best of those came from Timon and Pumba, voiced to perfection by Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen. They were what made it all worth it ,and I want a whole movie of just them.
Oh also, stay thru the end credits. There’s a cool Swahili (I think) version of “He Lives in You” from the Broadway show. I’d really hoped they’d have worked that song into the film, but it was a nice bonus at the end.
The lion King – \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/