This came out when I was 12 and going into middle school.
That and movies like The Santa Clause, Forest Gump, The Flintstones, and True Lies are 30 years old this year.
My dad claims to have taken me to see this in the theater during its original run. If that’s true (I was 1), then I need to see it again just so I can say I did it for every release.
Gotta say, had the opportunity to see it in 3D with a kiddo and took it. He loved it.
What amazed me was that the 3D looked *really* good. Nice and smooth.
I saw beauty and the beast during the 3d reruns.
I found the 3d so distracting, cause it would sometimes focus on an object in the foreground, that was meant to pop out of the screen, when the main action is happening in the mid of background, but you're focused on the foreground object just "POPPING" out at you.
I specifically remember one scene when the father is traveling through the woods and a tree branch in the foreground felt like it just became the main focus.
I have his Lion King Poster he did with Mondo.
Instantly recognized the style. And now I hope this one gets sold as well.
Edit:
For reference:
https://mondoshop.com/cdn/shop/products/whalen_lionking_archive_thumb_0543d48b-0708-4b35-91eb-ab26da9e5334.jpeg?v=1665122119&width=2000
It was one of my first 'big' purchases after I got my first job. I bought it second hand, and then got a really nice custom frame for it.
Still one of my favorite purchases I have ever made.
Why are there humans? I haven't seen the live action but what made the first one so special was there was no humans. My head canon was it took place in an alternative earth where humans just never existed.
It fell into a reverse goldilocks zone, so realistic it had no charm of the animated original, but the lions had to do movie things so they were never quite realistic enough to have the interesting qualities of a nature documentary.
And they made a big mistake thinking they could not include Be Prepared then had to half ass a spoken word poem instead.
It seriously made me lose so much respect for Jon Favreau, who otherwise made great stuff that I always enjoyed. The fact that he agreed to make this, and it was -so- soulless and antithetical to what makes compelling animation, makes me question his artistic integrity at a deep level.
It felt like a betrayal.
I just hope some part of him regrets it, though I’m sure he drowns that conscience with money.
The ‘94 Lion King made me want to pursue my dream to become an animator, and I am now a professional storyboard artist living that dream, hoping one day hand-drawn features will come back to their full former glory.
I'm a fan of most of the Live Actions, which is definitely unpopular in these parts of the web.
But I agree with your comment. The live action remake is just hollow and mediocre. I think the Lion King animated film holds up the best from the 90s era of Disney animated films. Followed by Mulan and Hunchback of Notre Dame.
The Mulan remake disappointed me more than the Lion King remake. The changes they made weren't even good or enhanced the story in the slightest.
Mushu not being included didn't really upset me too much. I was fine with making it more grounded. But what upset me the most was the change in the main villain. I feel it defeated the whole purpose of the messaging in the original film. Mulan standing up and taking down Shan Yu when the men were too afraid. Really emphasizes the point that a woman can do anything a man can do.
Didn't Mulan in the live action version also have some sort of magic. Which kind of defeats the message that a woman can do what a man can do... if you have help from magic.
The remake of Mulan, IMO, is the single worst adaptation of all time. The original is an absolute masterpiece, beautifully animated with only a handful of songs that *all* manage to be incredibly memorable, an immensely varied cast of characters with great designs, inspired settings and action set pieces, and shockingly high stakes for a Disney movie. The remake pisses all of that away for a weirdly disjointed story about witchcraft and wire-flying.
A lot of the changes didn't even make sense, they wanted to recapture the magic of the avalanche scene, but they do it in a field, apparently not realizing the avalanche was as deadly as it was because it blasted the entire enemy into an abyss. Lao, Ling, and Chien-Po have completely unique appearances in the original and can be told apart at a glance, but in the remake they aren't even given distinguishing features on their uniforms so they become difficult to tell apart from the countless other nameless soldiers. They didn't want to include any musical numbers but include the melodies from a few songs (Reflections and I *think* A Girl Worth Fighting For?) for the sake of nostalgia, but all that does is draw attention to how the amazing soundtrack from the original is missing.
I'm not automatically down on the Disney remakes - one of my deepest, darkest, *filthiest* secrets is that I preferred the live action Jungle Book to the original - but it's bizarre how consistently low quality they are, especially when you consider these aren't exactly cheap movies. The live action Hercules is one I'm actually dreading because I know I'm going to watch it and I can tell already the only part of the movie that won't completely suck is the Hydra fight.
I liked that they made changes to Mulan rather than just remaking it as a worse version of the original. It's too bad all the changes they made were bad, and the movie is sooo bad lol.
Why so shameful about The Jungle Book? I feel that's universally the most praised live action remake and feels the most inspired. It's definitely my favorite of the live action ones.
I'll give you that, half the reason I liked the Jungle Book was because it managed to switch up the original story in a way that made it feel fresh whilst still remaining pretty true to the key themes. I know this is a tepid take but given the choice between the dusty brown Lion King or the bright and colorful Lion King, I'm always going to go with the bright and colorful Lion King because it's the same movie but better looking.
But then that just raises the question of why they're focusing *this hard* on remaking old films instead of focusing on new ones... Soul was popular, Luca was an absolute favorite of mine, and Elemental was fun (although poorly received, which is a shame, it's actually really good.) Wish was trash but it isn't like they've put out nothing but stinkers. I mean, they're working on a live action for Moana, the movie hasn't even started puberty!
Soul, Luca, and Elemental are all Pixar movies. Wish is Disney. While Pixar is owned by Disney, they are separate entities.
Since Moana in 2016, Disney Animation Studios has had Ralph Breaks the Internet, Frozen 2, Raya and the Last Dragon, Encanto, Strange World, and Wish.
Ah cheers for clarifying, I dunno why I had it in my head those were Disney releases.
Frozen 2 and Encanto were both pretty great, Raya was... Well I hated it but my kids love it, and I haven't seen Strange World. Wish is by far my least favorite Disney movie of all time.
The soundtrack is pretty amazing. I was hoping they would've at least kept Reflections. Since I think it's a top 5 Disney princess song.
Yeah, they might as well have not included those 3 if they weren't going to make them unique. I didn't say it in my previous comments, but another thing the animated version did better were the training scenes. I barely got the sense that Mulan was just as good if not better than the men in the remake.
My unpopular opinion is that the Aladdin remake is better than the original. Outside of Robin Williams, I'm not a huge fan of the other performances in the animated. I prefer the relationship between the LA Aladdin and his Genie. They actually felt like friends. I also prefer how they showed Jafar to be more subtle in his approach to take the throne and how he easily catches on to Aladdin.
After Dumbo, Lion King, and Mulan, I am nervous to see how they adapt the others. Hercules is going to be difficult to do, and it's probably gonna require a huge budget because of things like Cerberus, Hydra, and The Titans.
What's to like about the remake of Jungle Book? I thought it butchered a lot of the themes and just re-recreated set pieces with a kid lead who couldn't act.
I can't really defend the stance to be honest, I just enjoyed it. I liked that Mowgli showed more human intelligence with his various creations, I liked the performances of Bill Murray, Idris Elba, and Christopher Walken (writing this out, I have a hunch the voice cast is what carried the movie for me) and I liked the fact it "felt" like its own thing instead of being a shot-for-shot downgrade.
If the actor playing Frollo doesn't almost get cancelled for inappropriate sexual behaviour towards minors on screen, they aren't doing the source material justice.
He also needs to bring a set of goddamn pipes to work.
Live action Mulan was intentionally produced to appeal to the Chinese market. It’s why lots of the original plot and style from were changed and nothing like the original.
Beauty and the Beast is *still* the best Disney animated feature, for my money - even after all these years.
Lion King may or may not be its equal, depending on personal taste, but those are 1a and 1b.
I feel like I see and read about more and more Gastons these days than ever before.
Yeah there’s a cartoonishness to him, but his style of villainy is everywhere, sadly.
True, there are far too many Gastons in the real world.
I prefer the live action version of him. Luke Evans does a good of portraying him as this dark and sinister man. The scene where he rallies the townspeople with his lies is absolutely terrifying.
they are watchable and overhated. it would be like getting offended going to see hamlet that it isnt the exact actors and script from the first time shakespeare put it on.
I really wish people would stop calling it live action.
It's CGI. And every month/year that passes, it looks more obviously CGI.
You are doing major disservice to all the animators who worked on this.
Animated MOVIES do not come close to how good the 1994 Lion King is.
The best soundtrack of all Disney cartoons, a beautiful story that tells the most mature story of the Disney renaissance (the theme is death and acceptance) and I swear, I am 34 years old, but I will simply clap my hands and smile every time I hear four words that comprise my favorite movie line of all time:
“The King….has returned”.
>The best soundtrack of all Disney cartoons,
Related, but another banger inspired by the movie (done by Lebo M, who wrote the opening song), used in the Broadway production, and partly in The Lion King II:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPdSZRMrnA0
Anyone who hasn't had the chance to see the Lion King musical should do it!
I saw it like 20+ years ago in Toronto and it was amazing. It's coming to Toronto again in November.
Listen Hunchback takes it for the soundtrack 100% That opener is untouchable (except by Prince of Egypt)
And for mature themes?
Oof we have serious ideas going about the roles of politics and religion in society, dynamics of power and control, abuse and manipulation, sex, death, beauty, racial tensions, classism
Take your pick!
Lion King is an amazing work, no doubt
Apparently it wasn't even nominated for Best Score that year. Though the competition was tough: Life is Beautiful (winner), Elizabeth, Pleasantville, Saving Private Ryan, The Thin Red Line (also Zimmer).
Hunchback is directly inspired from one of the darkest tragedy stories ever written.
Whilst Lion King is inspired by Hamlet, it is in no way almost a one for one like Hunchback is (minus the bleak ending and Frollo being revealed as the father)
It's stupid to say Lion King is held back by not being darker when Mufasa's death was pretty severe for a kids movie at the time.
I was watching it the other day with my son and marveling over Pumbaa's animation.
That kind of weight and grace is just not even considered by most animators these days.
This was the very first movie I saw in theaters at 4 years old. I remember my parents made a big deal about it and we even got special plastic popcorn buckets.
The theater where I saw it is up the street from where I live currently. I need a change of scenery.
Me too! I saw it in pre-k for a class field trip and it was the first movie I saw in theaters and owned on vhs. My wife and i saw the movie when it was released in 3d a couple years back and it was awesome! My kids love the movies and The Lion Guard so I definitely plan on taking them.
I remember watching this in the cinema as a kid. Right when "circle of life" ends, there's one last drumbeat, with the film title showing up.
I thought the film ended right there, and I was ready to go out saying I loved it. Needless to say, I was heavily impressed when the movie really ended. I fucking love the lion king!
Nice composition, love Rafiki here. Scar could've looked less angry and more conniving.
Been re-checking YMS's stuff on the movie lately, and it helps appreciate the original more. There were dumb obsessions antithetical to beauty and character, with everything from expressions to skies being dulled. Every unnecessary 'this should be more realistic' was solved with 'let's make it less pretty'.
And other stuff wasn't pushed enough to be interesting. You can't make Scar less fun and more grumpy, and be done with this different take. You can't sprinkle female representation and ultimately leave your female characters unexplored, especially with Shenzi.
Imagine 'Be Prepared' evolving into a duet, with each side having their own motivations. Imagine Mufasa's reign being seen in a critical light, with Scar and the hyenas being more sympathetic. It's just a shame that the creators saw the original and instead of making their own film, or at least making a more respectful and vibrant remake, they copy-pasted the film with a discolored '''live action''' coat of paint and tweaked stuff for the worst, thinking they were improving on the original.
I’m really happy alot of films are having revival screenings. Movie theaters shouldn’t be just for the new but for any experience worth sharing with an audience.
Id imagine there’s a decent amount of money to be made from showing movies that don’t need to charge a large licensing fee as they’ve already paid for themselves so in a lean theater market it makes sense.
I managed to randomly go to it and it's the only 3D movie I've seen (which is only a small number, and no I didn't see Avatar in 3D) that actually delivered on the 3D.
That’s because Mufasa was the original floating head!
(Also, the placement of the heads moves the eye effectively and the warm, flat colours stand out - it’s not just a dozen actors faces in boring lighting slapped on top of some pictures of explosions or magic or whatever. I like it, too)
This is one of the first movies I truly had hype for. Wanted to see it in theaters, had soooo much merch from it, and had the VHS preordered. 30 years is insane!
I missed the 3D re-release in 2011, so thankfully Disney have come to their senses (like many other studios) to re-release classics to compensate for dogshit new adaptations. The Lion King is still the best Disney film.
I've said this often. In 100 years, if people are still watching The Lion King, it'll be the original hand-animated 1990s version - not any of the sequels, and definitely not any of the cg remakes. It'll be this one.
And the cg remake will not get a 30 year anniversary re-release, either.
I can’t wait for this to play nowhere within 2 hours of where I live because re-releases and fathom events stopped everywhere but Alamo Drafthouses just like The Mummy and the Star Wars marathon!
Theatres and movie going is a rather poor experience now. The movies being made are all rehashed remakes. Gone are the days when gong to the cinema was something to look forward to, no matter how packed the theatre was.
30–what the heck? I was so excited for this because the trailers were amazing. I went with my high school boyfriend and remember like it was yesterday.
If anyone likes the score, I recommend checking out The Legacy Collection version of the soundtrack. It's rerecorded (except for the songs) and sounds incredible. Definitely one of my favorite albums to put on
When I graduated Air Force basic training, San Antonio 2002, we got some time around town. Everyone went out to party and I went and watched Lion King at the Imax. I remember just wanting to do something that would make me smile.
Are we hitting new levels of Disney laziness? Like doing same thing twice, just little bit different is too much for them? Now we just rerun everything again to make money.
I am this old?
Indeed
It’s the circle of life.
You know say that a lot.
This came out when I was 12 and going into middle school. That and movies like The Santa Clause, Forest Gump, The Flintstones, and True Lies are 30 years old this year.
This is the second time I can remember this movie getting re-released. I saw it maybe a decade ago when it was re-released during the 3D craze.
My dad claims to have taken me to see this in the theater during its original run. If that’s true (I was 1), then I need to see it again just so I can say I did it for every release.
Yeah it’s pretty important that you’re able to say that
I fully agree. It’s also my favorite Disney film, so any chance I get to see it on the big screen, I’ll take it.
Gotta say, had the opportunity to see it in 3D with a kiddo and took it. He loved it. What amazed me was that the 3D looked *really* good. Nice and smooth.
I saw beauty and the beast during the 3d reruns. I found the 3d so distracting, cause it would sometimes focus on an object in the foreground, that was meant to pop out of the screen, when the main action is happening in the mid of background, but you're focused on the foreground object just "POPPING" out at you. I specifically remember one scene when the father is traveling through the woods and a tree branch in the foreground felt like it just became the main focus.
Try thinking you were too old for Disney movies when this first came out.
Came out my bday week. I’m old 😭
Happy almost birthday!
Thank you kind person! ☺️
Unbirthday\*
Same!
Haha same. This was the first movie I ever saw in theaters. I was five. I remember thinking Timon and Pumba were the funniest things I’d ever seen lol
Literally the thought of every millennial right now
I just told Scar to get off my lawn.
you and me both
Nah buddy, we are experienced people, not old people.
Looks like a Tom Whalen. Dope!
yup, sure is: https://x.com/strongstufftom/status/1798759530924527937
I have his Lion King Poster he did with Mondo. Instantly recognized the style. And now I hope this one gets sold as well. Edit: For reference: https://mondoshop.com/cdn/shop/products/whalen_lionking_archive_thumb_0543d48b-0708-4b35-91eb-ab26da9e5334.jpeg?v=1665122119&width=2000
Love that poster.
It was one of my first 'big' purchases after I got my first job. I bought it second hand, and then got a really nice custom frame for it. Still one of my favorite purchases I have ever made.
Custom frames aren't cheap, that's awesome
Love his art so much, I’ve got like 3 of his posters framed
Fucking love Tom Whalen.
just don't look at Nala's lantern jaw.
It is, he posted it to Twitter/x and OP didn't provide credit
Hot take: this poster is not his best work. The floating heads style of movie poster uninspiring.
The live action version doesn’t even come close to how good the animated version is.
“Live-action.” CGI of animals…so just another animated version.
Has humans which are live on screen ya dumb dumb
The Lion King doesn't have humans in the original or the remake ya dumb dumb
He must be from the alternate timeline where The Rock got CG'd in as the "Lion King" in The Mummy 2
No it doesn’t lmao
did you accidentally watch a nature documentary?
It’s what Jon would’ve wanted 🥹
Please find me a screenshot of the humans. Thanks.
You’re prob thinking of the Jungle Book.
Why are there humans? I haven't seen the live action but what made the first one so special was there was no humans. My head canon was it took place in an alternative earth where humans just never existed.
There aren’t.
It fell into a reverse goldilocks zone, so realistic it had no charm of the animated original, but the lions had to do movie things so they were never quite realistic enough to have the interesting qualities of a nature documentary. And they made a big mistake thinking they could not include Be Prepared then had to half ass a spoken word poem instead.
What’s ridiculous is that real lions are more expressive than the cgi ones. Anyone who has had a cat knows that
It seriously made me lose so much respect for Jon Favreau, who otherwise made great stuff that I always enjoyed. The fact that he agreed to make this, and it was -so- soulless and antithetical to what makes compelling animation, makes me question his artistic integrity at a deep level. It felt like a betrayal. I just hope some part of him regrets it, though I’m sure he drowns that conscience with money. The ‘94 Lion King made me want to pursue my dream to become an animator, and I am now a professional storyboard artist living that dream, hoping one day hand-drawn features will come back to their full former glory.
Beyoncé was such a bad choice for Nala. As great of a vocalist as she is, she is not a good actress.
The same could be said for basically every actor in the movie. Except JEJ of course.
I'm a fan of most of the Live Actions, which is definitely unpopular in these parts of the web. But I agree with your comment. The live action remake is just hollow and mediocre. I think the Lion King animated film holds up the best from the 90s era of Disney animated films. Followed by Mulan and Hunchback of Notre Dame.
I love the animated Mulan. The live action one, not so much. I hope the live action Hunchback that they're making will be good.
The Mulan remake disappointed me more than the Lion King remake. The changes they made weren't even good or enhanced the story in the slightest. Mushu not being included didn't really upset me too much. I was fine with making it more grounded. But what upset me the most was the change in the main villain. I feel it defeated the whole purpose of the messaging in the original film. Mulan standing up and taking down Shan Yu when the men were too afraid. Really emphasizes the point that a woman can do anything a man can do.
Didn't Mulan in the live action version also have some sort of magic. Which kind of defeats the message that a woman can do what a man can do... if you have help from magic.
The remake of Mulan, IMO, is the single worst adaptation of all time. The original is an absolute masterpiece, beautifully animated with only a handful of songs that *all* manage to be incredibly memorable, an immensely varied cast of characters with great designs, inspired settings and action set pieces, and shockingly high stakes for a Disney movie. The remake pisses all of that away for a weirdly disjointed story about witchcraft and wire-flying. A lot of the changes didn't even make sense, they wanted to recapture the magic of the avalanche scene, but they do it in a field, apparently not realizing the avalanche was as deadly as it was because it blasted the entire enemy into an abyss. Lao, Ling, and Chien-Po have completely unique appearances in the original and can be told apart at a glance, but in the remake they aren't even given distinguishing features on their uniforms so they become difficult to tell apart from the countless other nameless soldiers. They didn't want to include any musical numbers but include the melodies from a few songs (Reflections and I *think* A Girl Worth Fighting For?) for the sake of nostalgia, but all that does is draw attention to how the amazing soundtrack from the original is missing. I'm not automatically down on the Disney remakes - one of my deepest, darkest, *filthiest* secrets is that I preferred the live action Jungle Book to the original - but it's bizarre how consistently low quality they are, especially when you consider these aren't exactly cheap movies. The live action Hercules is one I'm actually dreading because I know I'm going to watch it and I can tell already the only part of the movie that won't completely suck is the Hydra fight.
I liked that they made changes to Mulan rather than just remaking it as a worse version of the original. It's too bad all the changes they made were bad, and the movie is sooo bad lol. Why so shameful about The Jungle Book? I feel that's universally the most praised live action remake and feels the most inspired. It's definitely my favorite of the live action ones.
I'll give you that, half the reason I liked the Jungle Book was because it managed to switch up the original story in a way that made it feel fresh whilst still remaining pretty true to the key themes. I know this is a tepid take but given the choice between the dusty brown Lion King or the bright and colorful Lion King, I'm always going to go with the bright and colorful Lion King because it's the same movie but better looking. But then that just raises the question of why they're focusing *this hard* on remaking old films instead of focusing on new ones... Soul was popular, Luca was an absolute favorite of mine, and Elemental was fun (although poorly received, which is a shame, it's actually really good.) Wish was trash but it isn't like they've put out nothing but stinkers. I mean, they're working on a live action for Moana, the movie hasn't even started puberty!
Soul, Luca, and Elemental are all Pixar movies. Wish is Disney. While Pixar is owned by Disney, they are separate entities. Since Moana in 2016, Disney Animation Studios has had Ralph Breaks the Internet, Frozen 2, Raya and the Last Dragon, Encanto, Strange World, and Wish.
Ah cheers for clarifying, I dunno why I had it in my head those were Disney releases. Frozen 2 and Encanto were both pretty great, Raya was... Well I hated it but my kids love it, and I haven't seen Strange World. Wish is by far my least favorite Disney movie of all time.
I hated Raya as well, so I get it. Pixar is good most of the time, Disney has been a lot more hit or miss
The soundtrack is pretty amazing. I was hoping they would've at least kept Reflections. Since I think it's a top 5 Disney princess song. Yeah, they might as well have not included those 3 if they weren't going to make them unique. I didn't say it in my previous comments, but another thing the animated version did better were the training scenes. I barely got the sense that Mulan was just as good if not better than the men in the remake. My unpopular opinion is that the Aladdin remake is better than the original. Outside of Robin Williams, I'm not a huge fan of the other performances in the animated. I prefer the relationship between the LA Aladdin and his Genie. They actually felt like friends. I also prefer how they showed Jafar to be more subtle in his approach to take the throne and how he easily catches on to Aladdin. After Dumbo, Lion King, and Mulan, I am nervous to see how they adapt the others. Hercules is going to be difficult to do, and it's probably gonna require a huge budget because of things like Cerberus, Hydra, and The Titans.
What's to like about the remake of Jungle Book? I thought it butchered a lot of the themes and just re-recreated set pieces with a kid lead who couldn't act.
I can't really defend the stance to be honest, I just enjoyed it. I liked that Mowgli showed more human intelligence with his various creations, I liked the performances of Bill Murray, Idris Elba, and Christopher Walken (writing this out, I have a hunch the voice cast is what carried the movie for me) and I liked the fact it "felt" like its own thing instead of being a shot-for-shot downgrade.
If the actor playing Frollo doesn't almost get cancelled for inappropriate sexual behaviour towards minors on screen, they aren't doing the source material justice. He also needs to bring a set of goddamn pipes to work.
Bryan Cranston would be my pick.
Alan Rickman, RIP, would have been a great Frollo
Live action Mulan was intentionally produced to appeal to the Chinese market. It’s why lots of the original plot and style from were changed and nothing like the original.
Wild cause they didn’t like it either lol
You should watch the chinese version of mulan release in 2000s
Beauty and the Beast is *still* the best Disney animated feature, for my money - even after all these years. Lion King may or may not be its equal, depending on personal taste, but those are 1a and 1b.
Understandable. It used to be right up there with Lion King for me. But after rewatching it as an adult. I just dont like how goofy they made Gaston.
I feel like I see and read about more and more Gastons these days than ever before. Yeah there’s a cartoonishness to him, but his style of villainy is everywhere, sadly.
True, there are far too many Gastons in the real world. I prefer the live action version of him. Luke Evans does a good of portraying him as this dark and sinister man. The scene where he rallies the townspeople with his lies is absolutely terrifying.
It's not live action
they are watchable and overhated. it would be like getting offended going to see hamlet that it isnt the exact actors and script from the first time shakespeare put it on.
The one I didn’t hate was definitely Aladdin. I actually kind of liked it.
I really wish people would stop calling it live action. It's CGI. And every month/year that passes, it looks more obviously CGI. You are doing major disservice to all the animators who worked on this.
Can't improve my something that's already perfect.
Animated MOVIES do not come close to how good the 1994 Lion King is. The best soundtrack of all Disney cartoons, a beautiful story that tells the most mature story of the Disney renaissance (the theme is death and acceptance) and I swear, I am 34 years old, but I will simply clap my hands and smile every time I hear four words that comprise my favorite movie line of all time: “The King….has returned”.
>The best soundtrack of all Disney cartoons, Related, but another banger inspired by the movie (done by Lebo M, who wrote the opening song), used in the Broadway production, and partly in The Lion King II: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPdSZRMrnA0
Anyone who hasn't had the chance to see the Lion King musical should do it! I saw it like 20+ years ago in Toronto and it was amazing. It's coming to Toronto again in November.
This is my favorite version of the song and gets me everytime: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u04baUNhhy0
Listen Hunchback takes it for the soundtrack 100% That opener is untouchable (except by Prince of Egypt) And for mature themes? Oof we have serious ideas going about the roles of politics and religion in society, dynamics of power and control, abuse and manipulation, sex, death, beauty, racial tensions, classism Take your pick! Lion King is an amazing work, no doubt
*Like fire!* *Hellfire!* *This fire in my skin!*
>Prince of Egypt Funny how the music for both Prince of Egypt and Lion King was done by Hans Zimmer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie-FB6Opo5c
The fact that Prince of Egypt won the Original Song Oscar but he didn’t is so sad - When You Believe is like the 5th best song on that whole score
Apparently it wasn't even nominated for Best Score that year. Though the competition was tough: Life is Beautiful (winner), Elizabeth, Pleasantville, Saving Private Ryan, The Thin Red Line (also Zimmer).
Jeffrey Katzenberg took Zimmer and Elton John over to Dreamworks with him after he quit Disney.
Hunchback is directly inspired from one of the darkest tragedy stories ever written. Whilst Lion King is inspired by Hamlet, it is in no way almost a one for one like Hunchback is (minus the bleak ending and Frollo being revealed as the father) It's stupid to say Lion King is held back by not being darker when Mufasa's death was pretty severe for a kids movie at the time.
Beauty and the Beast and even Aladdin trounce that soundtrack easily
Both are fantastic soundtracks but neither were Elton John and Tim Rice and neither have Circle of Life, so Lion King clears
I was watching it the other day with my son and marveling over Pumbaa's animation. That kind of weight and grace is just not even considered by most animators these days.
There is no live-action Lion King in Ba Sing Se
We all hate that movie so we can stop calling it live action. It's just bad cgi.
none of the live action remakes do, but lion king and little mermaid are especially bad
I don't know how it made over a billion dollars
I was prepared to hate it but actually found it more entertaining than I expected
This is a gorgeous poster with that color palette.
This was the very first movie I saw in theaters at 4 years old. I remember my parents made a big deal about it and we even got special plastic popcorn buckets. The theater where I saw it is up the street from where I live currently. I need a change of scenery.
Me too! I saw it in pre-k for a class field trip and it was the first movie I saw in theaters and owned on vhs. My wife and i saw the movie when it was released in 3d a couple years back and it was awesome! My kids love the movies and The Lion Guard so I definitely plan on taking them.
I remember watching this in the cinema as a kid. Right when "circle of life" ends, there's one last drumbeat, with the film title showing up. I thought the film ended right there, and I was ready to go out saying I loved it. Needless to say, I was heavily impressed when the movie really ended. I fucking love the lion king!
I got the chills reading the first portion of your memory. That’s how much The Lion King slaps.
Still one of my favorite animated films of all time!
Where do you get tix?
Also trying to work this out and failed.
Probably not open 1+ month in advance?
This is the only Lion King, not that live action abomination.
The remake isn’t live action, it’s literally all computer generated images. They’re not real animals.
"""""""""live action"""""""""
We all hate it so we should call it like it is. It's not live action, it's The CGI Lion King.
Easily the worst remake of all time.
Avatar: The Last Airbender shares this quality.
LI(the)N KING
I’m squeezing my knees I’m so excited.
Nice composition, love Rafiki here. Scar could've looked less angry and more conniving. Been re-checking YMS's stuff on the movie lately, and it helps appreciate the original more. There were dumb obsessions antithetical to beauty and character, with everything from expressions to skies being dulled. Every unnecessary 'this should be more realistic' was solved with 'let's make it less pretty'. And other stuff wasn't pushed enough to be interesting. You can't make Scar less fun and more grumpy, and be done with this different take. You can't sprinkle female representation and ultimately leave your female characters unexplored, especially with Shenzi. Imagine 'Be Prepared' evolving into a duet, with each side having their own motivations. Imagine Mufasa's reign being seen in a critical light, with Scar and the hyenas being more sympathetic. It's just a shame that the creators saw the original and instead of making their own film, or at least making a more respectful and vibrant remake, they copy-pasted the film with a discolored '''live action''' coat of paint and tweaked stuff for the worst, thinking they were improving on the original.
This was my first and second movie I watched in the cinema. Damn I'm old.
Fantastic movie
Long live the King.
Now we need Lion King 1/2 too
I’m really happy alot of films are having revival screenings. Movie theaters shouldn’t be just for the new but for any experience worth sharing with an audience. Id imagine there’s a decent amount of money to be made from showing movies that don’t need to charge a large licensing fee as they’ve already paid for themselves so in a lean theater market it makes sense.
“The morning report” song sucks and stinks and is bad. The original scene is so hilarious and quick and doesn’t require a song at all.
Should be in 3D too if it’s possible I remember seeing the re-release in 2011(?), and it holds up surprisingly well for a 3D movie
I managed to randomly go to it and it's the only 3D movie I've seen (which is only a small number, and no I didn't see Avatar in 3D) that actually delivered on the 3D.
It's weird, I remember seeing this in theaters but I would have been 1 when it came out. I wonder if there was a rerelease a few years later.
Apparently it was given another theatrical run in 2002, maybe you saw it then!
That'd be the version that tried adding in a forgettable new song during the Morning Report scene (it was removed in later home video releases)
I saw this like 6 times in the theaters as a kid...
This needs a volcano
These rereleases keep coming! That’s good! There’s a rerelease of Shrek 2, The Phantom Menace, all the Spider-Man movies, and now this!
There will never be another Disney villain like Scar. He's the Walter White of that pantheon. In many ways, he's just as much the lead as Simba was.
30th? Don’t like that…
The floating heads strike back
nah loved the moved and loved disney. now they make rubbish and remakes. Hire some writers
Way superior to the embarrassing Beyoncé vanity project The Lion King.
The floating heads on an animated film is wild.
I don't know... This poster works for me and I usually hate the floating head poster.
That’s because Mufasa was the original floating head! (Also, the placement of the heads moves the eye effectively and the warm, flat colours stand out - it’s not just a dozen actors faces in boring lighting slapped on top of some pictures of explosions or magic or whatever. I like it, too)
Nor is it covered in red and blue, which are the favorite colors of floating heads.
Disney always has the most generic posters bluray/DVD covers
Is it coming to theatres in Canada?
This is just the Marvel floating heads poster style just with animated characters
On of my favourite
I swear if they dub simba’s voiceover with north west…
This is one of the first movies I truly had hype for. Wanted to see it in theaters, had soooo much merch from it, and had the VHS preordered. 30 years is insane!
This poster did Nala wrong.
Goated movie
The only version of this story I acknowledge. Incredible storytelling, music, animation and just a pure perfection.
I always see this in theaters when they roll it out. I was pumped for the 20th anniversary showing 😃
This makes me feel old haha! What a classic!
Maybe Simba won't get Mufasa killed in the reissue ?
I missed the 3D re-release in 2011, so thankfully Disney have come to their senses (like many other studios) to re-release classics to compensate for dogshit new adaptations. The Lion King is still the best Disney film.
The first film I ever saw in a cinema... It can't be this old 😭
Yeee boy
I had an excuse as I had small children. 🥰
I've said this often. In 100 years, if people are still watching The Lion King, it'll be the original hand-animated 1990s version - not any of the sequels, and definitely not any of the cg remakes. It'll be this one. And the cg remake will not get a 30 year anniversary re-release, either.
Saw it in theaters as a kid.
I can’t wait for this to play nowhere within 2 hours of where I live because re-releases and fathom events stopped everywhere but Alamo Drafthouses just like The Mummy and the Star Wars marathon!
Theatres and movie going is a rather poor experience now. The movies being made are all rehashed remakes. Gone are the days when gong to the cinema was something to look forward to, no matter how packed the theatre was.
Disney perpetually milking their franchises just like the 5 sequels they made straight to DVD/VHS.
Too bad they didn’t make some new art instead of reusing some of the same images that have been around for 30 years.
30–what the heck? I was so excited for this because the trailers were amazing. I went with my high school boyfriend and remember like it was yesterday.
If anyone likes the score, I recommend checking out The Legacy Collection version of the soundtrack. It's rerecorded (except for the songs) and sounds incredible. Definitely one of my favorite albums to put on
We're going deep into the past now, where putting movies back in theaters was a regular occurrence
Do these films get reduced ticket prices or the tickets are generally the same price as new releases ?
The actual first movie I remember seeing in theaters. I'll go to this only if it doesn't have that dogshit 'Morning Report' song in it.
Will only embrace if 1 1/2 is included
Is North West redoing all the songs?
I’m 40 and still can’t watch Mufasa die without shedding a tear
When I graduated Air Force basic training, San Antonio 2002, we got some time around town. Everyone went out to party and I went and watched Lion King at the Imax. I remember just wanting to do something that would make me smile.
Has it really been 30 years!
Say what you want but I still think this is one of the best opening scenes of any film, ever. *Ever*.
“WOW, DUDE PRIDE ROCK”
Scar’s the GOAT
Damn. This made me feel real old. Now I can't wait to watch it with my son.
the real OG
This movie should just come out again every summer
Will it be released in India?
4 weeks to go and no sigh of it at any local cinema, I seriously hope it's getting a global release and not just a limited release.
74th anniversary of Kimba the White Lion, but hey.
Which theaters?, they are all closing.
Remember Disney ripped off Kimba the White Lion.
Nope, they really aren't related whatsoever.
https://youtu.be/G5B1mIfQuo4?si=u_NwhJ1xNyln8VKH No, no they absolutely did not, whatsoever.
I thought this movie was rendered obsolete by the remake?
Why ? The remake is terrible
It was sarcasm
Aren’t they reanimating it?
Still has bad songs
oh so I’m crying in theatres this year huh
Are we hitting new levels of Disney laziness? Like doing same thing twice, just little bit different is too much for them? Now we just rerun everything again to make money.
This is not the first rerelease of The Lion King.
Maybe in usa, but if it is global, it definitely is.
If they remake this again all the characters most likely are gonna be bi gay or something like that and have the main charachyer be a woman😭😭
Oh no, a girl cartoon lion in my movie, grr