- Do The Lion King's original artists hate the remake?
While the animated version of The Lion King
has been out for 25 years,
The Lion King photorealistic remake,
from director Jon Favreau, has been out
a mere three weeks now, and has already made what
industry analysts refer to as bonkers monies.
It's past the $1 billion benchmark
and it seems like it still has a lot more money to make.
So, it's safe to say that audiences
have responded in a big way.
And though the film is a technical achievement
that really pushes the envelope
in showing terrifyingly photorealistic lions
fighting each other and hyenas,
since the film is a remake, shot-for-shot in some cases,
it's hard to be viewed in an artistic vacuum,
which has lead to a lot of people wondering
what the artist behind the original film
thought of the recent adaptation of their work.
Thankfully, the folks over at HuffPost
reached out to 13 animators who worked on
1994's "The Lion King", to see what they
thought of 2019's "The Lion King".
So, did they hate it?
Did they love it?
Well, let's break it down right now.
First off, of the 13 animators that HuffPost writer,
Matthew Jacobs, reached out to, only a few responded.
Many abstained from commenting for various reasons,
three animators refusing to see the new version
as a protest, and one who couldn't comment
because they still worked at a rival company.
Of those left, only three had seen the new version
were willing to go on the record
with their thoughts in an interview,
and it was mixed bag of a response.
Some of the original crew hated it,
like animator David Stephan, who worked on both
the circle of life sequence and the hyenas in the original,
who said, "If you polled the crew
"of the original "Lion King", most of them would say, why?
"Did you really have to do that?
"It kind of hurts."
In fact, another animator who responded
but wasn't interviewed said, "There is a huge resentment
"against these 3D remakes from the original 2D crews.
"Maybe if we got any kind of royalties,
"it would be different."
But it wasn't all hate.
Visual effects artist Dave Bossert said,
"Overall, I thought the film stands on its own.
"It not only showcases a great story again,
"but it's an homage to the original film."
When it came to the photorealistic digital effects
in the 2019 version, Alexander Williams,
who worked on Scar in the original, had this to say.
"Don't forget, at the time of "The Lion King",
"there was groundbreaking digital animation going on.
"The wildebeests, for example, were all
"computer-generated and that was considered
"very radical and advanced for its time."
He went on to say about Favreau's version,
"Certain parts on the animation are breathtaking.
"These are still hand-crafted films.
"You've still got a room full of artists
"trying to make every pixel look beautiful.
"It's not easy to get that right."
And regarding how parts of the film seemed
like shot-for-shot remakes just done digitally,
Bossert said, "In some instances, it's a shot-by-shot
"version of the original animated film
"and that didn't bother me at all
"because I think the filmmakers were
"staying faithful to the original property."
When it came to to the photorealistic
animal designs for the characters themselves,
there was still some division in opinion.
While some applauded what the VFX artists
achieved in the remakes, others were put off by the realism.
David Stephan put it this way.
"It would jar me out of the film, literally,
"especially with little Simba walking around.
"It was too real.
"This one just said, you know what?
"Let's cut the expressions out completely.
"Let's just keep it as real as possible.
"And I think it just diminished the film."
He then added, "How come the apes
"in Planet of the Apes look so much more
"alive than the animals in "Lion King"?"
Ouch.
Tell us how you really feel.
Dave Bossert also had some thoughts on this.
"I wish they had a little bit more emotion
"in the characters' eyes.
"If you've got animals talking,
"you can take more liberties with facial expressions.
"You're walking a fine line where you don't want it
"to be to cartoony, but I think they could've
"pushed it a little bit more."
While a few of the animators didn't like
the voice acting in the remake, calling it wooden,
the performances were praised by Bossert who said,
"I love the fact that they kept
"James Earl Jones from the original as Mufasa.
"That was terrific.
"It's a sort of homage to the original film.
"I thought the voice characterizations
"were terrific across the board.
"There wasn't anything that struck me as being odd at all.
"I particularly liked John Oliver
"as Zazu and Seth Rogan as Pumbaa."
But probably the most contentious point of all
was thoughts on remakes in general,
why they're done, and their importance.
Stephan has the cynical view of things.
"It's sort of sad that the stockholder
"is now in the room deciding what movies get made.
"That's disappointing as an artist from a studio
"that was founded on originality and art."
Williams had the opposite take.
"I think some of my colleagues forget
"that when you work on a Disney movie, you don't own it.
"They own it.
"You get paid to work there, which is a great privilege.
"It's an amazing company.
"You get to work on this great stuff.
"But when you walk away, it's their movie
"and they can do what they want with it.
"So as far as I'm concerned,
"it's kind of none of my business
"whether they want to remake it or not."
So, while it feels like a mix of love
and hate from the animators who went on record
about the 2019 "Lion King", the bigger statement
may be from the folks not going on the record.
By saying nothing at all, they are saying everything.
But, what do you folks think?
Did you like "The Lion King"
or do you prefer "The Lion King"?
Are you into these remakes
and what other films or shows do you think
should definitely get a remake?
We're hoping for a little show from the '70s
called "Battlestar Galactica".
Let's discuss.
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