If you are going to try and knock another Disney classic out of the park, it's a smart bet to go with Jon Favreau. After all, the dude crushes almost everything he touches (alight, besides Cowboys and Aliens), including The Jungle Book, which was totally badass, a sentence I was not anticipating writing. It is though; the voice acting killed, the plot was just different enough to keep everyone entertained and the animation was truly some next level stuff.
Speaking of the animation, Sean Bailey, Disney's President of Production, spoke about the animation style of the upcoming Lion King, saying that "...it is a new form of film-making. Historical definitions don't work. It uses some techniques that would traditionally be called animation, and other techniques that would traditionally be called live-action. It is an evolution of the technology Jon [Favreau] used in Jungle Book."
The Lion King opens in theaters July 19, 2019, and features Donald Glover as Simba, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter as Nala, James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, Seth Rogen as Pumbaa and Billy Eichner as Timon. If you are some kind of martian who has never seen the original, here is the official synopsis:
Simba idolizes his father, King Mufasa, and takes to heart his own royal destiny. But not everyone in the kingdom celebrates the new cub’s arrival. Scar, Mufasa’s brother—and former heir to the throne—has plans of his own. The battle for Pride Rock is ravaged with betrayal, tragedy and drama, ultimately resulting in Simba’s exile. With help from a curious pair of newfound friends, Simba will have to figure out how to grow up and take back what is rightfully his.
