“The Lion King” Is The Latest Disney Film To Get The Live-Action Treatment
Don’t worry, Timon and Pumbaa; I also don’t know how to feel about this news.
For the past couple of years, Mickey Mouse has been reaching into the Disney cartoon vault, blowing the dust off the first VHS his hand touched, and going “Sure, let’s make a live-action version of this.” Disney almost has more live-action adaptations made or in-production than they do dalmatians at this point. We last left off at a live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid. Today, Variety is reporting that Disney has announced that their next animated feature-turned-possible live-action mess will be 1994’s The Lion King.
Disney’s live-action Lion King will be directed by Jon Favreau, who also directed Disney’s live-action adaptation of The Jungle Book. No release date has been set as of yet. There’s a pretty good chance this live-action version might not be a full-blown mess. The Lion King was turned into a musical in 1997 that people seemed to really like. Even if it is, I’m willing to ignore a great deal of fuckery as long as I hear Elton John setting the mood for two horny lions with “Can You Feel The Love Tonight.”
There’s no word on who will play Simba or Mufasa or Simba’s confusingly sexy uncle Scar. I can already think of one person who has been blessed with a face that would make her the perfect choice to play any number of the lions in this live-action Lion King. Sadly, Jocelyn Wildenstein won’t be getting a call from Jon Favreau asking when she can come in and do a screen test. Just like the live-action version of The Jungle Book, the animals in the live-action Lion King will also be CGI.
Disney’s live-action Jungle Book had at least one living human in it, so calling it live-action made sense. But there aren’t any humans in The Lion King. It’s all animals. If all the animals are CGI, can you even technically call it “live-action“? They should use at least a couple real animals. I mean, the cast of Meerkat Manor could use the work.
Pic: Disney