‘The Lion King’ Roars into CinemaCon
The king returned yesterday as Disney wowed CinemaCon with five minutes of exclusive footage from The Lion King. Following his critically acclaimed adaptation of The Jungle Book, it looks like Jon Favreau has done it again, turning Disney’s animated crown jewel into a photorealistic masterpiece.
The footage featured the young Simba (voiced by JD McCrary) eagerly waking up his sleeping father, Mufasa (a returning James Earl Jones). “You said I could patrol with your today, and it’s today,” the young cub is said to exclaim as his father stirs from his slumber.
Instead of taking him out on patrol, Mufusa first leads Simba to the top of Pride Rock, telling his son “Look, Simba, everything the light touches is our kingdom. One day, Simba, the sun will set on my time here, and rise with you as the new king.” Its one of many iconic moments from the original movie, and according to Variety it was received with thunderous applause.
According to ComicBook.com the footage continued with the young heir asking his father, “All of this will belong to me?”
“It belongs to no one, but it will be yours to protect.” His father tells him. The scene continued with Simba asking about the area in the shadows, and his father’s warning to never go there, before switching to the lions walking through the African savannah. Here Mufasa teaches his son about the circle of life, and how to pounce on an unsuspecting Zazu (John Oliver) as he delivers the morning report.
Those in attendance all report that The Lion King looks jaw dropping. “It feels like we’re watching one of those Disneynature documentaries and somehow the animals have learned to talk,” said Slashfilm as they called the footage “Simply stunning.”
In the teasers released so far, the characters dialogue has only been used as voiceover. Hopefully we’ll get to see them talk for ourselves in a full trailer sooner rather than later as it sounds like Disney and Favreau have made The Lion King into something very special.
The Lion King opens July 19th.
Chris is a lifelong fan of Disney, Star Wars and super heroes who can’t quite believe this golden age of movies and TV we’re living in. Having written blogs dedicated to Disney’s Aladdin musical and Star Wars Celebration, Chris is excited to be part of the MNN team.
