Elton John, who composed the music for the original 1994 animated Lion King movie with Hanz Zimmer and provided the adult singing voice for Simba on "Circle of Life", "I Just Can't Wait to Be King", and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight."
In a new interview with GQ, John was asked if he'd seen the new version of the film and here was his take.
"The new version of The Lion King was a huge disappointment to me, because I believe they messed the music up. Music was so much a part of the original and the music in the current film didn’t have the same impact. The magic and joy were lost. The soundtrack hasn’t had nearly the same impact in the charts that it had 25 years ago, when it was the bestselling album of the year.
The new soundtrack fell out of the charts so quickly, despite the massive box-office success. I wish I’d been invited to the party more, but the creative vision for the film and its music was different this time around and I wasn’t really welcomed or treated with the same level of respect. That makes me extremely sad. I’m so happy that the right spirit for the music lives on with the Lion King stage musical."
Though he's listed as a composer and the film featured most of the original songs, it seems John's involvement was not as extensive as with the first film. Though uncredited, Beyoncé is reported to have had significant influence over the score and soundtrack along with contributing the new, original song, "Spirit".
John composed all the original songs for the first film while Hanz Zimmer composed the score.