In a recent interview, David Stephan — original animator for
The Lion King — has revealed that he doesn't think too highly of the new remake; consider it to be an unnecessary movie that has less about art and more about making easy money.
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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," explains Stephan by also adding that it is sad that Disney now has stockholders joining the meetings.
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It’s sort of sad that the stockholder is now in the room deciding what movies get made. Disney’s now taken the cover off, and it’s now in your face: ‘Yeah, we just want to make money.’ That’s disappointing as an artist, from a studio that was founded on originality and art."
Stephan does make a good point, since many have considered the new version of
The Lion King to be an uninspired movie that doesn't manage to capture the essence of what made the original a classic film; one that is more likely to be remembered in the future than the remake.
When it comes to the new CGI art style itself, Stephan mentions that it looks too realistic for its own sake — with the heart of the original being completely sucked out of this new version; mainly due to the fact that the characters' facial expressions are almost non-existent.
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It would jar me out of the film, literally. Especially with little Simba walking around. It was too real. And then when he would talk, it reminded me of those old nature films where they would dub the voices over and the lips would move. I thought, ‘Oh, this is really cheap.’ I think it was just too soon for this one."
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[The filmmakers] put themselves into a corner when you do that realistically. You’re really stuck to what the real physics are in real life, or people aren’t going to buy it. But there were a few scenes where there were a couple of expressions and suddenly it was a little more alive."
The Lion King is considered to be one of Disney's greatest movies to date and, while some believe that the new one cannot even hold a candle to the original, there are still people who have enjoyed the remake. The good news is that fans now have two versions of the same movie, so even if one doesn't do it for them, they'll still have the other.
Director Jon Favreau’s all-new “The Lion King” journeys to the African savanna where a future king is born. 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.
The Lion King is currently playing in theaters.