By Lindsey Settlemire
The Circle of Life is making its way around again with a reboot of the animated Disney Classic “The Lion King.”
The announcement was made on September 29 in an Instagram post by the director of the remake, Jon Favreau. He posted a photo on Instagram of an iconic scene from the film with the caption “Excited for my next project.”
Disney, later on, confirmed the claim and stated that they were very excited to work with Favreau again. The director has most recently been a part of a similar remake done for another Disney animation, “The Jungle Book” which was recently released in theaters. “The Jungle Book” grossed 965.8 million dollars in the box office.
These are not the only Disney Classics that have gotten a contemporary look. Other reboots of Disney classics include the live action “Cinderella”, “Pete’s Dragon” and a live-action “Beauty and the Beast” which is set to hit theaters in march of 2017.
The story of “The Lion King” is one of a young lion named Simba – lion in Swahili – and his dreams to one day be king of the Pridelands, just like his father. Those dreams are seemingly crushed when his uncle kills his father and exiles Simba from the kingdom forever. For the rest of the story, check out the remake.
The choice to rejuvenate this animated classic seems logical. “The Lion King” was the top-grossing animated movie of all time for a number of years, grossing more than 968.8 million dollars worldwide. The film also received accolades such as the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and a 1995 Kids’ Choice Award.
The remake will also include Academy Award Winning soundtracks such as “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” and “the Circle of Life”, composed and written by Elton John and Tim Rice, respectively.
Alumna Maria Cuervo, whose favorite movie is “the Lion King,”says she will definitely see the film.
“I was super excited to hear that they are making a Lion King reboot,” Cuervo said. “However, I am a little skeptical because of the music… you can’t just copy the styles of Elton John, Tim Rice, and Hans Zimmer.”
Cuervo is excited about the fact that they are making a more “life-like” remake. She said if they were making another animated sequel, she might not be as interested.
“We all know what happens, but live-action will be neat to see,” Cuervo said.
Cuervo did mention the show “Lion Guard” that airs on Disney Junior, formerly known as Disney Channel. The show is a sequel to “The Lion King” that tells the tale of Simba’s son, Kion.
“Hopefully they can expand on the side of the story from the show that the original movie left out. So much happens when Simba leaves the Prideland,” Cuervo said.
“Lion Guard” started out as a made-for-TV movie on Disney Junior, but was made into a series on January 15 of this year. This may be another reason for the reboot of this particular flick.
As of right now, there is no set date for the movie to arrive in theaters. Director Favreau is currently working on a sequel to “The Jungle Book”, which also does not have a set release date.
