‘The Lion King’ Remake Brings Iconic Characters to Life

If you’ve paid attention to Hollywood trends in recent years, you’ve probably noticed a major uptick in the production of live-action or CGI-based remakes of classic Disney films. For people who grew up on a diet of animated movies like “Beauty and the Beast” and “Aladdin,” for example, the 2010s have been something of a trip down memory lane.

Beautifully designed to incorporate live actors and stunning computer-animated imagery into fantastical settings, these remakes take the age-old Disney filmmaking aesthetic to new heights. But has the cinematography of such films become too realistic for its own good?

A Change for the Better?

Take the just-released CGI-version of “The Lion King” for example; with “The Jungle Book” director Jon Favreau back at the Disney remake helm, the film is already a huge hit, and it is easy to see why audiences are flocking to see a new version of one of their favorite movies.

Saying that the CGI animation in “The Lion King” is realistic would be putting it mildly, however; the animals in the film are so life-like at times that it is difficult to tell that they are not real. To many viewers, this uncanny quality of the film presents something of a conundrum.

To wit, part of the charm of the greatest animated Disney films could often be found in the humanizing quality of traditional animation techniques on animal characters. In the older Disney films, for instance, animals could be given human-like expressions and body language; in today’s remakes, however, something feels undoubted “off” about the way in which the animals interact with one another.

Lost in Translation

Where the original version of “The Lion King” pulled on our heartstrings by enabling us to identify with the plight of characters like Simba, in other words, the new version of the film often appears cold and distant in its aesthetic design. And if identification with a particular protagonist is a central facet of the moviegoing experience, the new version of “The Lion King” maybe something of a failed artistic statement in the making.

Indeed, a viewer of the new version of “The Lion King” often admires the artistic sensibilities of the film in the same way that they might admire a new piece of technological wizardry. We may be struck by the emotional beauty of a painting by Leonardo DaVinci, to put it bluntly, but it is unlikely that we will derive the same kind of emotional warmth from a viewing of the latest offering from car manufacturer Tesla.

The Future of Cinema?

The new version of “The Lion King” is undoubtedly beautiful, but its use of computer-generated artwork can leave us cold on an emotional level. For people who have grown to love the feelings of emotional warmth brought on by a viewing of original Disney films in all their animated glory, that sense of coldness might just be a bridge too far.

King” is undoubtedly beautiful, but its deft use of computer-generated artwork can leave us cold on an emotional level. For people who have grown to love the feelings of emotional warmth brought on by a viewing of original Disney films in all their animated glory, that sense of coldness might just be a bridge too far.

And while only the studio heads at Disney will know what the future holds for “live-action” remakes of classic animated films, it remains to be seen how the startling technological advances in cinematography used in such films will affect our culture at large.

One thing is for certain, however; filmmaking has fundamentally changed in the past five years, and the results may end up being more awe-inspiring than emotionally fulfilling. For diehard fans of cinema, that outcome might just be a reason to mourn the passing of a golden age of animated filmmaking.