Dianna Santos

The animated Lion King was a once-in-a-lifetime film. Heart. Humor. Shock. Sadness. Hope. The 2019 real-life-like remake does not possess any of these elements. To hear James Earl Jones utter the same exact lines with NO emotion, whatsoever...broke my heart. To go through the gorge scene and not shed a single tear, to actually put my tissues away because I did not need them...painful. Visually, the movie is stunning, but it doesn’t allow any emotion to come through. Animals are not human, the argument may go, but they also do not speak. So, asking that their facial expressions and motions match the scene they are in, that is not asking all that much. Scared? Eyes should be wider, ears held flat against their head, mouth opened slightly. Angry? Snarl, with squinted eyes, claws out and teeth bared. Being sly or sneaky? Squinty and shifty eyes, play bow formation of the body, flagging tail. Am I an expert of lions? No. But the source material had this all worked out by talented animators...the work was done for you already! Then we have voiceover work. Timon and Pumba are the best by far, with young Simba and Nala next, followed by Scar and adult Simba. But believe me when I say, the only ones who emote successfully through their voiceover work is Timon and Pumba. Again, how-can-this-be?! It is as if everyone was directed to be flat from start to finish...it just doesn’t make sense! People who read audiobooks show more emotion than what was displayed for the majority of this remake! It sounds hyperbolic and ridiculous, but it is true: this remake hurt me. I saw the animated original not even a week after my own father passed away when I was 13 years old. I and my family sobbed and wept at the original. I re-watched it, ad nauseam, and can recite entire scenes word-or-word to this day. I owned the soundtrack, straight-to-video Lion King 2, watched the T.V. spin-offs...if someone was going to like this remake, I should have been that person. Instead, I despise it. It angers me as it lacks any of the heart or emotion from the original film and thus comes across as a money grab. What kills me is, I’m likely not alone. The initial numbers will be great, as a slew of people who adored the original will now take their children to this remake, hoping for the same experience. They will be sadly disappointed. I am angry. I am upset. I feel used and played. There was no need for this movie to be made. Everyone involved should have known the weight this project bore. They missed the mark. I don’t know who is responsible, but shame on you. Disney could have lived without tarnishing Lion King and that is exactly what this film does.