History WesternAnimation / TheLionKing2019

* AmbiguousGender: Simba and Nala's cub at the end of of the film is not identified in any way. It could be Kiara or a new cub. The {{novelization}} refers to it as male.

* AnimalTalk: As in the original film, all the animals (with dialogue at least) speak the same language regardless of their being different species.

* OrderedApology: After Nala pins Simba after they escape Zazu, she claims he now owes her an apology. He refuses though and pushes her off him.

* RealityEnsues: Even though Simba lives with them and has changed his diet to insects, the other animals other than Timon and Pumbaa are still afraid of him since he's still their natural predator and can never be sure whether or not he’d snap back to his carnivorous ways.

* AdaptationalBadass:
** Simba is shown fighting back against the hyenas in a more even handled way, and was later able to out muscle Scar in their final confrontation. In the original the implication was that while Simba was younger and stronger, he lacked [[StrongButUnskilled the fighting ability and killer instinct Scar had]], managing to keep an even fight but needing the hyenas to finish the job.
** When Sarabi confronts Scar near the climax of the story, she fights him and managed to hold her own for a few seconds this time instead of being knocked down with a single blow.
** Zazu participates in the action at several points, unable to do any real harm but enough to serve as a distraction in a heroic way.
** The hyenas were largely just grunts in the animated climax besides eating Scar at the end, a threat due to numbers but mostly shown [[CurbstompBattle getting comically swiped and knocked away by the heroes and failing to injure them significantly]]. In this film’s climax they fight more intensely, with Shenzi even fighting Nala one-on-one for a while. In contrast when they deal with Scar, while still making a failed attempt at pleading, he actually [[CurbstompCushion fights off the hyenas for a brief while before they overwhelm him]].
* AdaptationalEarlyAppearance: The scene in which Sarabi fearlessly walks through a gauntlet of hostile hyenas to talk to Scar is adapted to take place towards the middle of the film, as opposed to just before the climax of the original film.
* AdaptationalExplanation: The original film never explains why the hyenas are so disliked and (apparently) excluded from the circle of life, beyond AnimalJingoism and being a race of {{Jerkass}}es. Here, it's shown that they absolutely refuse to control their feeding habits, to the point of hunting many herds into extinction.

* ActorAllusion: During the scene where Zazu first gives the Morning Report, he is knocked over by Simba's pouncing and shouts "It's the news!" in response, a reference to his voice actor John Oliver [[Series/LastWeekTonightWithJohnOliver hosting a news show himself]].

** In "Be Prepared", Scar informs the hyenas, ''"When I am king, the mighty will be free to take whatever they want, because a hyena's belly is never full."'' Later on, Shenzi says ''"There's only one true thing you ever said, Scar. A hyena's belly is never full"'' as she and the other hyenas [[spoiler:corner and eat Scar alive]].

** Before Scar kills Mufasa, like the original he says, ''"[[PunctuatedForEmphasis Long...live...the king!]]"''.
** And by the end of the film, Shenzi says, ''"There's only one true thing you ever said, Scar. A hyena's belly is never full."'' [[spoiler:The hyenas immediately swarm Scar and soon eat him alive.]]

''The Lion King'' is the 2019 photorealistic computer animated remake of the 1994 Franchise/{{Disney animated|Canon}} epic ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}''. It was directed by Creator/JonFavreau, director of 2016's wildly successful live-action/CGI adaptation of ''[[Film/TheJungleBook2016 The Jungle Book]]'', and brought to screen using the same highly photorealistic CGI techniques by Creator/MovingPictureCompany as that film employed. The screenplay was written by Jeff Nathanson, with ''Franchise/TheLionKing'' franchise veterans Thomas Schumacher (a producer of the original film) and Julie Taymor (director of the [[Theatre/TheLionKing Broadway adaptation]]) serving as executive producers. The film was released in the United States on July 19, 2019,[[note]]The international release began in China on July 12.[[/note]] and is currently the highest-grossing animated film of all time, surpassing ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' for the title, though it's still part of the current [[Film/DisneyLiveActionRemakes trend of live-action remakes]] by Disney, and Disney itself does not recognize the record as such for this film, claiming that ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'' (released later in the same year) gets the title.

''The Lion King'' is the story of Simba, crown prince of the Pride Lands, a swath of African savannah. However, the dark specter of his treacherous uncle Scar ultimately drives Simba out of his home. After being taken in by two outcasts faraway from the Pride Lands, Simba must learn to grow up and accept his responsibility as king and reclaim his destiny.

The financial success of the film led to [[https://deadline.com/2020/09/the-lion-king-sequel-barry-jenkins-moonlight-director-disney-1234586787/ Disney officially announcing a sequel]] to be directed by ''Film/{{Moonlight|2016}}'' creator Creator/BarryJenkins. However, the film will not be a remake of ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'', instead it will be an original story with a multigenerational focus, including Mufasa's origins.

The financial success of the film led to [[https://deadline.com/2020/09/the-lion-king-sequel-barry-jenkins-moonlight-director-disney-1234586787/ Disney officially announcing a sequel]] to be directed by ''Film/{{Moonlight|2016}}'' creator Creator/BarryJenkins. However, the film will not be a remake of ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride'', instead it will be focused on Mufasa's origins.

The financial success of the film led to [[https://deadline.com/2020/09/the-lion-king-sequel-barry-jenkins-moonlight-director-disney-1234586787/ Disney officially announcing a sequel]] to be directed by ''Film/{{Moonlight|2016}}'' creator Creator/BarryJenkins.

The financial success of the film led to [[https://deadline.com/2020/09/the-lion-king-sequel-barry-jenkins-moonlight-director-disney-1234586787/ Disney officially announcing a sequel]] to be directed by ''Film/Moonlight'' creator Creator/BarryJenkins.

The financial success of the film led to [[https://deadline.com/2020/09/the-lion-king-sequel-barry-jenkins-moonlight-director-disney-1234586787/ Disney officially announcing a sequel]] to be directed by Film/Moonlight creator Creator/BarryJenkins.

Knowing the importance of the music to the original, Favreau pulled out all the stops for the film's soundtrack, recruiting much of the original film's music team; he tapped Music/HansZimmer to return and score the film, which gave Zimmer the opportunity to build on and reinterpret his original Oscar-winning soundtrack. Working alongside Zimmer was Music/PharrellWilliams, who helped produce and revamp the returning songs, and Chance the Rapper also assisted in the soundtrack. Zimmer brought with him his old friend Lebo M., the iconic vocalist who once again ensured the soundtrack had its' trademark authentic African tapestry. Song arranger Mark Mancina also returned, as did lyricist Tim Rice and Music/EltonJohn. Sir Elton contributed a new original song for the film and assisted in the soundtrack's production, which served as his final major act before his retirement. Beyonce produced her own separate album for the film, titled ''The Lion King: The Gift'', featuring the new track "Spirit". Beyonce later made a film based on this album, entitled ''Black Is King'', which is scheduled to be released on Creator/DisneyPlus on July 31, 2020.

** The "Circle of Life" sequence features gemsbok, red-billed oxpeckers, European rollers, an African grey parrot, greater kudu, topi, vervet monkeys, white rhinoceroses, marabou storks, intermediate egrets, and grey crowned cranes.

** A group of gemsbok are seen in a [[https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wyPWty6vvDk/maxresdefault.jpg shot]] mimicking that of the topi in the original movie.

** The gopher who reported the hyenas intruding in the Pride Lands to Zazu early in the original film. Instead, Zazu flies away from Simba and Mufasa after being pounced by the former, spots the hyenas, and tells Mufasa himself.

** When we see young Pumbaa in flashback, he is clearly modelled on a juvenile wild boar rather than a warthog.
** The horns on the gazelles are those of Thomson's gazelles, but their markings are closer to those of springbok (which are only found in southern Africa).

** Timon being a meerkat flies pretty heavily in the face of the species' [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meerkat#/media/File:Meerkat_Area.svg actual biogeography]] given that meerkats are endemic to the Namib and Kalahari desert regions of southwestern Africa.

* RealityEnsues: Even though Simba lives with them and has changed his diet to insects, the other animals other than Timon and Pumbaa are still afraid of him since he's still their natural predator.

Knowing the importance of the music to the original, Favreau pulled out all the stops for the film's soundtrack, recruiting much of the original film's music team; he tapped Music/HansZimmer to return and score the film, which gave Zimmer the opportunity to build on and reinterpret his original Oscar-winning soundtrack. Working alongside Zimmer was Music/PharrellWilliams, who helped produce and revamp the returning songs, and Chance the Rapper also assisted in the soundtrack. Zimmer brought with him his old friend Lebo M., the iconic vocalist who once again ensured the soundtrack had its' trademark authentic African tapestry. Song arranger Mark Mancina also returned, as did lyricist Tim Rice and Music/EltonJohn. Sir Elton contributed a new original song for the film and assisted in the soundtrack's production, which served as his final major act before his retirement. Beyonce produced her own separate album for the film, titled ''The Lion King: The Gift'', featuring the new track "Spirit". Beyonce later made a film based on this album, entitled ''Black is King'', which is scheduled to be released on Creator/DisneyPlus on July 31, 2020.

Knowing the importance of the music to the original, Favreau pulled out all the stops for the film's soundtrack, recruiting much of the original film's music team; he tapped Music/HansZimmer to return and score the film, which gave Zimmer the opportunity to build on and reinterpret his original Oscar-winning soundtrack. Working alongside Zimmer was Music/PharrellWilliams, who helped produce and revamp the returning songs, and Chance the Rapper also assisted in the soundtrack. Zimmer brought with him his old friend Lebo M., the iconic vocalist who once again ensured the soundtrack had its' trademark authentic African tapestry. Song arranger Mark Mancina also returned, as did lyricist Tim Rice and Music/EltonJohn. Sir Elton contributed a new original song for the film and assisted in the soundtrack's production, which served as his final major act before his retirement. Beyonce produced her own separate album for the film, titled ''The Lion King: The Gift'', featuring the new track "Spirit".