Live Action Lion King Movie

If that film flopped, it would have been an Old Shame and buried, and still not definitely named (if it's live-action or animation). I think.

Anyway, whatever says Disney or everyone involved in this movie or anybody else, it's still animated to me. No mo-cap used, just photorealistic animation, the actors were recording their voices, and a dozen other reasons.

Anyway, I would watch it. But the time is not yet here.

Edited by Andrei_Bondoc on Aug 20th 2019 at 9:28:45 PM

I saw the film today and I'm not getting the dozens of complaint videos I've seen on my Youtube feed. This is the best Disney remake (not counting Maleficent because it's an Alternate Continuity). I really like it and, looking at my old TLK forum and browsing around Tumblr, most people in the fandom seem to like it. I think most of the hate comes from animation buffs then.

I didn't think the characters had trouble emoting, except for in the Mufasa death scenes. Simba doesn't really seem scared and it's weird hearing him tear up despite looking so stoic. Lions don't cry tears, we get it, but they do react in their own way, Fur stands up, body language changes, eyes dilate, etc.

I wish the film had expanded a bit more. So, Scar had feelings for Sarabi. Admittedly, most fans prefer Sarafina and Scar, but that's not unheard of in fan-works. That's pretty much all we get that's new, besides a passing reference to Mufasa giving Scar his scar (which I wouldn't have even noticed if I hadn't been spoilered beforehand). We see some lion cubs, which fixes the complaint about Nala being the only other cub besides Simba, but they don't do anything or get named. All we have is some vague O.C. Stand-in characters.

My only real complaint is the entirety of the gorge scene. The emoting, Scar killing Mufasa, etc weren't done well.

Shenzi's change was the best change from the original film. I always thought she was high-ranking, but the leader of the hyenas? She works way better as an intimidating character. It doesn't even feel like the Heinous Hyena trope: she's just a hyena and hyenas just compete with lions.

Edited by Pichu-kun on Aug 31st 2019 at 2:41:24 AM

Of course she was the leader of the hyenas. In hyena packs, the females are the leaders. Replacing her with a male would be highly sexist.

My complaint with the hyenas is that they changed Ed into a Banzai clone. While I understand that this change works better for the tone, Ed's terrifying laugh right before they chow down on Scar really sells that death.

We don't know much about the hyenas. Heck, even after twenty years, the original hyena group that followed Scar is still a mystery; The Lion Guard focuses on different cackles. Shenzi being higher-ranking than Ed and Banzai was always a given, but not many fans thought she'd outright be the leader of the entirety of the hyenas.

Well, why not? I feel like this is just more sexism from fans, assuming she can't be the leader because she is a girl.

The Lion King wiki clearly states that Shenzi is the leader of her clan.

Real hyenas are also matriarchal.

Yes, my point exactly.

(x3) There's no sign she's the leader in the original film. There are dozens of other hyenas, so she could have been anywhere on the hierarchy.

Shenzi was probably the most dominate character of the three, having the most lines and not quite as stupid as Banzai and Ed. But she wasn't the overt leader like the remake made it.

She certainly serves as leader of her own group, and Scar seems to treat her as the main spokeswoman for all the hyenas, so I think it is pretty obvious she IS supposed to be the leader.

Or can't she be the leader unless it is spelled out for you?

I believe that Shenzi in the original animated film was supposed to be the leader, but various tie-in media downplay that aspect and put Banzai in the spotlight with Shenzi being implied to be his partner (at best) rather than his boss. When I was young, I remember having an audiobook The Lion King Read-Along that described the hyenas in this manner:

Shenzi only had one line in that entire audiobook, but the book doesn't specifies that unless you have the audio to accompany it. And then later, when Scar visits the hyenas, Banzai is the only speaking implying that he speaks for the pack.

It's only when the Lion King reaches the Turn of the Millennium that the franchise, from my perspective, slowly puts Shenzi back into the center as the leader of the hyenas, specifically The Lion King One And A Half with the whole Timon purposing to Shenzi. What The Lion King (2019) did was solidify the growing notion among the audience and fans (thanks to the increased awareness that real-life hyenas operate on a matriarchy system) that Shenzi is the true leader of the hyenas and thus the one that deserves to have her face be everywhere in the merchandising (it also helps that Banzai and Ed were renamed while Shenzi remains unaltered).

Edited by Shadao on Sep 1st 2019 at 10:49:16 AM

Seems like a case of adaptations being more sexist than the actual source material.

I never thought Shenzi was the leader of the hyenas. I could see her as the daughter of the leader, but Shenzi, Ed, and Banzai seemed too goofy for me. I wish the series had expanded on the hyenas more, but they instead focus on completely separate hyenas.

At the very least, Shenzi was the leader of the main trio.

Unless you go with the theory that Ed was secretly in charge. I mean, Shenzi and Banzai always ask for his input.

Ed was the mastermind all along, playing Scar like a fiddle...

I actually really like that theory.

Shenzi seemed the smartest and most commanding of the hyena trio. As for all the other hyenas, they're just nameless extras: there to make the bad guy side more formidable, but you're not really supposed to ask questions about where they come from, who they answer to, or anything like that.

I think the most unforgivable sin this remake did was "Can You Feel The Love.... This Afternoon".

Come on. ‘Night’ is literally in the title of the song! They could've even literally changed the song lyrics if they wanted it during day that badly. Otherwise you get the impression someone forgot to turn off the sun, or that the characters don't know the difference between night and day.

Alternately, they should've called it "Can you hear Donald tonight?" because Glover was barely audible.

Edited by dmcreif on Sep 15th 2019 at 2:48:04 PM

When I read "Can you hear Donald tonight?", I immediately thought of semi-intelligible quacking.

Well, it's happened. There is an Honest Trailer for this movie.

They make all the points you've heard before, though one very good one that I haven't heard is that all the romantic songs take place during daytime. Which makes "can you feel the love tonight" sound a bit silly.

(whispers discreetly)

Um... my friend, it has been pointed out...

But otherwise I agree.

It could also have been called "CAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNN YOU HEAR BEYONNNNCCCCCEEEEEEE NOW".

You mean, the thing that's pointed out two posts above yours? ;)

Oh, lol. Well, it was two months ago.