When fans heard that Disney was making live-action remakes of Disney animated classics, they were cautiously optimistic. Fans have flocked to the theatres to see the films, hoping for something that can move them in the way the originals did. Though The Lion King remake made the most money, that doesn't mean it was the most well-received.
While the live-action Lion King remake made some interesting changes and improvements, there were many things that upset fans. Check out these 4 reasons the live-action remake is the best and 6 reasons the best will always be the original.
10 Live-Action: The Fur Clump
In both the original film and the live-action, Rafiki discovered that Simba was alive by finding a clump of his fur. However, in the live-action this fur clump had a much more interesting journey. Whereas the fur was blown straight to Rafiki in the original film, the fur in the live-action took a long path more resemblant of what would happen in real life.
The live-action clump of fur passed through several animals including a bird, a giraffe, a dung beetle, and some ants before making it to Rafiki. This was a stunning visual scene and much more climactic than the original film. It also spoke to the connectivity of the world and all of its inhabitants, which better fits with the "circle of life" theme of the movie.
9 Original: Easier To Suspend Disbelief
While the CGI was stunning in its own way, it unfortunately just did not work for this type of story. This was the biggest complaint from moviegoers. It was much harder to believe that realistic looking animals were talking than it was to believe that animated animals were talking.
Another challenge is that with all of the characters looking more realistic, it was hard to have the animals be as expressive as their animated versions. Without the overly pronounced emotions, fans are used to seeing on the faces of their cartoon animals, these live-action animals seemed emotionless.
8 Live-Action: Sarabi's Story
In the original film, Sarabi didn't do much. This film gave the character a new voice and agency. Firstly, she is pursued by scar but stands up to him, saying she would rather starve than serve as his queen. But her best moment comes when Sarabi learns that Scar was lying about Mufasa's death.
Determined to bring him down, she exposes this newly learned truth to oust him out of power. In the original film, Simba discovered the truth as he choked Scar, who then admitted the truth. Giving Sarabi a moment to shine was a much better choice.
7 Original: Distinctive Character Design
In the original film, all of the character designs were completely distinctive. Although it was clear which animal each character was, they each had defining features and it was easy to determine which character was which.
Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the live-action remake. As Disney was determined to make the characters as realistic looking as possible, the differences between characters were more subtle. This meant that fans were sometimes confused as they struggled to keep track of which animal was which, especially during fast-paced scenes.
6 Original: Immersive
The original Lion King was focused on telling a new story. As a result, the film was captivating and immersive. With the live-action remake, the movie decided to break the fourth wall several times by either referencing the animated Lion King or other Disney films.
One example of this is Pumbaa singing the word farted during Hakuna Matata and asking Timon if he was going to interrupt him, a clear reference to Timon's interruption in the original. Another example is when Timon and Pumba begin singing "Be Our Guest" to distract the hyenas. While these jokes could have been funny, they were ultimately unsuccessful as they reminded fans of other films that were far more interesting than the film they were watching, making it difficult to reengage with the live-action Lion King afterward.
5 Original: Funnier
When comparing the live-action Lion King to the animated one, fans will notice how tonally different the films are. Many of the Disney live-action remakes have been darker versions of their original story. And while this may work well with certain stories, many enjoyed The Lion King because of its lightness.
Despite some dark moments, The Lion King was generally funny. This humor did not carry over to the remake. Timon and Pumbaa did not have the same charm and energy, Rafiki was missing his eccentric mannerisms, and the hyenas were more sinister characters.
4 Live-Action: Nala's Voice
In the animated film, Nala doesn't do much besides convince Simba to return to Pride Rock. Stumbling upon him seems like a total accident and a deleted scene for the animated film revealed that the original plan was for Nala to be exiled after refusing to marry Scar.
In the live-action film, Nala is a more forceful character. She is disgusted by what has happened to Pride Rock and sneaks away in search of help to restore it, making the active choice to attempt to save the kingdom. Nala also has a more prominent role in the final battle, taking on Shenzi all by herself.
3 Original: The Music
The original music in The Lion King is iconic. With both the animated and live-action film featuring talented singers, fans were hopeful that the music in the remake would live up to the music in the original. Unfortunately, this wish did not come true. The remakes of the original songs couldn't hold up to their original recordings.
And while fans were excited to hear Beyoncé sing, her new song "Spirit" didn't seem to belong in the film. The song wasn't sung by Nala and was instead just a Beyoncé song being played in the background as the characters made their way back to Pride Rock. As wonderful as this song and Beyoncé are, this song just felt out of place with the rest of the music in the film. Fans were also furious to find that Scar's iconic song "Be Prepared" was cut down to a significantly shorter version of the song.
2 Live-Action: Scar's Relationship With Hyenas
Scar's villainy is evident both in the original film and the remake. But the remake adds additional ways to show off how clever and manipulative Scar is, adding further parallels between Scar and an evil dictator.
In the animated film, Scar seemingly had an established relationship with the hyenas at the beginning of the film. The hyenas seemed more like Scar's henchmen than their own individual group. In the remake, the hyenas seem to be a more established minority group with their own systems of power. Scar approaches them, attempting to form an alliance to take over Pride Rock. This dynamic is a far more interesting one and makes Scar appear even more sinister.
1 Original: The Original
The original Lion King was such a strong film that had withstood the test of time. Ultimately, the new film didn't have much to add to this already brilliant movie. Because there wasn't a new story to tell, the live-action felt like a cheap imitation of the original animated film.
It seemed like the creators were aware that this comparison would be made as well, as they broke the fourth wall to reference the changes they had made. Remaking the films just to remake them isn't going to be successful. Disney should be sure that they are choosing films where they have something new and interesting to add to the story. Otherwise, leave the classics alone.
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