Disney’s The Lion King will hit theaters tomorrow. My family and I previewed a media screening last week; I have all the details on what to expect here!

ABOUT THE MOVIE:

“Disney’s “The Lion King, directed by Jon Favreau (“The Jungle Book”), journeys to the African savanna where a future king is born. Simba idolizes his father, KingMufasa, and takes to heart his own royal destiny. But not everyone in the kingdom celebrates the new cub’s arrival. Scar, Mufasa’s brother—and former heir to the throne—has plans of his own. The battle for Pride Rock is ravaged with betrayal, tragedy and drama, ultimately resulting in Simba’s exile. With help from a curious pair of newfound friends, Simba will have to figure out how to grow up and take back what is rightfully his.

Staying true to the classic story, director, Jon Favreau utilizes pioneering filmmaking techniques to bring the iconic characters to the big screen in a whole new way. Featuring the voices of Donald Glover as Simba, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter as Nala, James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, Seth Rogen as Pumbaa and Billy Eichner as Timon, Disney’s “The Lion King” opens in U.S. theaters on July 19, 2019.”


WHAT TO EXPECT:

From the opening song of Circle of Life, you are immediately immersed into a life-like African setting. The animals look so real, the way the tall grass blows and moves in the wind, the leaves in the trees shake – it’s hard to tell it’s NOT live-action but that the movie was actually a blend of live-action filmmaking techniques with photoreal computer generated imagery. There are actually no live animals in this movie! And my brain throughout the movie was saying, SORCERY!

You can expect to hear the classic songs from the 1994 version and a couple new ones too. The new cast did an incredible job voicing these characters. With the animals being like live-action-ish, the animals do not really show “expressions” on their faces, however like in real life with animals, you do see and feel the feelings in their eyes and through the characters voices; every actor did a PHENOMENAL job portraying all the emotions through their voices. My kids and I were emotional multiple times during this film.

WHAT I LOVED:

I loved that James Earl Jones returned to voice Mufasa again. Mufasa’s character is one of my favorite as an adult now. He’s such a fantastic parent example: When Simba makes a mistake, Mufasa talks to him about it, he doesn’t punish him physically. Mufasa explains to Simba how his choices caused that outcome and why he should make better decisions next time. He also lets Simba see he is vulnerable too. Mufasa talks to Simba at a human level – it’s beautiful. I think we should all be like Mufasa – understanding and one who treats others and their children like humans too – they need to be heard and understood too. Talk and explain life but listen too.

“… a true king searches for what he can give.” – Mufasa


CAN YOUR LITTLE WILDERNESS EXPLORERS SEE THIS MOVIE:

Even though this is a Disney film, there are a couple warnings for sensitive ones being the way it was filmed – it seems VERY real. Plus, it deals with death and despair.

If you’ve seen the classic version, then you know about The Elephant Graveyard and The Stampede scene. Both of these scenes are very intense, my son was biting his nails like crazy and I cried hard in The Stampede scene.

There are a few jump-scares mixed in here and there. Overall, I recommend this though for kids 7 and above, have them watch the classic version first and then go see this one! It’s so fun to see them so close together. But remember, you’re the best judge for your kids because only YOU know them best!

SO, DID I GIVE 5 OUT OF 5 BALLOONS:

Yes, 5 of the biggest balloons possible. Well done, Jon Favreau! Throughout the movie, I forgot these were computer-generated mixed with the other magic they use to create the scenes and animals. I absolutely LOVED that they kept so close to the classic.