The Lion King is one of the best movies for children in the 20th century. As it has proven to be such a successful movie, Disney made a new one- which we will be comparing to the original as well as exploring the preferences of Disney fans.
The Lion King remake was released earlier this year (on the 9th of July) and has taken the world by storm. Millions of adults and children alike were mesmerised by the movie’s stunning graphics, amazing script and musical numbers (obviously: Beyonce took part!). However, it wasn’t as well received by critics as it was by the new audience…
The Audience’s Opinion:
Many fans of the original movie have come back to the cinema desperate to see what has become of the movie and to relive old memories from their childhood. The original is rated 93 out of 100, which is an A level movie; but it seems as though the remake has not blown the audience away as much, receiving a score of 88 out of 100, which is still an A level movie but is still significantly lower than the original. We asked multiple students about their opinions on both of the Lion King films (1994 and 2019), and most agreed that the original was better in both script and cinematography. The original seemed to have a ‘calmer and cool tone’ throughout the whole movie, which is mainly why 57% of the students preferred it.
The Writers’ Opinions:
Saif Nasr and Ahmad Abd El Baki’s opinions:
Ahmad Abd El Baki: I personally think that although the new version’s graphics and attention to detail is great, the realistic faces have no expressions, which can be misleading to us in terms of what a character may be feeling. The voice acting is also bland, making it hard to tell a character’s emotions. Ultimately, I prefer the original in most perspectives.
Saif Nasr: I think that the first Lion king was better than the remake as the remake’s only advantage was the improved graphics… The original also clearly blew up because of how uniquely and genuinely touching it was; it was a beautiful end to the 20th century.
