Disney enjoyed playing with nostalgia, making remakes of these films that made the delights of those who were children in the 1990s, at the time some call the “Disney Renaissance. “An audience that certainly comes to cinemas to go back in time, even if it is Les uncomfortable when the remake does not live up to expectations. One of the latest features published is also one of the most appreciated by these new adults: the Hamlet of our time, The Lion King.
The period from 1989 to 1999 was a glorious period for Disney Studios, it was during this decade that classic titles such as Mulan, Tarzan, Hercules, Beauty and the Beast, La Sirenita and, of course, The Lion King debuted.
- Disney had energized its productions by making high-quality films that even adults could enjoy.
- Features that appeared in an era prior to new technologies.
- But with sufficient advances to bring the magic of animation to unprecedented levels.
Children’s entertainment came from these productions. The Internet was still a fantasy of the future and the cinematic experience was absolutely exciting.
Among all these films, The Lion King shines with his own light, has long been loved by all, no one can hate him and we can only give ourselves to him, this fascination turned the story into a musical that continues to fill the halls and, Unsurprisingly, Disney Studios decided to make a remake.
What’s this new version of the classic like?What updates did the old movie have? We’ll see below.
To answer that question, in this particular case, you could simply say: because it is profitable, very profitable, but the situation can look a little more complex.
It is true that audiences flocked to theaters to see his childhood classic, but is it also true that we tend to be very critical? sometimes unfairly? with the remakes.
This case has another peculiarity. While other Disney classics can find gaps between audiences that allow filmmakers to creative freedom, there is some unanimity with The Lion King.
For many, it’s one of Disney’s best movies, for others it’s the best feature with many games and you can even find it on lists that don’t just include animated works.
Thus, nostalgia and absolute devotion play against creative freedom, that is, the Lion King becomes, in a way, untouchable, there is no option to change it, change it or decorate it, an added element?As well-intentioned as it is, will it be susceptible to criticism.
The reasons that can lead a studio to perform a remake are very diverse, from telling the story from another point of view to updating its values, to an intentional departure from the original.
The interesting thing here is that The Lion King is, in itself, a remake or adaptation of Hamlet that, transported to the animal kingdom, presents something very similar to Shakespeare’s work.
After seeing the 2019 version, we realized that its creators were well aware of the difficulty of changing the classic, and remained very faithful, even in excess, to the original.
In this sense, one wonders what the need for a remake was. Was it nostalgia?Return childhood to new adults?Or maybe the only motivation was really economic?
In any case, the film keeps its promises. The audience went to the cinema and got carried away by the nostalgic element, very well supported by the soundtrack that keeps unforgettable themes from the original feature film.
The work also becomes a visually high-quality film, but which we will probably forget in a few years, it may have been useless, it shows nothing new, but we didn’t want anything new either, but this trip was promised at an early age.
As mentioned above, The Lion King is inspired by Hamlet, the similarities are obvious, but they were represented in a shade kinder and closer to the children’s audience.
Hamlet was very innovative in his day, deepening the characters and psychological aspects, breaking with tradition. Tragedy has greatly influenced universal literature, and its role as a classic is beyond doubt.
The Lion King, in addition to taking this work as a reference, focuses on the emotions, feelings and motivations of his characters, so he plots a story that, although told by animals, is deeply human.
Shakespeare spoke not only of revenge in Hamlet, but of human nature, drawing characters that gave rise to a multitude of analyses from very different perspectives.
At O Leo we know Mufasa better and deepen the relationship between father and son, greatly justifying revenge and winning the empathy of children.
Thus, The Lion King not only resembles Hamlet in his plot, but also in the very role he plays in the collective imagination and in Disney studios, which brings together drama, comedy, music and witness the tragedy of the death of a loved one.
The Lion King provides a deeper vision of the characters, leaving aside the childhood vision that characterized animated films and also reaching adult audiences.
Although it does not alter the original plot, El Rey León 2019 presents a speech that, although present in the 90s, has been updated and has added value. We talk about the latent message along the line, which becomes explicit in several characters: our use of earthly resources, the value of nature.
Life cycle is the key to the film. Mufasa explains to Simba the importance of understanding that all beings are fundamental, from animals to plants, if greed ends up corrupting us and we begin to abuse the resources that the earth gives us, the cycle breaks and, with that, makes life impossible.
Like lions, they could be the ‘strong’ because they are the ones who feed on other herbivorous animals, however, Mufasa stresses the importance of their bodies, after death, feeding on the land on which the plants were born, which in turn will be consumed by herbivores.
Thus, if everyone contributes and does not abuse their condition, life will be harmonious and possible, although in many cases it may seem unfair.
Scar is the character who embodies greed, corruption through power and the desire to possess everything. Don’t you mind that the other animals in the kingdom starve to death, that plants no longer grow from the earth?In this way, we see how Scar contributes to the destruction of his own world.
This message establishes a clear parallel with our planet, with the climate emergency that awaits us and with the problems that arise from an unequal and abusive distribution of resources.
Without deviating from the original, it retrieves a message and takes it to our nearest news, allowing the audience to identify with what they see on the screen.
The Lion King will always be the classic of Disney classics and in a few years we won’t even remember this new adaptation, I’m sure we won’t see it hundreds of times, as we did with the first one.
This does not prevent nostalgia from invading us during the exhibition, to remind us of our childhood, to want to revisit the original and force us to sing the songs that, for many, are part of the soundtrack of our life.