THE LION KING (2019)

ANIMATED FILM, LIVE-ACTION OR MOTION CAPTURE?

In recent years, renewed Disney’s classics have amazed us: “Dumbo” by Tim Burton, “Aladdin” still available in some cinemas or “The Jungle Book” a digital prowess. Here is how Disney decided to renew its image: rework all these great animated classics in the computer made movies.

The distinction between animated film, live-action or motion capture is getting more and more precise. Neel Sethi was, for example, the only real actor on the set of the Jungle Book, he interacted with animals entirely made of computer-generated images. But it is with The Lion King that the studios Fairview Entertainment push once again the innovation limits by proposing a film entirely created with a computer and hyper-realistic.

In an interview with Jon Favreau, chief producer of the Lion King himself admitted not to know if it was an animated film or a “live-action,” he even added that it is none of them. He wanted to give us images worthy of a BBC animal report that do not look like visual effects even though animals speak and behave humanely. The trailer available here:

No scene in the film was shot in real life. Jon Favreau went on a trip to Kenya in Africa collecting images of natural landscapes so they could serve as a source of artistic inspiration. Once in a box, these plans shot in live were probably retouched numerically, to fit the graphic style of the movie. But beware, it is not a “performance capture” or “motion capture” either.

Indeed, the actors and artists recruited have only rented their voices: James Earl Jones double Mufasa, Donald Glover as Simba, Beyoncé Knowles, Nala … A big casting that adds to the impatience of the fans. Moreover, no animal was actually filmed, the artistic and design team was inspired only by nature so that the animals seem as real as possible. Some behind-the-scenes images available here:

It is therefore with impatience that we waited until July 19th to finally be able to appreciate the result of all the efforts of the design teams! In the meantime, we offer you 3 facts about the cartoon of our childhood:

The Lion King was originally supposed to be called “The King of the Jungle” until the team realized that lions do not live in the jungle …
Simba, Sarabi, Rafiki, and Pumbaa are Swahili words. They mean lion, mirage, friend and stupid.
For the scene of Scar and hyenas “Be ready,” Disney was inspired by Nazi photos.
And you, do you have unpublished things about the Lion King?

The full article here: https://whatzhat.com/lion-king-2019/

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