Jon Favreau's Lion King CONFIRMED

[terry78]

I mean we've only seen a little of it. The most expressive characters in jungle book were baloo, Louie and probably bagheera at times.

 

[The Caped Knight]

Got my tickets and I'm ready to go!

 

[Iceman]

She speaks, and she sounds just fine. Will this silence the Bey-haters?

She sounds great to me.

 

[2kt09]

I wonder if people would be more accepting of the "expressionless" animals if this were an original movie instead of a remake.

eh, that's still a lot of money to burn just to have "expressionless" CG animals
but hey, PETA's happy

 

[Melpardus]

I think the issue is they were able to do expressions with Jungle Book's animals, but somehow there's none of that here.

I think it's partly due to the species they were working with. Big cats don't have the musculature to accomplish as much in the facial expression department as do primates, bears, and canines. But again, I think we'll have to wait and get a full scene before we can make a final judgement call on how expressive these models are, especially when you incorporate the full body language of the animal.

 

[jmc]

Jungle Book was also offset by having an actual human being leading the film. Watching some of that movie again recently for comparison, the kid being there really helps ground the movie. And maybe the variety animals also helped. You're dealing almost exclusively with lions in this movie.

 

[Persona]

I wouldn't have been opposed to a "realistic" take on The Lion King, that could have been really bold and interesting... but that's not what this is. This is trying to do The Lion King with all the talking and songs and sidekicks but with new photoreal-ish CG... and you're losing that wonderful expressiveness and vibrancy that the original had even though it's attempting to evoke the same sort of feelings as the original. It's a compromised middle ground, from what I can tell.

If some people are down for that, more power to them. Definitely not for me and I won't be honoring yet another Disney nostalgia-porn cash grab with my wallet. I will check it out when the Blu-Ray hits my library.

 

[AverageMan]

Anyone know when tickets go on sale? Nothing on Fandango yet

 

[Lencho01]

 

[Loden Greatstorm]

I'm a bit confused as to why we haven't heard Simba talk yet.

 

[samsnee]

I watched the movie Babe this morning and the way those animals talk in the movie looked better than anything I've seen in the trailers for this.

 

[terry78]

The only reason for them to be fully CG is because they have to do a lot of the action scenes from the cartoon. Other than that they won't be all that expressive.

 

[marty mcfly]

If anyone wants to watch, Simba speaks in the 2nd spot here. Even has a really touching moment with Mufasa and they look plenty expressive.

Maybe just... wait to see the actual movie before worrying whether they're expressive or not?

 

[Melpardus]

I'm a bit confused as to why we haven't heard Simba talk yet.

They're trying to build to it as part of the marketing campaign since the voice cast is such a big part of this go-round, but yeah, you hear him speaking in the international trailer.

 

[kaypain]

I'm a bit confused as to why we haven't heard Simba talk yet.

He does in the Japanese TV Spot

 

[Loden Greatstorm]

He does in the Japanese TV Spot

Adult Simba doesn’t.

 

[kaypain]

Adult Simba doesn’t.

They're taking their time I guess

I mean look at what happened with Will Smith's Genie

It went from: WTF why isn't he blue?
To: WTF is that? He looks like a smurf. Nightmare fuel!
Then: Ehhh... looks cool but he will never be Robin Williams.
And last: Wow Will Smith was great! He did great making Genie his own.

 

[Loden Greatstorm]

They're taking their time I guess

I mean look at what happened with Will Smith's Genie

It went from: WTF why isn't he blue?
To: WTF is that? He looks like a smurf. Nightmare fuel!
Then: Ehhh... looks cool but he will never be Robin Williams.
And last: Wow Will Smith was great! He did great making Genie his own.

Good point.

 

[samsnee]

They're taking their time I guess

I mean look at what happened with Will Smith's Genie

It went from: WTF why isn't he blue?
To: WTF is that? He looks like a smurf. Nightmare fuel!
Then: Ehhh... looks cool but he will never be Robin Williams.
And last: Wow Will Smith was great! He did great making Genie his own.

I have yet to hear or read that last line anywhere.

 

[Melpardus]

You'll find a bunch of those opinions over in the Aladdin thread.

 

[kaypain]

I have yet to hear or read that last line anywhere.

 

[Loden Greatstorm]

I have yet to hear or read that last line anywhere.

But you are a certified hater.

 

[samsnee]

But you are a certified hater.

That's right, and proud of it.

 

[I Am The Knight]

I have yet to hear or read that last line anywhere.

 

[kaypain]

That's right, and proud of it.