The recent Dumbo and Aladdin at least tried something different, but The Lion King is scuppered by a slavish devotion to the original that slackens only when making gentle swerves towards the blandest corners of the Savannah. In 1967 the corporation was prepared to tear Kipling asunder for The Jungle Book. It goes without saying that this Lion King is a remarkable technical achievement. Whereas the 2016 Jungle Book retained a degree of anthropomorphism, this Lion King cares only for making lions look like lions. The Lion King suggests the late Johnny Morris’s work on the ancient television show Animal Magic.

Source: The Irish Times July 16, 2019 09:11 UTC