Yup, this happening. Regardless of how well that original Lion King film holds up, Disney has conditioned us to go out and see these live-action reimaginings of their animated fare. It worked for Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and The Jungle Book. I’m just as guilty myself. As a lifelong Disney fan, there is a lot of pleasure I get from revisiting these worlds, even as I criticize them for not changing things up enough from the original material.

Just as I criticized Beauty and the Beast for its similarities with its animated counterpart, I see a similar problem with The Lion King here. Rather than do something different, they are literally reenacting the same shots from the original. This is especially noticeable in the new TV spot Disney just dropped. It is indeed a gorgeous-ass TV spot, but it doesn’t look like it’s doing much apart from replicating what we’ve already seen, except with snazzier VFX.

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That being said, I already know I’ll be there on day one, and as much as I criticize it here, if this is able to flesh out some of the in-between from the original film and give it a bit more heft, I’ll likely be one of the people singing its praises. But whether or not it’ll actually do that is up in the air completely.

Below is the official synopsis for The Lion King:

“From Disney Live Action, director Jon Favreau’s all-new The Lion King journeys to the African savanna where a future king is born. Simba idolizes his father, King Mufasa, and takes to heart his own royal destiny. But not everyone in the kingdom celebrates the new cub’s arrival. Scar, Mufasa’s brother—and former heir to the throne—has plans of his own. The battle for Pride Rock is ravaged with betrayal, tragedy and drama, ultimately resulting in Simba’s exile. With help from a curious pair of newfound friends, Simba will have to figure out how to grow up and take back what is rightfully his. The all-star cast includes Donald Glover as Simba, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter as Nala, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Billy Eichner as Timon and Seth Rogen as Pumbaa. Utilizing pioneering filmmaking techniques to bring treasured characters to life in a whole new way, “The Lion King” roars into theaters on July 19, 2019.”

What do you think of the new poster and TV spot? Let us know down below!

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SOURCE: Disney