This year we’ve already had to suffer through pointless live-action remakes of animated Disney classics like Dumbo and The Lion King. But with The Lion King, the mouse has saved the best for last. At least, the original Lion King is the best as far as these movies go. This remake however seems even more dicey because in this case “live-action” means an entire film of CGI animals so photorealistic they can’t even get across the emotions of their super celebrity voice actors. Oh well, at least that live-action Mulan looks pretty sick.
Watch these movies before The Lion King.
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The Jungle Book
Even though The Jungle Book made nearly a billion dollars in its own right, Jon Favreau’s first “live-action” Disney remake always felt like a test-run for The Lion King. Having a single real human, the jungle child Mowgli, makes the cavalcade of photorealistic animals slightly easier to accept. Plus they got Bill Murray to play Baloo and that’s fun.
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Homecoming
Let’s be real, a major reason why lots of folks are excited for The Lion King is because they cast the one and only Beyoncé as the voice of adult Nala. And if you want to see the magic that can happen when Beyonce’s in front of a camera, watch Homecoming, her stunning work of art of a concert film. On Netflix you’ll not only get a tour of her music career as filtered through her legendary Coachella performance but also the music soundscapes of historically Black colleges and universities, plus behind the scenes footage of how it was all pulled off.
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Solo: A Star Wars Story
Regardless of how the movie turns out, Donald Glover as adult Simba is pretty stellar casting. And if you want to see Donald Glover well-cast in a Disney that also probably doesn’t need to exist, go back and check out his campy cool performance as young Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Or did you already forget about that movie?
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Dreamgirls
We already know Beyoncé can sing. But can she act? At least in a musical where she basically plays herself and also gets to do a lot of singing? See for yourself in Dreamgirls, the movie adaptation of the Broadway hit. Like with Homecoming, you’ll also get an education in Black musical art as the story is a barely fictional retelling of the story of record label Motown.
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Kimba the White Lion
Not to sound like a weeb, but you should really read the manga before you watch the anime. Kimba the White Lion’s tale of the cute little jungle cat comes from Osamu Tezuka, the legendary creator of Astro Boy and “the god of manga.” Coming up in the 1950s, Tezuka’s art style was greatly influenced by Walt Disney. That’s why many find it disappointing that Disney allegedly ripped off Kimba (Jungle Emperor Leo) with The Lion King instead of working directly with Tezuka when they had the chance.
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Cadillac Records
We basically put every Beyoncé movie on this list, okay. While she’s sort of playing Diana Ross in Dreamgirls, in Cadillac Records Beyoncé is just straight up playing Etta James. A bunch of other celebrities play musical icons too like Mos Def as Chuck Berry, Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters, and Cedric the Entertainer as Willie Dixon. And then they all get ripped off by Elvis.
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The Adventures of Milo and Otis
I’ve complained a lot about the weird choice to render all the animals with uncanny photorealistic CGI in the new Lion King. But if they wanted the movie to look real what choice did they have? Use actual lions? If you want to see how that might have turned out, go watch The Adventures of Milo and Otis where people narrate over footage of real animals “acting” out the story. But considering the animal cruelty allegedly required to make this happen, maybe CGI isn’t so bad.
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