The Original THE LION KING Animators Weigh in on the Remake and There's a "Huge Resentment" For It

I saw the latest version of The Lion King recently with my family. It was fine. The kids liked it for the most part. But I pretty much felt like if you had seen the first version, you really didn’t need to see this one. It was a pretty exact remake, and though it was beautiful, it didn’t make me laugh or feel much of the emotion that the animated version did.

So it is interesting to know that Huffington Post reached out to the original animators, and it’s kind of a mixed bag as far as their response. Of the 13 original animators that worked on the film, seven declined to comment, three said they didn’t see the new movie and didn’t plan to, and three said they wouldn’t mind answering a few questions.

One person who wouldn’t name themselves said, “I will only get myself in trouble if I comment on the ‘other’ version. Another said, “There is a huge resentment against these 3D remakes from the original 2D crews. Maybe if we got any kind of royalties it would be different.”

Artist David Stephen, who worked on the “Circle of Life” artwork, as well as the hyena design, was quoted saying, “If you polled the crew of the original Lion King, most of them would say, ‘Why? Did you really have to do that?’ It kind of hurts.” He went on to add, “It’s sort of sad that the stockholder is now in the room deciding what movies get made. … Disney’s now taken the cover off, and it’s now in your face: ‘Yeah, we just want to make money.’ That’s disappointing as an artist, from a studio that was founded on originality and art.”

But Dave Bossert had pretty much the opposite response. The visual effects artist said he believed this film stands on its own, and added, “I view it as what Walt [Disney] did when he was building the company. He constantly reused and recycled great stories. It’s very evident if you look at when he built Disneyland. He took properties like Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, and Cinderella and he created immersive theme-park attractions, and all the merchandise and books and other things that came along with it. He kind of invented that stuff. … The fact is, they’re taking these great stories and they’re creating them in different entertainment arenas.”

He went on to say, “I wish they had a little bit more emotion in the characters’ eyes. If you’ve got animals talking, you can take more liberties with facial expressions. … Really with the eyes more than anything else. When a character is talking, the eyes could open a little more, or an eyebrow could raise a little bit. You’re walking a fine line where you don’t want it to be too cartoony, but I think they could have pushed it a little bit more.”

Scar artist Alexander Williams was also pretty passive about the remake, saying that while it’s an honor to work for Disney, when you move on, you have to realize that you don’t own the movie you helped make.

I get having a personal connection to the characters that you originally helped bring to life, and how it may feel sad to see them redone by someone else in a different way. But I think these remakes, while good and entertaining are not replacing their animated counterparts. Small kids, and even us adults, will always have a love for animated Disney movies.

Did you see the new Lion King movie? Did you like it as much as the original?