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Throwback: When The Lion King Animator Criticized Disney's 'Weak' Live-Action Remake
Throwback to when David Stephan, one of the original animators of The Lion King, spoke out against Disney's live-action remake. He called the film 'cheap' and criticized its focus on making money.
David Stephan, one of the original animators of Disney’s The Lion King (1994), has spoken out against the live-action remake of the beloved classic, calling it 'cheap' and 'weak.'
The remake, directed by Jon Favreau, has earned over $1 billion globally since its release on July 19, 2019. Despite its financial success, the film has failed to win over many critics, with some describing it as unnecessary.
Stephan’s disappointment with the remake was clear when he discussed it in an interview. He shared that he thinks the decision to reboot the film was more about commercial gain than artistic merit.
"If you polled the crew of the original Lion King, most of them would say, ‘Why? Did you really have to do that?’” he said. “It kind of hurts.” According to Stephan, the remake feels more driven by profit than by a passion for storytelling.
Stephan went on to say that the shift towards commercialism at Disney is troubling, especially for someone who worked on the original film. “It’s sort of sad that the stockholder is now in the room deciding what movies get made,” he said.
He showed regret that Disney, a studio once known for its focus on originality and artistic innovation, seems now more interested in making money.
“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,” he added.
Stephan was also critical of the performances in the 2019 remake, particularly those of Hollywood stars like Donald Glover and Beyoncé. “I thought their performances were weak,” Stephan stated, adding that the voices felt wooden rather than natural.
For a film that was aiming to bring new life to a classic, these vocal performances seemed to fall short in Stephan’s view. He suggested that the emotional depth that made the original characters so memorable was lost in this version of the story.
Another area where Stephan found fault was the character designs, which he described as too real. He compared them to the old nature films, where animals’ voices were dubbed over, making the lip movements appear unnatural.
“It reminded me of those old nature films where they would dub the voices over and the lips would move. I thought, ‘Oh, this is really cheap,’” he stated. For Stephan, the design choices and hyper-realistic animation detracted from the magic that made the original film stand out.
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