First and foremost, if you are expecting the new rendition of The Lion King to be parallel to the 1994 edition, don’t.

I went into watching it, making that mistake. To the expectations of James Earl Jones going word for word in his 1994 role of Mufasa, and the uneasy role of Scar being replicated to Jeremy Irons role. I had to erase those expectations after I started getting disappointed left and right.

After stopping the film, mentally erasing those expectations, taking a day or two, and hit restart, it became very clear. Director Jon Favreau made sure to make this version its own identity and on that level, he succeeded.

The realistic animation of the animals involved in the film and the color palette hit it on the head for the production crew. So, congratulations for the production department for executing that aspect of the film successfully.

Again, I had to adjust to the acting and dialogue of this film, and I think a lot of critics would agree. As for the music, I personally enjoyed the renditions of the songs, but that’s just my forte, since even Elton John would differ in that department. Who knows, he is more of a professional musician than I am, so I won’t bark up that tree, myself.

Overall, even though I did enjoy the remake, and would use this film as a reference for a color palette lesson, I also would still prefer the original animation in itself, unlike that of the predecessor of the newly live-action films under Jon Favreau’s brand, The Jungle Book.