THE “WORLD’S” OPINION – WHY NOT
Among the many Disney productions, it is impossible not to be fascinated by the evocative power of The Lion King (1994), the studio’s highest-grossing animated filmand by the audience’s constantly renewed loyalty to the various variations that have been produced since then: a (rather prodigious) musical comedy that has been playing continuously since 1997, as well asan adaptation in live actiona mix of live action and computer-generated imagery, released in 2019 and a huge public success. Let’s try to outline the recipe for success. First, this intense Shakespearean plot that resumes Hamlet in the middle of the African savannah: fratricidal war, power struggles, betrayals. Some of the catchiest songs in the Disney repertoire (Hakuna matata). Finally, a gallery of characters (Simba, Zazu, Timon and Pumbaa) with whom the audience is invited to create an almost indestructible emotional bond.
I suspected that, determined to exhaust the vein of nostalgia to the limit, the studio could not think of a prequel that would return to the origins of the saga. It’s over with Mufasa, directed by American Barry Jenkins (Moonlight2016), which returns to the legend of Simba’s father, tragically killed by his evil brother Scar—the culmination of childhood trauma, neck and neck with the death of Simba’s mother. Bambi. This origin story is cared for by the friendly baboon Rafiki, who tells Kiara, Simba’s daughter, about her grandfather’s life.
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