The Lion King and the Identity Politics.
(AfroGamers.com) While people are waiting for the return of The Lion King, creators, cast, and staff have started expressing their feelings about the remake. Linda Woolverton, who created beautiful Disney characters like Simba said in an interview that she doesn’t know how it is going to be. Woolverton also said that she “wasn’t thrilled with the Beauty and the Beast remake”.
Linda has won many awards including the 2016’s award for her outstanding contribution to screenwriting. She has worked as a screenwriter for original The Lion King, so no doubt she has been closely observing the production of The Lion King remake. During a podcast in which she shared many details about her previous work and the upcoming movies, Woolverton said that she wasn’t happy with how the Beauty and the Beast story went in the remake. The film wasn’t true to the tradition of the storytelling, she said.
Woolverton penned the screenplay for the original Beauty and the Beast film which was released in 1991. When the remake was announced, Woolverton was not involved. In interviews, she said that she was excited before the release and was looking forward to seeing what the new cast does with the story. Later she became apprehensive and was sad as she didn’t get to participate.
There aren’t a large number of people publicly speaking out about The Lion King remake because the film is still in the production stage. Many people have been discussing the story and other aspects of the movie, but people who created the original film, their thoughts matter a lot. For Woolverton, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Aladdin, and Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey are some of the movies that helped her reach new heights in professional life.
Wolverton is working on Maleficent II which is set for release in 2020. The movie is being produced by Walt Disney Pictures, but despite working with the company, she couldn’t stop herself from expressing her skepticism about The Lion King remake. She said that her experience with Disney has been positive and she considers it as a blessing.
Some reports have speculated on the possibility of this bitterness originating from lack of profit artists make. It happens especially in cases when the artists are not actively involved in the reproduction of a movie or artwork. If we look at from the legal point of view, the Writers Guild of America doesn’t cover animated features. It means that animation screenwriters and certain artists do not get any additional compensation from reproduction or remake. The WGA covers live-action films for the same as the screenplay writers get additional benefits for their creative inputs.
This is not the first time when someone is unhappy with a remake. Terry Rossio, the screenwriter of Aladdin also expressed his frustration. Terry on Twitter said that Disney has used a rhyme in the Aladdin remake trailer. This rhyme was written by Terry and his writing partner. He said that Disney didn’t even offer any compensation to him or to any screenwriter for the remake. He said that no recognition and involvement seems “gauche.”
The Lion King is a photorealistic computer animated remake of Walt Disney Pictures’ animated movie which was released in 1994. Disney released the first teaser trailer on November 22 and the trailer became the second most viewed trailer in just 24 hours with 224.6 million views. According to Disney, The Lion King will be released on July 19, 2019. The day will also be celebrated as the 25th anniversary of the released of The Lion King original movie. Jon Favreau will direct and produce the film and Jeff Nathanson is the new screenplay writer.
The upcoming film will be the first to be released on Disney+ alongside many other movies. For 2019, Disney has some interesting plans as the company will release many other movies including Toy Story 4 in June, Frozen 2 in November, Captain Marvel and Dumbo in March.
Staff Writer; Jay Baker
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