Disney's 'Lion King' Live-Action News: Creators Shed Light on Adaptation; Mufasa, Scar Not Brothers?

By Rachel Cruz, Christian Post Contributor Saturday, August 19, 2017

Anticipation is growing for Disney's "Lion King" live-action adaptation and the creators of the 1994 original animated movie have something to say about it.

"Lion King" animation producer Don Hahn and co-director Rob Minkoff sat down with Cinema Blend to shed light on their thoughts about the upcoming live-action movie. They expressed mixed feelings about it.

"The honest answer is thrilling and terrifying," said Hahn. "To have them retold is great. The terrifying thing is, these are our children. And so it's sending your child off to school."

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But Hahn and Minkoff are happy that Jon Favreau will be taking the helm and overseeing the live-action as its director. They also expect that Favreau will do something different to the "Lion King" live-action adaptation.

Favreau has been saying that he plans on using a similar virtual reality (VR) technology he used while filming "The Jungle Book" live-action that came out in theaters in 2016. He explained its intricacies during a footage presentation at the Disney D23 Expo last June.

Hahn and Minkoff also know that there will be some changes to the characterization.

Incidentally, they clarified one big misconception about "Lion King" all these years. They told Hello Giggles in an interview that Mufasa and Scar were not really brothers despite what viewers perceived.

Prides don't usually have two male lions, according to the producer and the director. A younger lion would kill the king first before taking over the pack. They discussed how to explain this in doing the animated movie.

"We were trying to use those animal truths to underpin the story so we sort of figured Scar and Mufasa couldn't really be from the same gene pool," Hahn said.

So, in one scene where Mufasa (voiced by James Earl Jones) confronted Scar (voiced by Jeremy Irons), the latter said he came from the very bottom part of the gene pool to suggest he is different from the other lion. To recall, watch that exchange in the video below.

Meanwhile, Disney's "Lion King" live-action adaptation won't premiere in theaters until 2019. The film will star Donald Glover (Simba), John Oliver (Zazu), Seth Rogen (Pumbaa) and Billy Eichner (Timon). Jones will reprise his role as Mufasa. The actor for Scar has not yet been confirmed.