The Lion King is the third Disney remake to hit cinemas this year and, for better or worse, it's the one that most slavishly follows the original animation.
Tim Burton's Dumbo extended the story past the end of the animation, while Guy Ritchie's Aladdin expanded the role of Princess Jasmine with a whole new song to boot, even if the structure of the story remained the same.
While not an exact shot-for-shot remake, Jon Favreau's take on The Lion King closely follows the 1994 classic and is effectively a scene-for-scene remake. And it's this approach that highlights a lesson to be learned for all future Disney remakes.
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When tackling a remake, especially of such a beloved movie, we get that Disney wouldn't want to stray too far from what worked in the original. But while the destination largely has to be the same, why does the journey have to be?
If the idea of Disney's remakes is to bring their classic stories to a new generation who, for whatever reason, wouldn't watch the originals, then the remake doesn't have to be exactly the same as the original.
It's telling that the element of the remake that works best is the characters of Timon and Pumbaa, voiced by Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen, respectively.
The duo were clearly given full rein to bring their own voices to the characters, resulting in the funniest and freshest scenes in the movie. On the whole, they aren't just retreads of the jokes from the animation, meaning there's something to surprise fans of the original, including a brilliant Beauty and the Beast gag.
And even though Eichner and Rogen bring a different energy to their scenes, they are still recognisably Timon and Pumbaa. The spirit's the same, it's just that the execution is slightly different.
Elsewhere, The Lion King remake is so faithful to the original that once the awe at the astonishing visuals wears off, there's nothing much else to savour. It's truly a big-screen experience as the photorealistic animation is astonishing, but without a similarly new feeling to the story, it serves as little more than a technical showcase.
Of course, there are certain scenes that had to be in the remake, such as the heartbreaking stampede, which still packs a punch here. But that doesn't mean that everything else had to be exactly the same.
Here's the thing. The animation would still exist even if the remake decided to change the story beats or adapt the characters, so why not be a bit more adventurous with it?
We know that change can be scary to fans. There have been backlashes from sections of Disney fans over the Mulan remake (potentially) not having any songs, and the casting of an actress of colour as Ariel in The Little Mermaid.
But, thankfully these are in the minority and those types of changes can bring in a completely different audience which, surely, must be one of the aims of a remake.
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The box office nowadays is dominated by franchises – and the brand recognition of The Lion King would be enough to draw the majority of punters in. Perhaps if the remake had offered something new beyond its technology, the reviews wouldn't have been quite so underwhelming.
But to borrow a Love Island phrase, it is what it is, and what The Lion King remake is, is a technically impressive retelling of a classic tale, but one that holds nothing particularly new to fans.
Won't stop it being a box-office smash, mind.
The Lion King is out on July 19.
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Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
