This past summer, a remake of the Disney movie The Lion King (1994) was released in theaters. With a cast of well-known celebrities such as Donald Glover, Beyoncé and Seth Rogen taking over the character’s voices, the movie became very popular, and it is one of the best selling animated movies ever.

The movie is centered around a young lion prince, Simba, who runs off and learns about the circle of life after his father is murdered by his uncle.

The Lion King (2019) was heart-warming at times and heart-breaking at others, just like the original movie. The cast wanted to retell the same great story, but also work their own personalities into the characters. 

“I think I’m very fun-loving like Simba is in the beginning, and then it transitions to him much more stunted,” Donald Glover said in an IMDB interview with the cast. 

When the main cast was asked how they retold the story of their characters, they agreed that they stuck to the nature of the original characters, but in their own new way.

“You have to start fresh with the character, not completely copy their original attitude but still give the audience what they’ve come to love about them.” Alfre Woodard, another member of The Lion King cast said.

While the movie exceeded expectations in the Box Office, it received 53% rotten tomatoes, for “lacking energy and heart that made the original story so loved.” The rotten tomatoes overall score polled from over 75,000 reviewers received an 88% total rating.