It is reasonable to question a film remake if you don't think it adds anything new to the original. However, it is noteworthy that many many movies are remade regularly without any such negativity . I loved 'A Star is Born' with Streisand and Kristofferson but decided to let my daughter have her Lady Gaga version...without comment or comparison, understanding that I can not force or even expect her to feel my connection with the older movie. I have not felt the need to watch the latest version, nor even the numerous other older films with the same title and story.

I suppose a comparative study of ALL these films COULD be a worth while artistic endeavor however on this thread so far all I have read are wild declarative statements about the 'awfulness' or 'awesomeness' of the latest 'The Lion King' movie when I was hoping for something more substantive either way. I guess I will have to watch the movie for myself.

Eh, I enjoyed the animated film as a child but I had long grown out of it. I gave this a watch just to check it out and it's incredibly jarring to watch, not even just watching the animals pretend to talk but some of the scaling kind of seemed off as well. That last scene with pride rock....looked...tiny.

I honestly think there was a point in the creative process of this film that if it wasn't a remake of The Lion King and didn't have so much momentum and was pretty much a guaranteed hit they would have decided that the process just didn't work well enough and gave up. There are things the director has said in interviews like how he made the characters look down a lot so you can't see their mouths or went for the wide shot more often. When you're making a movie and you are avoiding showing the characters mouths there is something seriously wrong.

@Oduntola I think A Star is Born is such a different beast to The Lion King though. The new film is another retelling of the story that is so different in style and era that it makes sense to exist. The big selling points are the music and Lady Gaga and Bradley Coopers performances. Back in the day the music and Babs and Kris were the draw for theirs. I have no doubt in 20 or 30 years we will see another.

The big selling point for The Lion King is its The Lion King!

Exactly what I said, a remake should add something new to the original. It could be songs, stars, of cinematic style. Now I feel I need to go see The Lion King. I recall when my daughter was small I must have watched "The Price of Egypt" about 100 times with her. From talking about the film with her I began to see the movie through her eyes. It was a wonderful experience.

Sorry @oduntola I think I came across as disagreeing with you when I was actually agreeing. Whatever about you checking out the new Lion King, I honestly think you should give A Star is Born a go. It really is a great film. Its as different from 'your' version as that was from the Judy Garland one.

@gethys I agree that this site should be more about open dialog. By the time they closed imdbs boards it was a cesspool. However the OP did open this thread by saying the claims about The Lion King being soulless were" ridiculous" and that trashing and insulting the movie was "shameful." That isn't exactly a good way to start an open dialog.

@A-Dubya said:

Well, the 1994 one was my favorite Disney movie, and perhaps my favorite animated movie, but I don't need this one, just like how I didn't need another Jumanji, Aladdin, Dumbo, etc. I've got the Lion King VHS tape from eons ago, so I am good with that.

I'd count Jumanji as a bit different as it is a actually a sequel. Much to my surprise I really liked it, and it was interesting that it went down the video game route so did something very different. In a way it said more about video games than the original said about board games. Unless it was really a clever critique of how board games back then often made no sense. The original film is basically land on this square and random stuff happens.

That being said the original wasn't something I held dear. I was a little too old for in the cynical phase of my teens. I saw it again about 5 years ago and really enjoyed it for the romp it was. And Robin Williams gave a performance that was almost better than a film like that deserves!