The 2019 Lion King was shot with virtual reality on a Los Angeles stage
Jon Favreau's remake looks like a wildlife documentary, yet every animal is computer animation, filmed with virtual reality tools on a blue screen stage. Critics called it a near copy of the 1994 original. Audiences paid over $1.6 billion anyway, making it the top-grossing animated film until 2024.
Disney confirmed the project in September 2016, riding on the success of Favreau's own The Jungle Book remake. The same virtual cinematography approach was pushed further here: principal photography began in mid-2017, with filmmakers working inside a digital savannah rather than on location. The budget of roughly $250 to $260 million places it among the most expensive films ever produced.
The voice cast mixed newcomers with one crucial returnee. Donald Glover voiced adult Simba, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter played Nala, Chiwetel Ejiofor took on Scar, and Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner recorded together as Pumbaa and Timon, encouraged to improvise. James Earl Jones came back as Mufasa, with most of his lines unchanged, in what would be his last time voicing the role. Rogen's casting ended Ernie Sabella's long run as Pumbaa across every earlier Disney project.
Music again came from Hans Zimmer, Elton John and Tim Rice, with Knowles-Carter helping rework the soundtrack and writing a new song, Spirit. Favreau also borrowed ideas from the Broadway stage version, and Glover said the director wanted more attention on Simba's difficult passage from boy to man after trauma. Nala's part was expanded compared with the original.
After a Hollywood premiere on July 9, 2019, the film opened in the United States ten days later and drew mixed reviews focused on its lack of originality. Its box office told another story: it was the second-highest earner of 2019 and held the animated record from August 2019 until September 2024. It picked up Golden Globe, BAFTA and Oscar nominations, the last two for visual effects. Barry Jenkins directed the follow-up, Mufasa: The Lion King, released in December 2024.
Source: The Lion King (2019 film)
