This is a very distressing title to read, I know. However, the picture is also distressing because there is no way Mufasa, Pumbaa, and Timon were ever together in the same place.
I think we all know why.
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So yeah, ‘The Lion King’.
For those of you who are like me and fear change like Yoda fears the dark side, you’ll no doubt be very scared about the new Lion King reboot or remake or whatever.
It could be good, bringing me a whole new amount of respect for these live-action remakes.
We could share one of those scenes where I’m like a father who once didn’t believe in my son, but finally, we hug and makeup.
Or it could be bad and it could sour my tastes for this movie for the rest of my life.
But that’s only if it’s really bad, honestly, it’ll probably just be a fun little singalong for me.
The fact of the matter is I’m just upset by change because I’m an old man.
Luckily, the animated version of the film has never been changed, ever since it came out in the far off year of 1994.
Or so we thought.
The Year is 2002.
Spider-Man , Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers were in theatres.
Ben Affleck was the sexiest man alive (isn’t he still?).
President George W. Bush was in the White House.
Kelly Clarkson wins the first American Idol Contest, cementing the fact that we would have shows like this for the next 17 years.
And ‘The Lion King’ was re released in the 2002 IMAX version.
They did it to introduce the movie to a new generation, and they made a whole lot of changes to the original.
1. New Pre-Title Card.
Possibly the most egregious of changes, they moved the Frank Wells “In Remembrance” card to the end of the movie.
For those of you who don’t know, Frank Wells was president of Disney from 1984-1994 before he passed away.
2. New Disney Logo.
Alright, so the one on the left was the original that was used since 1985’s The Black Cauldron.
However, the one they used in the early 2000s was the one on the right.
3. Rafiki And Simba were redrawn.
Alright, so they probably did this so that the opening of the movie was all the more spectacular and visually appealing.
So I don’t really mind this change that apparently, I never noticed.
4. An Enhanced Waterfall.
During “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” (when Nala gives Simba those eyes, oh you know the eyes fellas) they changed the waterfall so it looked more HD and real.
Think I’m kidding?
Nope! In fact, Don Hahn explained that the waterfalls were enhanced “because we ran out of time and money ten years ago “.
They obviously wanted them to look better, so here we are.
5. “SFX” is gone.
Whether you believe it was SFX (the real story) or SEX (the tinfoil hat story) Disney put everything to rest by completely removing it from the movie altogether.
Thanks a lot, tinfoil hat wearers.
6. Scar’s Shadow.
So this change makes sense.
In the original, Scar’s head didn’t quite match up with the head from the shadow, so in the re-release, they changed it. Very good cleanup work.
7. The Crocodiles Were Replaced.
As you can see, they’re a little more cartoony.
So, when you’re listening to “Just Can’t Wait To Be King” you get to see some wackier crocs singing “Let’s hear it in the herd and on the wing ” to you.
8. The Morning Report Replaced The Pouncing Lesson.
So the musical number “The Morning Report” replaced that awesome pouncing lesson Mufasa gave to his son at the expense of poor Zazu.
I really don’t know how I feel about that.
They also changed a bunch of stuff for the 2011 “diamond edition”.
Which I obviously have to share with you now.
We’re discussing Lion King changes, so let’s wrap them all up.
1.The Logo
Well, it looks like they changed the Disney logo once again.
This time, they went with the 2006 version of the Disney logo (and guess what they did in 2018).
2. Double Logos
Just in case you forgot you were watching a Disney movie, they decided to put two logos in front of the movie.
One that was previously discussed and one with Steamboat Willie.
3. Disappearing Clouds
Alright, so during the sequence when Simba runs towards his father’s clouds (if you haven’t seen the movie this might be confusing) as he’s leaving, they accidentally took them out in the 2011 version.
So I guess I learned a lesson here today…
Change can be fine, as long as I never notice it or think about it at all. Ah yes, what a very healthy and mature lesson to learn…
Ignorance is bliss.
