this is so dumb. like sooo so dumb. like who cares. i'm aware. but like there was genuine potential to do something interesting here and it was just completely shirked in favor of the strangest nat geo special i have ever seen
i was thinking about this especially after watching "black is king"; both it & the gift (both super underappreciated by the by, go listen/watch if u haven't recently they have no business being this good attached to something as silly as a live action disney remake) essentially being concept albums and films based on the original lion king. like, imagine that but in like a full proper film context
like the whole reason why the musical version is still so loved all these years later is down to its creative interpretation. you're really telling me they couldn't just do that but in a new context, for a new generation? like can you IMAGINE the wardrobe? the choreography? letting chiwetel ejiofor actually do be prepared like a full musical number??? all of that, squandered!! like are we ALLERGIC to fun and creativity!?!??!
(maybe i'm just a bit bitter we didn't get beyoncé's rendition of shadowland liKE COME TF ON IT'S LITERALLY PERFECTLY IN HER RANGE)