Jon Favreau: I felt a tremendous responsibility not to screw The Lion King

Just a few days left to say Hakuna Matata. Filmmaker Jon Favreau is all set to bring our all-time favorite movie The Lion King on the big screen on 19th July. The director has used pioneering filmmaking techniques to bring iconic characters to the big screen in a whole new way.

Talking about The Lion King, Jon Favreau said:

“It’s such a beloved property. Disney has had tremendous success with the original animated version and then the Broadway musical. I knew that I had to be very careful with it. I felt a tremendous responsibility not to screw it up.”

He added:

“I wanted to demonstrate that we could be respectful of the source material while bringing it to life using mind-blowing techniques and technologies.”

The director said:

“I went on a safari to Africa six months prior to first talking to Disney about doing this film.”

“I remember when a warthog ran by our safari vehicle, one of the people in our group started singing ‘Hakuna matata’. And then when we saw lions up on a rock, they all said, ‘Oh, look, it looks like Lion King’. This story has become a frame of reference that everybody now knows and accepts.”

“It pops up in music, on TV shows, in comedy routines, as part of sketches. It’s continually referenced. It’s such a deep part of our culture that it felt like there was a tremendous opportunity to build on that and to retell the story in a different medium.”