With The Lion King 3D’s September 16th theatrical release upon us, along with its Blu-ray Disc debut on October 4th, we share with you some rarely seen concept art from this classic animated film.
Month: September 2011 (Page 2 of 2)
During a routine scan on a distant planet, a young space scout finds romance with a female pilot. But when peril strikes, he must face what lurks in the darkness of the planet to rescue the girl.
Check out this really clever stop motion animation using a variety of foods.
With The Lion King 3D‘s September 16th theatrical release fast approaching, along with its Blu-ray Disc debut on October 4th, we share with you some fun facts regarding this Disney classic.
Also, be sure to check out the interview with the person in charge of converting The Lion King to 3D.
1.) THE ORIGINAL TITLE OF THE MOVIE WASN’T THE LION KING
“When I first started work on The Lion King, the movie was called King Of The Jungle,” reveals the film’s producer Don Hahn. “King Of The Jungle was a metaphor for this allegorical story about human behavior. We were thinking about the idea of how it’s a jungle out there and Simba has to exist in this jungle. However, there was no jungle in our story; they’re out on a savannah. Another title we looked into was King Of The Beasts, which made more sense because a lion is the king of beasts — but then we threw that out because we wanted to focus on a simple story about a lion king. At that stage we thought, ‘Why not call it The Lion King?’ The story is about a kid who wants to be king and his uncle frames him for murder, so he grows up in the wilderness and then he has to come back to claim his throne. That’s the whole story, and it’s all about a lion king, so the name stuck.”
Disney’s animated classic The Lion King has received the 3D treatment and will debut in theaters September 16th and on Blu-ray 3D & Blu-ray Hi-Def Combo Packs October 4th.
The person in charge of the project, stereographer Robert Neuman, takes some time from his busy day to answer some questions regarding this endeavor.
How long has 3D cinema been around?
We all know that 2D cinema has a rich history spanning more than a century, but 3D cinema has been around much longer than most people think. Back in the 1930s, the Lumiere brothers — who invented film — remade one of their features in 3D. They were convinced that 3D was going to be the next evolution in storytelling, but it didn’t catch on in that period of history. This means that 3D cinema has been around for nearly 80 years, but thankfully we’ve now gone past the gimmick stage. Today we’re ready to use 3D in order to tell a better story.
What does 3D add to an animated movie like The Lion King?
From my standpoint as a filmmaker, the most important aspect of a movie is the story. I knew we could add something to the storytelling of The Lion King with 3D. If we couldn’t use 3D to enhance the story, I wouldn’t be interested in the project. However, I knew we could take a classic and plus it — and I think that’s exactly what we’ve done with The Lion King 3D.
Check out “Late One Night,” Asaf Shahar and Anna Prager-Fichman’s graduating film from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design Animation Department.
Check out “Many Faces,” Nir Philosof’s graduating film from the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design Animation Department.
A Google doodle tribute to Freddie Mercury for his 65th birthday.