Out of all of Disney's animated movies it's safe to say that The Lion King is one of the most important animated films that they've done. As it's the film that well and truly proved in the nineties that Disney was back and that they knew how to produce great movies that could and have made both adults and kids not only laugh with joy but cry with sadness and with the film now officially thirty years old Disney have decided to release a film that they made last year in it's thirtieth anniversary and so then join me as I review the special that despite being filmed during the films thirtieth was released on the eve of the film thirty first anniversary with the special in question being called simply just "The Lion King At The Hollywood Bowl" enjoy.
With this film basically just being a concert of the songs from the original film it really doesn't have a plot to speak of whatsoever. This is something that does work well enough to the specials advantage as the songs are just that well known that everybody including people who haven't seen the original film will know those songs however with that being said tho this special does jump around in the timeline of the film something which actually wasn't done when this special was being recorded almost a full year ago which makes it dd that they'd edit it that way now as all that does is make things confusing as to what song is coming up next say what you will about The Little Mermaid Live and Beauty And The Beast A Thirtieth Anniversary Celebration but at the vest least those specials presented the songs in chronological order where as here they do jump around quite a bit and while this doesn't effect the film as the main reason that the people are going to this concert and are going to be watching this special is the fact that it's the songs being sung live mostly by the original films actors but at the same time tho it would have been nice if they did present the special as it was filmed altho given what's happened with one of the special actors that might not have been such a good idea either but that also would have had it's huge upsides which would more then outweigh it's downsides and would have gone along way into making this special all the more better then what it actually was.
Starring in this special is Heather Headley as Herself , Jeremy Irons as Himself and Nathan Lane as Himself. Also starring in this special is Ernie Sabella as Himself , Jennifer Hudson as Herself , Billy Eichner as Himself , Jason Weaver as Himself , Bradley Gibson as Himself , North West as Herself , Lebo M. as Himself , this films conductor Sarah Hicks as Herself , Tehillah Alphonso as Herself and Monique Watson as A Dancer.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual actors that are actually featured / presented to us in this very special well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual actors that are actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With the special having a good mixture of the casts from the original film , the broadway stage show and the 2019 remake and Mufasa: The Lion King but with that being said tho there are some heavy hitters from the original film that are noticeably absent in this special with the likes of Rowan Atkinson , Matthew Broderick and of course James Earl Jones who was still alive when this special was being made not even appearing in the special and that is something that the makers of this special really should have tried to do as he is the heart and soul of the original film so much so that they had no other choice but to bring him back to play the same character in the 2019 remake and yet here he only gets mentioned the once by Jeremy Irons and that's it and both Rowan and Matthew don't get that despite the fact that Matthew voiced Simba in all three animated movies and Rowan Atkinson was just a joy to watch as Zazu in the original film and very easily could have played the character again in either of the sequels or the 2019 remake and while yes there some heavy hitters from both the broadway show and the 2019 remake also missing as well this special is meant to be for the original film and there for as great as it was to see actors from those other productions it would have been better to see more of the actors from the original film as that's what those people who were watching the special live and have watched it since on Disney+ want to see.
Even tho this special was meant to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the original film and was even film in it's anniversary year. Disney for some rather odd reason have chosen instead to release it during it's thirty first year which makes the whole point of this special feel pointless as they mention quite alot that's been thirty years since the original film first came out and yet all you have to is see when this special is being released to know that there releasing this special one year to late Power Rangers Super Megaforce kind of did the exact same thing as that whole season of Power Rangers was to celebrate thirty years of the show and yet the big anniversary even crossover episode that they spent a good few years building up was released a about a year or two after the actual anniversary despite it being filmed close to the anniversary year with Disney instead choosing to release Mufasa: The Lion King in the anniversary year and not this special when they very easily could have pushed back that film and have it released this year and had the actual anniversary special actually be released in the thirtieth year of the original Lion King as that would have made alot more sense but for one reason or another Disney instead chose to go with the option that made the least amount of sense possible as nobody cares about Mufasa: The Lion King but what they do care is The Lion King and yet for some reason Disney instead chose to release that film last year and not this special heck they even could have released both within the same weekend if they really wanted to do so that families at home could make a huge weekend out of it by watching the newest lion king movie on the big screen and then loading up Disney+ to then go and watch this special.
What was a rather smart movie was the fact that during the recording of this special they did what they did with The Little Mermaid Live. Which was where they showed the whole entire film from start to finish only this time they had the orchestra playing the music and they would then stop the film whenever a song would come on and bring on whoever is going to be singing that particular song this is something that is quite frankly cut out of the finished product and for good reason as all it would do is distract the audience watching this special on Disney+ and remind them that instead of watching this above average concert special that could instead be watching the original film and that's really it and while the puppets wouldn't have been as bad as the Flounder puppet was in The Little Mermaid Live it still would have meant hearing more terrible singing from a certain someone who will be discussed later on in the review and that is something no one really should gave to endure but at the same time tho there was alot more effort put into not only The Little Mermaid Live but also Encanto live as well as they at least tried to replicate the feeling of the original films in there stage design something that is very sorely missing from this production where they try to make it feel like a mixture of both the stage show and the original film instead of just going with something that combines the best elements from both of those two productions and creating something that is truly special and really worth seeing in this special.
Of course the biggest news that came out of the making of this special actually had nothing to do with any production of The Lion King. Rather it was fact that North West butchered "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" which after not only seeing a video that someone recorded of her performance and the final product in this special I can confirm that she did ruin the song however that is just the tip of the iceberg for her attitude problems as she never turned up on time for rehearsal but also refused to wear the broadway costume for young Simba and instead went out and got a homemade costume which is way the Simba outfit that she wears in this special looks so bad given just who her mum and dad are it's not surprising that she has a huge ego with it not being helped that there are articles that said that she got a standing ovation and yet if to watch videos of her performance from the making of the special it's clear that that wasn't the case even her father who tried to get one going failed to do which makes it even more odd that the makers of special edit it in such a way to make it look like that she got some applause when the fact is that people where actually leaving during her performance something that both her mum and dad also did after her performance and given just how she acted in the build up to this performance it's clear as day that kid has a huge attitude problem that her parents should have actually dealt with and the fact that the producers of this special literally had another actors for young Simba before they cast her just really just doesn't work out but given that the same production company Fulwell 73 also producers her families reality TV show The Kardashians also produced this special as well.
This special did a really good of celebrating the original film by having filmed interviews with alot of the people who not only worked on the original film but also helped to make it as well. Which is something does make this special feel oddly right but at the same time tho they don't mention how Disney put alot of there B team animators on this movie because of the fact that they had little to no faith in it but given that this film is releasing on Disney+ that's to be expected and seeing how alot of the show came together through rehearsals which was fun to see even getting to see both Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella meet each other again was a truly heartwarming moment as you get the sense that these two actors really are the best of the friends off camera as well as on camera and seeing them meet Jason Weaver for quite literally the first time was truly special as even tho all three of them sang "Hakuna Matata" both Ernie and Nathan never met Jason as they recorded there parts of the song separately from him and even just seeing Jeremy Irons finally finish "Be Prepared" all these years later is truly special with this special being worth watching just for those moments alone as it's something that really does feel special and feel like a celebration of The Lion King with those filmed interview segments really being helped by the fact that we get to see some behind the scenes footage of the actors recording either lines of dialog for the film or some of the films songs which s more then enough to make people who really love this film feel like a kid again.
Now then this special has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour and eight minuets and twenty eight seconds. Which us a solid running time for this film as this film is just hitting all of the high notes from the original film , the 2019 remake and the broadway stage show and really nothing more then that but at the same time it would have been nice if this film was a little bit longer just so then we the audience could have the chance to soak in everything that we're watching and while not including the bits where they were showing the full length film was a good idea it still would have been nice if the film did show us some scenes from the film just so that we could get context not only for the songs but also so that we could enjoy bits of the animation from the original film as well and as well so that we could get a good idea of just how much hard work the animators put into the original film and heck maybe you could have included interviews with Rowan Atkinson , Matthew Broderick and of course James Earl Jones as they to were a big part of the original films cast and if your going to include people from the remake then why not include an interview with Beyoncé as not only was she in the remake but her kid was in Mufasa: The Lion King and it would have been interesting to hear some of her thoughts on the original film as well and plus just having this film come in at just over one hour feels odd given just how good and popular that the original film not only was but still is as well but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is a concert special that really does mean that I gave to actually talk about the actual songs that are actually featured / presented to us in this very special well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual songs that are actually featured / presented to us in this very special was in all honesty. With this special mixing in songs from the original film , the remake , the broadway show and Mufasa: The Lion King with alot of this specials songs being sung really well and while the highlight of this special is quite easily the songs another highlight is the banter between Ernie and Nathan Lane which was just funny with it being helped that both Nathan Lane , Ernie Sabella and Jason Weaver still really can sing "Hakuna Matata" just as good as they did back in 1993 when the film was first being made and while the films worst singer is quite easily North West that's not her fault as she is afterall just a kid and it wouldn't be fair to compare her singing to that of someone who two or perhaps even three times her age however the best singer which is something that alot of people can very easily agree on is by far Jennifer Hudson as she gets to sing not only "Circle Of Life" but also the Elton John version of "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" both of which she sings beautifully and while yes Lebo M. is also a really good singer and sings alot of his songs in this special really well as well nothing is going to top hearing Jennifer Hudson singing "Circle Of Life" as she just does such a good version of that song in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall while Encanto Live might be the better of the two Hollywood Bowl specials that Disney have done thus far this is the one that alot of Disney fans from the nineties are going to be more excited about seeing and will hopefully keep on coming back to as The Lion King is just that good film and this special whilst it doesn't quite do it justice is at least a good way to celebrate this truly classic Disney animated film in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are un this very special in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very special really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official Disney fandom wiki page , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very special that I used in this very review being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very special with alot of them being better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.