10 Bad Movies That Wasted Great CGI

With an estimated budget of a cool $260 million, the photorealistic CGI used in 2019's The Lion King was so convincing it sparked a debate over whether or not it should be called live-action.

After working on the 2016 reboot of The Jungle Book, director Jon Favreau once again collaborated with the Motion Picture Company to bring the iconic film to life using virtual reality photography and meticulously hand-crafted animation. The film was also reportedly made using the Unity Game Engine.

This re-creation may look and sound like the multi Oscar-winning 1994 Disney classic but what it makes up for in visual fidelity, it looses in heart and overall sense of purpose.

Aside from ticking nostalgia boxes and demonstrating the capabilities of digital technology, this copycat has nothing new to add to the anthropomorphic Hamlet despite being 30 minutes longer in length. If anything, it removes a lot of what made the original special. Villainous track 'Be Prepared' is gone; replaced by a contrived pop song and a beetle rolling dung.

Moreover, the CGI is too lifelike for its own good, consequently robbing the character models of their expression. Empathising with a cat staring vacantly at a non-existent camera is pretty difficult.