Disney's The Lion King Remake: 8 Things They Must Do To Nail It
5. Take Lessons From The Success Of The Jungle Book
It's clear that the announcement of the Lion King remake is a direct response to the success of this year's Jungle Book, so we can assume that Disney and director Jon Favreau will look to the latter film for inspiration. And this is absolutely the right thing to do - most would agree that The Jungle Book worked incredibly well, so it makes sense for The Lion King to thoroughly assess its movie-cousin and cherry-pick its most successful elements.
But where to start? The Jungle Book's story was one of the biggest things that changed, but it was also one of the biggest things that worked. The remake altered the animation's ending slightly so that Mowgli remains with his jungle friends instead of heading to the village, which makes far more sense given that the film is about the man-cub trying to find acceptance, which he already found... in the jungle. The Lion King should take this on board, and use the remake as an opportunity to address any narrative missteps the original may have made.
Elsewhere, The Jungle Book axed most of its music to great effect, gave a slightly larger role to Baloo - one of the most beloved characters from the original - and made creatures like Shere Khan and King Louie feel much more threatening than they ever have before. If The Lion King takes these changes on board and implements them in a similar way, there's no reason to assume it won't work just as well as The Jungle Book did.