Classic Duos Are at The Core Of Disney’s The Lion King
After 25 years, Disney’s The Lion King is getting a fresh start. This month Director Jon Favreau is bringing the classic tale to life using pioneering filmmaking techniques, allowing audiences to reconnect with classic story they know and love, in a whole new way.
Favreau took to the stage to talk about the process along with the cast, Donald Glover (voice of “Simba”), Seth Rogen (voice of “Pumbaa”), Billy Eichner (voice of “Timon”), Chiwetel Ejiofor (voice of “Scar”), Alfre Woodard (voice of “Sarabi”), Keegan-Michael Key (voice of “Kamari”), Florence Kasumba (voice of “Shenzi”), Eric Andre (voice of “Azizi”), John Kani (voice of “Rafiki”), JD McCrary (voice of “Young Simba”), Shahadi Wright Joseph (voice of “Young Nala”), and Composer Hans Zimmer, and Lebo M (African Music Consultant / Performer).
It’s taken 3 years for this incredibly high-tech version of The Lion King to come to life, to which Favreau credits the cast and crew for believing in the project, “It was a big leap of faith for everybody. And in many cases, they kept coming back and recording again and trying new things, especially with the comedy bits. So although, this isn’t like one of those things where I’ve been toiling away alone. It’s been a huge raft of artists, people who were involved with developing the musical landscape of it, doing early recordings, and coming in and contributing through improvisation, redoing scenes, rewriting scenes. So this team here isn’t just a bunch of people that recorded one time at a music stand and come here for the press conference. These were all people who were collaborators and filmmakers along with me.”
Speaking of the unforgettable music, at the event we were treated to an amazing live rendition of “The Circle of Life.” For Hans Zimmer and Lebo M who worked on the original, it was as comfortable to slide back into as their friendship said Lebo M, “Coming back to the Lion King? It’s very hard to say I came back. I’ve never left. And the greatest gift is to be able to re-enter a journey that’s been in your life for 25 years.”
Sometimes magic takes on a life of its own. When Lebo M recorded that first demo for the iconic “Circle of Life,” it was a moment that was just meant to be, “I said let me do one more thing. And I went, “Nants ingonyama,” and that was it. It was a demo.” Lebo M remembered, “Then I went to South Africa to be part of the new democracy. And came back. And we tried a couple of times to redo that. It just never wanted to be redone. What you hear is actually one take. There’s been one take 25 years later. And how blessed can one be that in the movie last night, I’m sitting and watching this thing. That one take we did, because it was so natural, now it’s going to outlive previous 25 years. It’s unbelievable.”
The duo of Zimmer and Lebo M wasn’t the only one that was a perfect match. Pumbaa and Timon had always been a classic duo but Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner took the pair to new heights with improvised vocal sessions. Eichner spoke about the unique process, “Being able to riff off each other and really discover our chemistry together in the same moment. You can feel it when you’re watching the movie. I had not seen the finished movie until last night and I was shocked by how much of the riffing actually ended up in the movie. And I think it works. And I think it feels very unique to other movies in this genre, which can often feel a bit canned.”
“It was a lot of improvisation with Billy. And we were actually together every time that we recorded, which is a very rare gift to have as someone who is trying to be funny in an animated film, of which I’ve done a lot, and you’re often just alone in there,” agreed Rogen. “And I think you can really tell that we’re playing off of each other. It’s an incredibly naturalistic feeling.”
And finally, another classic comedy duo that works even better than the original is that of the hyenas, played hilariously devilish by Keegan-Michael Key and Eric Andre. Their great onscreen rapport can be felt thanks to Favreau’s nod to classic comedy duos. Key explained, “I would say to Jon, we’re looking for Fibber McGee and Molly here or Abbott and Costello. What are you looking for? He goes I’m actually looking for a little bit of Laurel and Hardy with an explosion at the end, but then back it up into little Apatowian for me.” Andre chimed in, “With a sprinkle of Beavis and Butthead. Just a soupçon.”
See how these collaborations come to life when Disney’s The Lion King opens in theaters July 19!
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