“This is America”, the video by Donald Glover has gone viral, has been back-lashed, has been praised, and has even had a female version made – to much negative response.
But regardless of what you think the message is clear and he is displaying what’s currently happening in America. It’s some powerful stuff. Donald is multi-talented and he’s really found the key to exercising several strings to his bow and is being taken seriously on a global level. Most artists choose one creative string, normally their strongest, and run with it, Donald is being appreciated as a comedian, actor, writer, singer/performer, and it seems to work. He’s the voice of Simba in the new Lion King 2019 alongside Beyonce who’ll be playing Nala, Chiwetel Edjiofor who’ll voice Scar and The Lion King wouldn’t be complete without the original voice of Mufasa, James Earl Jones.
#TheLionKing. 2019. 🦁👑 pic.twitter.com/UMJo18FwDt
— Disney (@Disney) November 1, 2017
The Lion King
As if he wasn’t endearing enough… Donald Glover may be super successful, but he’s also humble. The “This Is America” singer is cast opposite Beyoncé in the remake of The Lion King, and recently shared with Entertainment Tonight that the process hasn’t exactly been a breeze. Glover told the outlet,
“We started recording some stuff [for The Lion King] and it’s, you know, it’s a little intimidating. [At least] from my point of view.”
I just can’t wait to be king. #Simba pic.twitter.com/wUYKixMBJI
— Jon Favreau (@Jon_Favreau) February 18, 2017
Reasons everyone LOVES The Lion King
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The film had an all-star cast and included voice work from Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons to name a few. It would go on to win the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy later that year.
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With music from the song-writing dream team of Elton John and Tim Rice and a score by Hans Zimmer, The Lion King would also win the Golden Globe for Best Original Score. Which led to the subsequent Oscar wins for the Best Original Score and Best Original Song for “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” (After “Circle of Life” and “Hakuna Matata” were both also nominated in the category).
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Disney’s Africa-set family classic The Lion King has been voted the best animated film of all time – as if that will come as any surprise to you, as it’s a stone-cold classic.
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The Lion King was the movie Disney wanted to sweep under the rug. It wasn’t based on any myth or fable or folk tale and honestly Disney expected it to fail. With it’s Hamlet like overtones, it was unlike anything Disney had done before.
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Its themes are deeper, more epic and more explicit than many of the other Disney classics. Mulan and Hercules are great too in that respect, but the Lion King has the upper hand because it also features animals as main characters and the African wilderness for setting. Something Disney had never done before and is likely to never do again. It was one its most original tales both aesthetically and story-wise.
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Another reason why The Lion King stands out is the music and the dialogues. They are quite serious for any movie staring the animal kingdom. It’s simply a strong fable that reunites everything Disney is good at in one movie.
“The Lion King” is now the biggest musical of all time, grossing $1.4 billion in its 20 years on Broadway and $7 billion world-wide. (There have been productions in Africa, Asia, Mexico and Europe, notably in London’s West End where it has been continuously playing since 1999.)
So it makes sense that they want to do a live action version. And with this cast? Goodness! It’s going to be AMAZING!
Speaking of The Lion King I caught up with Shaun Escoffrey last week to talk about his role as the UK’s Mufasa and Magic at the Musicals. While he was in the studio I asked him to also record a Magic Soul Special which will go out soon, and of course we spoke about the new Lion King, Donald Glover and reminisced about Magic Soul Live.
