ANIMATED FILM, LIVE-ACTION OR MOTION CAPTURE?
In recent years, the great classics of the 2019 version of Disney Tim Burton's 'Dumbo', 'Aladdin' still available in some cinemas and 'The Jungle Book', a digital feat. Here's how Disney decided to renew its image reworking all these great animated classics into computer-generated films.
The distinction between animated film, live-action and motion capture is becoming increasingly clear. Neel Sethi, for example, was the only real actor in The Jungle Book, interacting with animals made entirely of plastic. computer-generated images. But it was with The Lion King that the Fairview Entertainment Studios are once again pushing back the boundaries with a hyper-realistic film created entirely on computer.
In an interview, Jon Favreau, chief producer of The Lion King, admitted that he didn't know whether it was an animated film or a live-action movie, and even added that it was neither. He wanted to give us images worthy of a wildlife report of the BBC and bears no resemblance to the visual effects made on computers, even though the animals talk and behave like humans. The trailer is available here :
None of the scenes in the film were shot on location. Jon Favreau did location scouting in Kenya, Africa, collecting images of natural landscapes so that they can be used as a source of artistic inspiration. Once in the can, these live-action shots were undoubtedly digitally retouchedto keep up with graphic style from the rest of the scenes. But don't be fooled by the fact that this isn't performance capture or motion capture either.
In fact, the actors and artists recruited only lent their voices James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Donald Glover as Simba, Beyoncé Knowles as Nala... A large cast, adding to the impatience of fans. What's more, none of the animals were actually filmed, the artistic team and design was inspired by nature to make the animals look as real as possible. Some images from backstage available here, English subtitles available :
So it was with great anticipation that we awaited the 19 July so you can finally appreciate the results of all the efforts of the design teams! In the meantime, we offer you 3 previously unpublished facts about the cartoon of our childhood:
- The Lion King was originally going to be called "The King of the Jungle" until the team realised that lions don't live in the jungle...
- Simba, Sarabi, Rafiki and Pumbaa are Swahili words. They mean lion, mirage, friend and stupid.
- For the scene involving Scar and the hyenas, Disney took inspiration from Nazi photos. Who would have thought!
What about you? Do you have anything you've never heard before about The Lion King? Tell us all about it in the comments.