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Still Feeling The Love For The Lion King

August 15, 2017 By Jeannette Kaplun

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It’s hard to believe The Lion King is 23 years old, because its story and music still captures hearts all around the world. I never get tired of listening to “Circle of Life” no matter how much time goes by. A few weeks ago, I discovered so many things I never knew about this Academy Award-winning film. At the D23 Expo there was a special panel in celebration of The Lion King and it felt more like an intimate conversation.

JIM CUMMINGS, MARK HENN, ROB MINKOFF, WHOOPI GOLDBERG, ERNIE SEBELLA, DON HAHN, TONY BANCROFT

To even imagine that this acclaimed film faced more than a few struggles to get made was a surprise to me. Producer Don Hahn, Director Rob Minkoff, and animators Tony Bancroft and Mark Henn explained how assembling a full team to work on the animated feature was a huge challenge. Everybody seemed to be working on Pocahontas. However, they were still able to get a stellar team, since it was such a different kind of film. Animator Mark Henn, for example, was thrilled to take a break from animating Disney princesses to work on young Simba.

The voices of The Lion King

It was a treat to also listen to voice cast members like Ernie Sabella, the voice of Pumbaa, who worked closely with Nathan Lane (the voice of Timon). His voice is still incredible, just like his comedic timing. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when Ernie and Nathan did their voiceover work together. Actually, it was the first time two actors did voiceover work together for an animated film and I think that added something quite special to their performances because they played off each other’s quips.

The biggest surprise came when new Disney Legend Whoopi Goldberg walked on stage. Wearing a Pixar shirt made famous by John Lasseter, she admitted she begged to be cast in The Lion King as Shenzi. We got to see rare footage from the Disney archives of Whoopi recording her voiceover and it was amazing.

D23 EXPO 2017 – Sunday, July 16, 2017 – (Disney/Image Group LA) WHOOPI GOLDBERG, ERNIE SABELLA

To close this special panel, Carmen Twillie came onstage and performed Circle of Life, which made me a bit emotional.

(Disney/Image Group LA)
MARK HENN, JIM CUMMINGS, ROB MINKOFF, ERNIE SEBELLA, DON HAHN, WHOOPI GOLDBERG, TONY BANCROFT

The Celebration of The Lion King couldn’t come at a better time. Director Jon Favreau will be bringing to life the live action version, and I can’t wait. In the meantime, on August 15 fans started downloading the film on digital and on August 29, The Lion King will be available on Blu Ray.

Disclosure: I was invited by Disney to cover the D23 Expo 2017 but did not receive compensation for any of my posts.

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Filed Under: Disney Tagged With: movies

About Jeannette Kaplun

Jeannette Kaplun is a Latina mom of 2, TV host, parenting author and blogger. She's the founder of Hispana Global and has appeared on Good Morning America, The Steve Harvey Show and The Chew. Previously she co-founded Todobebé and hosted the Viva la Familia TV show on Univision. She loves to help others and wrote the parenting book in Spanish Todobebé: Todo lo que necesitas saber para el primer año de tu bebé" . She also writes for Babble and Ser Padres.

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About Jeannette

 

Hi! I’m Jeannette Kaplun, a bilingual Latina mom of 2, journalist, TV host, writer, Hispana Global CEO and founder, Nutella, and Disney lover. I love traveling, writing, helping others, and supporting [email protected], ONE.org, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the UN Foundation, and other organizations. I live in Miami, FL with my family, including my dog Snoopy. To work with me, email [email protected] .

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