I'll add to the chorus of people who found this production of a classic animated film to be terribly disappointing. It reminded me of when I'd go see a high school production of a classic broadway play or musical. Yes, they did all the numbers and cast the production as best as they could--but it had NONE of the charm of the original. Even the great James Earl Jones couldn't match his original performance.

The problem is that when they went all-in to do a photo-realistic film, that they forgot the charm (and brilliance) of the original was due to the exaggeration of the characters. With photo-realism NONE of Simba's sadness, fear, doubt--basically, any sense of an emotion--could not be delivered. And the performances of ALL of the actor's didn't help either; flat, unemotional, vapid performances.

Uuuughhhh. Such a waste. Jon Favreau, who I really admire, blew this one BIG TIME.