The Lion Meets The Bat: 'The Lion King Rises'
by Sean Comer
The Lion King Rises" src="//cfm.yidio.com/images/article/images/_640x455_4971.jpg" style="margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 5px; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; float: left; width: 300px; height: 213px; " />Ah, mash-ups. Sometimes they make magic that's greater than the their respective parts' sums. Others, they can be out-and-out travesties.
Most involve a couple great tastes one wouldn't necessarily think would go great together.
Digest this one, for example. Start with one cup of Disney's 1994 animated classic "The Lion King," which ignited an annual Disney 3D re-release trend with a stellar 2011 return to theaters. Add to that visually vibrant, adorable signature House of Mouse cuddliness one cup of Christopher Nolan's brooding "Batman" aesthetic, courtesy of the audio from the trailer to 2012's trilogy climax "The Dark Knight Rises."
The result? a brooding, intense take on "The Lion King" that nobody exactly sees coming. As much as Jeremy Irons will always be scheming Uncle Scar and Matthew Broderick/Jonathan Taylor-Thomas Simba, the cub and future king, I can't be alone in checking this out and thinking "Were this made today - damn, Tom Hardy as Scar and Christian Bale as Simba could've really worked out quite nicely!"
It's also worth it just for the chilling combination of the solo castrati, acapella "Star-Spangled Banner" playing over the iconic, sun-dappled opening panorama. Likewise, for hearing Michael Caine's Alfred as watchful Zazu and Anne Hathaway as Simba's would-be bride Nala. But the only downside would be that whereas Irons would've been amusingly mincing as Scar, Hardy would've clearly required subtitles.
Nevertheless, cheers to the creators: everything syncs up beautifully. It's a shame Disney will always be the bastion of family-friendly entertainment that it is. I'd love to see a Nolan take on "Toy Story" in the style of "Following," where Woody stalks Buzz around Andy's room for the first 20 minutes or so in black and white before getting caught up in theft, cons and murder.