Disney’s The Lion King will be soon available on Digital 4K Ultra HD™ and Movies Anywhere on Oct. 11th and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray™, and DVD on Oct. 22nd! This retelling of the classic Disney animated tale first told in 1994. Now Simba is back and looks more life-like than ever before thanks to some incredible technology and storytelling by director Jon Favreau.
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Disney’s The Lion King PRESS RELEASE
The Global Phenomenon Comes to Life Like Never Before
Disney’s “The Lion King”
Releases on Digital 4K Ultra HD™ and Movies Anywhere Oct. 11
and on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray™ Oct. 22
With over an hour of bonus extras that showcase the cutting-edge technology behind the stunning savanna and a special look at the music of The Lion King
BURBANK, Calif. (Sept. 16, 2019) — Be prepared: Disney’s “The Lion King,” the worldwide phenomenon that brought the Pride Lands’ iconic characters to life in a whole new way, arrives on Digital in HD and 4K Ultra HD™ and Movies Anywhere Oct.11 and physically on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray™ and DVD Oct. 22. Directed by Jon Favreau, the summer blockbuster, which reigned supreme with audiences worldwide — earning over $1 billion at the global box office and an A CinemaScore — journeys home with all-new bonus features, music videos and an exclusive extra for Digital consumers.
In-home audiences will feel the love as they trek behind the scenes and to the African savanna through “The Journey to ‘The Lion King,’” a three-part documentary that explores the film’s creation. It features visits to the Playa Vista production facility where talent, including Donald Glover (voice of Simba) honor and elevate the animated classic’s iconic music; discussions with Favreau and team who used cutting-edge technology to create photorealistic animals and environments; and filmmaker and cast reflections on the timeless tale that has moved generations. Extras also include “More to Be Scene,” layer-by-layer progressions of some of the film’s most iconic moments; lyric video for “Never Too Late” by Elton John and music video for “Spirit” by Beyoncé; sing-alongs to the film’s unforgettable songs; and a feature on the “Protect the Pride” campaign, which focuses on protecting and revitalizing the lion population.
Consumers who pre-purchase digitally, “The Lion King” will gain access to “Perfecting the Pride,” a feature highlighting the filmmakers’ research trip to Africa.
The digital version includes an extra that playfully conveys the importance of the dung beetle both in the film and the African savanna.
In “The Lion King,” pioneering filmmaking techniques bring treasured characters to life in a whole new way. Simba idolizes his father, King Mufasa, and takes to heart his own royal destiny. But not everyone in the kingdom celebrates the new cub’s arrival. Scar, Mufasa’s brother — and former heir to the throne — has plans of his own. The battle for Pride Rock is ravaged with betrayal, tragedy and drama, ultimately resulting in Simba’s exile. With help from a curious pair of newfound friends, Simba will have to figure out how to grow up and take back what is rightfully his. The all-star cast includes Donald Glover as Simba, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter as Nala, James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, Seth Rogen as Pumbaa and Billy Eichner as Timon.
“The Lion King” will be packaged and released in several different formats, ensuring each member of your family can view the film on a variety of different devices with no worries. Viewers can watch the film in Digital 4K Ultra HD, HD and SD, and bring home a physical copy of the film which will be released as an Ultimate Collector’s Edition (4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and Digital Code), a Multi-Screen Edition (Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Code) and a single DVD.
Bonus features include*:
PRE-SELL BONUS:
- Perfecting the Pride – Join the filmmakers on their research trip to Africa as they immerse themselves in the real world of “The Lion King.” From the animals in the pride, to the smallest of insects and the grasslands in the savanna, experience the attention to detail that brought the film to life.
DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE:
- Pride Lands Pedia —Dung beetle shares the importance of his “roll” in the African Savanna in a fun, bug’s eye view of the land its inhabitants.
BLU-RAY & DIGITAL BONUS:
- The Journey to “The Lion King” –
- The Music – Go inside the studio with the cast and crew as they work to honor and elevate The Lion King’s beloved music.
- The Magic – Discover how the filmmakers blended the traditional filmmaking techniques with virtual reality technology to create amazing movie magic.
- The Timeless Tale – Filmmakers and cast reflect on the story that has moved generations and share how this Lion King carries a proud legacy forward.
- More to Be Scene – Recording studio and layer-by-layer progressions of some of most iconic moments in “The Lion King.”
- “Circle of Life” – Peel back the layers of effects and go behind the scenes of this iconic musical moment from the film
- “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” – See all the effects, talent and fun that went into creating this vibrant version of “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” for the movie
- “Hakuna Matata” – Join Donald Glover (Simba), Seth Rogen (Pumbaa) and Billy Eichner (Timon) in the studio for the making of this memorable scene.
- Music Videos
- “Never Too Late” (lyric video) by Elton John
- “Spirit” performed by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter
- Filmmaker Introduction
- Audio Commentary – By Director Jon Favreau.
- Song Selection
- “Circle of Life”
- “I Just Can’t Wait to be King”
- “Be Prepared”
- “Hakuna Matata”
- “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”
- “Spirit”
- “Never Too Late”
- Protect the Pride –Director Jon Favreau, the Lion Recovery Fund and conservationists highlight efforts to protect the majestic lions and their home.
PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS:
Product SKUs: 4K Ultra HD (4K UHD+Blu-ray+Digital Code),
Multi-screen Edition (Blu-ray+DVD+Digital Code),
DVD, Digital 4K UHD, HD, SD and On-Demand
Feature Run Time: Approximately 118 minutes
Rating: PG in U.S. (bonus material not rated), PG in CE, G in CF
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audio: UHD Blu-ray = English Dolby Atmos; English 2.0 Descriptive Audio; Spanish, German, Italian and French 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus
Blu-ray = English 7.1 DTS-HDMA, English 2.0 Descriptive Audio, Spanish and French 5.1 Dolby Digital
DVD = English, Spanish and French 5.1 Dolby Digital, English 2.0 Descriptive Audio
UHD Digital = English Dolby Atmos (some platforms); English, Spanish and French 5.1 & 2.0 Dolby Digital; English Descriptive Audio 2.0 Dolby Digital (some platforms)
HD Digital = English, Spanish and French 5.1 & 2.0 Dolby Digital; English Descriptive Audio 2.0 Dolby Digital (some platforms)
SD Digital = English, Spanish and French 5.1 & 2.0 Dolby Digital; English Descriptive Audio 2.0 Dolby Digital (some platforms)
Languages/Subtitles: UHD Blu-ray = English SDH, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish and Spanish
Blu-ray = English SDH, French and Spanish
DVD = English SDH, French and Spanish
Digital = English SDH, French and Spanish
Closed Captions: English (DVD and Digital)
SOCIAL MEDIA:
Facebook: Facebook.com/DisneyTheLionKing
Twitter: Twitter.com/DisneyLionKing
Instagram: Instagram.com/lionking
Website: Disney.com/lionking
“THE LION KING” CAST AND CREW:
“The Lion King” stars Donald Glover (“Atlanta,” “Solo: A Star Wars Story”) as future king Simba, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter (“Dreamgirls,” “Lemonade” visual album) as Simba’s friend-turned-love-interest Nala, and James Earl Jones (“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” “Field of Dreams”) as Simba’s wise and loving father, Mufasa, reprising his iconic performance from Disney’s 1994 animated classic. Chiwetel Ejiofor (“12 Years a Slave,” Marvel Studios’ “Doctor Strange”) portrays Simba’s villainous uncle Scar, and Alfre Woodard (“Juanita,” Marvel’s “Luke Cage”) plays Simba’s no-nonsense mother, Sarabi. JD McCrary (OWN’s “Tyler Perry’s The Paynes,” Apple’s “Vital Signs”) voices Young Simba, a confident cub who can’t wait to be king, and Shahadi Wright Joseph (NBC’s “Hairspray Live!” Broadway’s “The Lion King”) brings tough cub Young Nala to life.
John Kani (Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther,” “Coriolanus,” Marvel Studios’ “Captain America: Civil War”) is the wise baboon Rafiki, and John Oliver (HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”) was tapped as hornbill Zazu, Mufasa’s loyal confidant. Seth Rogen (“Sausage Party,” “Neighbors”) lends his comedic chops to naive warthog Pumbaa, and Billy Eichner (“Billy on the Street,” FX’s “American Horror Story”) delivers the know-it-all meerkat Timon. Scar’s hyena allies include Florence Kasumba (Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther”) as Shenzi, Eric André (Adult Swim’s “The Eric André Show,” FXX’s “Man Seeking Woman”) as Azizi, and Keegan-Michael Key (“Predator,” Netflix’s “Friends from College”) as Kamari.
“The Lion King” is directed by Jon Favreau (“The Jungle Book,” Marvel Studios’ “Iron Man”) and produced by Jon Favreau, Jeffrey Silver (“Beauty and the Beast,” “Edge of Tomorrow”) and Karen Gilchrist (“The Jungle Book,” “Chef”). Jeff Nathanson (“Catch Me If You Can,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales”) penned the screenplay based on the 1994 screenplay by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts and Linda Woolverton. Tom Peitzman (co-producer “Kong: Skull Island,” “Alice in Wonderland”), Julie Taymor (director “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Broadway’s “The Lion King”) and Thomas Schumacher (“The Lion King,” “Beauty and the Beast”) are executive producers, and John Bartnicki (“The Jungle Book,” “Chef”) is co-producer. The award-winning team of artists tapped to bring the African savanna and its animal inhabitants to life includes visual effects supervisor Robert Legato, who conceived the virtual production on “Avatar,” won Academy Awards for his work on “The Jungle Book,” “Hugo” and “Titanic,” and was nominated for an Oscar for his work on “Apollo 13,” and Oscar-winning animation supervisor Andrew R. Jones (“The Jungle Book,” “Avatar,” “World War Z”). MPC Film’s VFX supervisors are Adam Valdez (“The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”), who won an Oscar for his work on “The Jungle Book,” and Elliot Newman (“The Jungle Book,” “Fast & Furious: Supercharged”). MPC Film was instrumental in bringing each character to life and building the movie’s full CG environments, as well as working with filmmakers to develop the virtual production technology.
Five-time Oscar nominee Caleb Deschanel, ASC (“Jack Reacher,” “The Patriot”), is director of photography, and James Chinlund (“War for the Planet of the Apes,” Marvel’s “The Avengers”) serves as the production designer. Oscar winner Ben Grossman (“Alice in Wonderland,” “Hugo,” “Star Trek Into Darkness”) is virtual production supervisor, and Mark Livolsi, ACE (“The Jungle Book,” “Saving Mr. Banks,” “The Blind Side”), and Adam Gerstel (“Transformers: The Last Knight,” “The Jungle Book”) edited the film.
This film features unforgettable music by an award-winning team, including Oscar- and GRAMMY®-winning superstar Elton John and Oscar- and GRAMMY-winning lyricist Tim Rice, score by Oscar- and GRAMMY-winning composer Hans Zimmer, plus African vocal and choir arrangements by GRAMMY-winning South African producer and composer Lebo M (“Rhythm of the Pride Lands”). Oscar-nominated and GRAMMY-winning singer, songwriter and producer Pharrell Williams (“Hidden Figures”/producer, “Happy”), produced five songs on the soundtrack.
ABOUT MOVIES ANYWHERE:
Movies Anywhere simplifies and enhances the digital movie collection and viewing experience by allowing consumers to access their favorite digital movies in one place when purchased or redeemed through participating digital retailers. Movies Anywhere brings together the movies from Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Film, Universal Pictures (including DreamWorks and Illumination Entertainment), The Walt Disney Studios (including Disney, Pixar, Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm), and Warner Bros. Participating digital retailers are iTunes. Amazon Prime Video, Comcast, Vudu, Google Play, Microsoft Movies & TV and FandangoNOW. Movies Anywhere offers a library of over 7,500 digital movies, including new releases, and will continue to expand the consumer experience as more content providers, digital retailers and platforms are added. Using the free Movies Anywhere app and website, consumers can connect their Movies Anywhere account with participating digital retailers and enjoy their favorite digital movies from the comfort of their living room and across multiple devices and platforms, including Amazon Fire devices; Android devices and Android TV; Apple TV; Chromecast; iPhone, iPad and iPod touch; Roku® devices, Windows 10 and Xbox devices; and popular browsers. Consumers can also redeem digital codes found in eligible Blu-ray Disc™ and DVD packages from participating studios and enjoy them through Movies Anywhere.
ABOUT THE WALT DISNEY STUDIOS:
For over 90 years, The Walt Disney Studios has been the foundation on which The Walt Disney Company was built. Today, the Studio brings quality movies, music and stage plays to consumers throughout the world. Feature films are released under the following banners: Disney, including Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios; Disneynature; Marvel Studios; and Lucasfilm. The Disney Music Group encompasses the Walt Disney Records and Hollywood Records labels, as well as Disney Music Publishing. The Disney Theatrical Group produces and licenses live events, including Disney on Broadway, Disney On Ice and Disney Live!
