For their next issue, MAD Magazine imagines what life was like behind the scenes of The Lion King. Directed by Jon Favreau, the film is a remake of the 1994 animated classic, re-imagining the story by using groundbreaking visual effects technology to bring the narrative to life. While it's a fully CGI animated film, the new Lion King is designed to be as photorealistic as possible, with all of the animal characters resembling their real-life counterparts. Though the movie itself received mixed reviews, just about everyone was in agreement that it was visually stunning.
In addition to being an incredible filmmaking achievement, the Lion King remake generated a ton of buzz thanks to its star-studded cast. With heavy-hitters like Donald Glover, Beyonce, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Seth Rogen, John Oliver, and James Earl Jones (among others), there was a lot of excitement to see these updated takes (and in Jones' case, a reprisal) on beloved characters. The Lion King is such a well-known property, it's ripe for parody, so the people behind MAD Magazine provided their take on what happened on-set.
As an exclusive to Screen Rant, MAD unveiled the three-page spread, taking readers behind the scenes of the latest Disney blockbuster. It will be available in the issue hitting newsstands on August 6. The cover, inspired by Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, is also included. You can check it out for yourself in the space below:
The piece primarily follows an arc of Donald Glover having aspirations of winning the coveted KENTHPGOP, a humorous spin on the EGOT which includes awards like the Kids' Choice Award and the Pulitzer. Beyonce, long past her infatuation with critical praise and accolades, tries to teach Childish Gambino a lesson about understanding the importance of the art itself, rather than chasing awards glory. Other panels provide funny commentary on the Lion King story and its underlying themes of imperialism, Ejiofor unintentionally seducing audiences with his Scar performance, and James Earl Jones lamenting the fact that after all these years, he's still playing the same old characters that made him a household name. There are a few Darth Vader references sprinkled in, recalling Jones returning to the Star Wars galaxy for 2016's Rogue One.
The Lion King spread is exactly the kind of pop culture commentary MAD readers have associated with the brand from the beginning and riffing on one of Disney's biggest hits - and doing their first ever parody of Beyonce - couldn't come at a better time as the studio sets one box office record after another.
Source: MAD Magazine