The Lion King (2019 film) In November, talking with ComingSoon.net, Favreau said the virtual cinematography technology he used in "The Jungle Book" would be used to a greater degree in "The Lion King". Although the media reported "The Lion King" to be a live-action film, it actually utilizes photorealistic computer-generated animation. Disney also did not describe it as live-action, only stating it would follow the "technologically groundbreaking" approach of "The Jungle Book". In mid-February 2017, Donald Glover was cast as Simba, with James Earl Jones reprising his role as Mufasa from the 1994 film. In April 2017, Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen were cast to
Simba Magic Kingdom, which retold the story of the film using fully articulated puppets. Other Disney attractions that have featured Simba include the Mickey's PhilharMagic 3D show and the Hong Kong Disneyland version of "It's a Small World". He appeared as one of the main characters at Epcot's Land Pavilion 12-minute edutainment film "", until its closure in 2018. He currently appears in animatronic form in Festival of the Lion King at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Although "The Lion King" itself has garnered universal acclaim from film critics, reception towards Simba has been generally mixed. "The Christian Science Monitor"s David Sterritt hailed