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: King of the Beasts Simba: King of the Beasts Simba: The King of the Beasts is a 1928 American black-and-white silent documentary film, directed by Martin and Osa Johnson, which features the couple's four-year expedition to track the lion across Kenyan veld to his lair. The film, which went on nationwide general release on , was premiered at the Earl Caroll Theatre in New York on . Footage for the film was shot from 1924 to 1927, during the couple's second and longest trip to Africa, when spent much of their time in northern Kenya by a lake they dubbed Paradise, at Mount Marsabit.