NEWS
Hans Zimmer enjoyed chance to 'fix' Lion King soundtrack
19 August 2020
Hans Zimmer has said he appreciated the opportunity to 'fix a few things' from the original Lion King score when the film was remade last year.
Chatting to Edith Bowman on the Play Next podcast, the film composer admitted that the 1994 Disney film: “had a miserable budget because nobody believed in it, nobody thought it was going to do anything."
So when he was told there was to be a revamp of the animal classic directed by Jon Favreau, Zimmer leapt at the chance to strengthen the film's iconic soundtrack.
“There were a couple of things that have always nagged me and bugged me in my writing, that I wanted to just go and, you know, sort out a bit,” the maestro told Bowman.
Most notably, Zimmer said he felt he: “owed that story to Africa a bit more, I felt I owed that story to African-American musicians.”
Praising the team of international musicians that he assembled for the score's second take, Zimmer exalted that the resulting orchestra: “was fabulously balanced in culture and everything, and that was just a sheer joy.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Zimmer contemplated the significance of the The Lion King's creation, observing that the original film was made shortly before Nelson Mandela's release from prison.
“There was something important about that, it was done at a moment which changed the world,” he said.
Chatting to Edith Bowman on the Play Next podcast, the film composer admitted that the 1994 Disney film: “had a miserable budget because nobody believed in it, nobody thought it was going to do anything."
So when he was told there was to be a revamp of the animal classic directed by Jon Favreau, Zimmer leapt at the chance to strengthen the film's iconic soundtrack.
“There were a couple of things that have always nagged me and bugged me in my writing, that I wanted to just go and, you know, sort out a bit,” the maestro told Bowman.
Most notably, Zimmer said he felt he: “owed that story to Africa a bit more, I felt I owed that story to African-American musicians.”
Praising the team of international musicians that he assembled for the score's second take, Zimmer exalted that the resulting orchestra: “was fabulously balanced in culture and everything, and that was just a sheer joy.”
“There was something important about that, it was done at a moment which changed the world,” he said.
