Open your time today by asking if anyone saw the new Lion King movie over the summer. Ask whether they had seen the animated version as children, whether the movie meant anything to them, and what their expectations were for this new film.
The animated version from 1994 was a very popular film and there is a generation of adults today who watched that movie as children and have very strong, positive, and nostalgic feelings about it. With that knowledge, let’s look into the director’s decision-making process when making creative choices with this new version.
Play the following video for your students [3:31]:
The Director of the new Lion King movie explains his creative choices:
- What decisions had to be made by the director in creating this remake? (Accept all reasonable answers, such as making things look realistic and how to do so, when and how to keep things similar to the original, and where and how to stray from that.)
- What informed the director’s decisions when making these choices? (Accept all reasonable answers such as fact-based choices, the eye-test of what looks real and fake when digitally animated, and identifying key shots in the viewers’ memories, etc.)
- Who is the audience for the director’s decisions? Who do the choices impact? (Accept all reasonable answers. The studio wants to approve a movie that reflects well on them and makes them money. Fans of the original want to love this one just as much as the old one. New viewers want a good movie. The director’s decisions impact them all.)
These are examples of big decisions for a director to make and ones that may impact how one generation feels about an old favorite story and how a new generation understands it for the first time. However, in the grand scheme of things, these decisions are trivial. Some people make even bigger decisions of even greater consequence.
- What are examples of consequential decisions that everyday or well-known people have to make? (Accept all reasonable answers, including the following examples.World leaders make policy decisions on behalf of their people. Employees sometimes have to choose whether speaking out against wrong is the right decision, even if it costs them their job. Adults vote in elections. Families choose how to spend their money—what they prioritize, or when there isn’t enough money at all, choosing between essentials.)
Consider, too, some big decisions you have to make in your life. We’ll come back to that later. First, we are going to look at a biblical figure who had to make big decisions on behalf of an entire nation, and the lasting impact of those decisions.
