Elton John criticises music of Jon Favreau's The Lion King: 'Magic and joy of original 1994 soundtrack is lost'

Three months after the release of Jon Favreau's live-action version of Disney's The Lion King, Sir Elton John has shared his opinion on the music of the new film. The singer-composer, who composed the score for the 1994 animated classic, has admitted he feels the makers of the 2019 iteration "messed" the music up.

Elton John (left), The Lion King still. Images from Twitter

In an interview with British GQ, John says the music of Favreau's The Lion King is a "huge disappointment."

“The new version of The Lion King was a huge disappointment to me because I believe they messed the music up. Music was so much a part of the original, and the music in the current film didn’t have the same impact. The magic and joy were lost. The soundtrack hasn’t had nearly the same impact in the charts that it had 25 years ago, when it was the bestselling album of the year. The new soundtrack fell out of the charts so quickly despite the massive box-office success," he tells the publication.

He adds he wished to be more involved in the making of the soundtrack. However, he states the creative vision and music of the new film was different this time, and claims that he was not "welcomed or treated with the same level of respect." He adds the "right spirit for the music" is captured in the Tony-winning stage musical.

The songwriter returned to Favreau's The Lion King to rework some of the classic tracks he had created along with lyricist Tim Rice for the original soundtrack. They also worked on a new song, 'Spirit', which he co-wrote for Beyoncé.

The Lion King is one of the biggest animated films of all time, with a lifetime global box office gross of just under $1 billion.

It won Oscars for the song 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight' by Elton John and Tim Rice, and for its score by Hans Zimmer, plus two Grammy Awards, with the soundtrack selling more than 14 million copies.