The Lion King 1 1/2

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Latest 'Lion King' DVD roars with a new song
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By Andy Seiler, USA TODAY

The circle of life will surround DVD owners in a whole new way on Oct. 7. Walt Disney Pictures has seamlessly added a new animated song and sequence, Morning Report, to a special two-disc edition of The Lion King.



"It's the most anticipated Disney movie on DVD, and the exciting news is that it's not just the movie that they all loved," says Gordon Ho, senior vice president of marketing for Buena Vista Home Entertainment.


Inserting a song written by Elton John (news) and Tim Rice for the Broadway version, Disney animators have crafted an entirely new, brief animated scene for the film, the biggest animated hit of all time until Nemo swam along.


While the studio did this once before for the DVD of Beauty and the Beast, that scene had already appeared in an IMAX big screen re-release. This is the first time Disney has added a newly animated scene specifically for a DVD.


"It's impossible to capture lightning in a bottle twice, but I don't think we need to," says Don Hahn, producer of the original film and the new sequence. "This song was an easy one to fit in, and we're lucky that we still have a lot of the same people working in our studios."


The new "rebuilt" version is also in wide screen, includes extra details in the animation originally created for IMAX and also has a newly remixed musical score and three-dimensional sound effects intended for home theater systems, so the jungle appears to surround you in your living room.


It all sounds like an adventure but it raises a prickly question: How far back into its library will Disney go to make "improvements"? Would the studio do this to The Jungle Book? Snow White? When should a movie be left alone?


Disney's answer: Not to worry. It's all about options. The original version of The Lion King, with no remixing, no tinkering and no new song, will also be included in the DVD.


"The purists out there can see the movie exactly as it was in 1994," Hahn says. "Those who enjoy seeing new innovations can sing a new song."


Ho thinks he knows which you'll choose.


"Nine out of 10 people will prefer the home theater mix," Ho predicts. "I mean, the wildebeests feel like they're stampeding over your head."