Four years. One pride. One lion’s growth from cub to king. On Aug. 18, the California Science Center IMAX Theater in Los Angeles hosted the world premiere of Disney and National Geographic’s documentary “Lion.”
Directed by Disney Legend Jon Favreau and BBC Studios Natural History creative director Mike Gunton, “Lion” follows the life of Kio, a young lion cub who grows into a king. Over the course of four years, Favreau, Gunton and the “Lion” team captured Kio’s journey from just a timid cub to powerful King lion.
The night kicked off with Favreau and Gunton (executive producers), Sophie Darlington (director of photography), Simon Blakeney (co-executive producer), Niccolò Pacella (Bleeding Fingers Music composer), George Hutson Warren (Bleeding Fingers Music composer) and Russell Emanuel (co-founder, president and CEO of Bleeding Fingers Music) walking the carpet.
The idea for “Lion” came from Gunton, who wanted to follow a pride of lions over four years.
“I’ve been working with Mike for a long time and we worked on a lot of projects together,” Favreau said. “Mike approached me to do a documentary without any digital work. We went to National Geographic with this idea of following a pride of lions for four years. It was an ambitious project, and we wanted to give it a shot.”
The opportunity to be alongside a pride of lions is a rare experience for anyone. Blakeney recalls his memorable experience of working beside these animals.
“Being able to spend so much time with the lions, and when they walk past the car or you see them wake up and stretch, they are so magnificent, and it’s such a joy to spend time with them,” Blakeney said.
When capturing the story of the lions, Darlington’s mindset was to let the lions tell their own story in their own words, if they could speak.
“We were trying to let the lions tell their own story, and we just followed them for four years,” Darlington said. “We have a proper story of drama, power, family and joy.”
Music is essential for storytelling. Emanuel and Bleeding Fingers Music’s process of creating the score began at the heart of Africa.
“The pictures inspire us, and we do what feels right when producing the score. When we went to Africa, it was a crazy, primitive yet emotional connection you make with music. To say it was inspirational would be an understatement,” Emanuel said.
The Four-Part Series of “Lion” is available on National Geographic and streams today on Disney+ and Hulu.
