The Lion King, in my experience, is one of those movies that people remember where they were at, who they were with, and how they felt the first time they saw this Disney movie. For me, it holds a special memory – in 1994 I was 17 years old and took my 4 year old nephew to see it at the local theater. I loved doing fun things like that with the little guy. That little guy is now 21 years old. When I found out I was going to Los Angeles to attend the premiere of The Lion King 3D, I messaged him on Facebook to tell him and also shared that I took him to that movie when he was 4.
He remembered.
At 34 years old, with 3 kids of my own now, my nephew remembering that special date we had made my heart swell. The Lion King has that kind of impact on our generation though! And so, I’m pretty sure though my kids were jealous, it was me who was over the moon excited about getting to see my favorite Disney movie (Cinderella holds a close second) in 3D. At the movie premiere. In Los Angeles. With celebrities. Be still my heart!
Media had the opportunity not only to see the movie but to also meet some of the people behind the movie and learn how it came to be and the magic that’s behind taking a successful hit and making it 3D. Look for further posts detailing this experience in the days to come.
The premiere itself was one of those bucket-list experiences (so was seeing David & Victoria Beckham in the lobby of the Beverly Wilshire, just sayin’!) We’ve all seen premieres on tv and wondered what it’s really like. In our case, there was no red carpet – it was green grass in tribute to The Lion King – and the celebrities flocking to see it included a ton of Disney Channel stars, and celebrities my age taking their kids to experience the movie they too saw as teeenagers.
Once inside, we were seated among the celebs attending the movie, like, among the celebrities like we belonged there. Then it occurred to me that, well…we did. This blog has come a long way (baby) and it felt pretty amazing being at the El Capitan theater among celebs and media taking part in an event like this. The excitement of everything only added to the emotion I felt watching The Lion King in 3D. Though, I’m confident that without the preamble that I had leading up to my viewing of the movie, you will have an emotional reaction watching The Lion King 3D when it lands in theaters September 16th.
I saw The Lion King for the first time in theaters, at 17 long before having kids of my own and even then the scene of adult Simba announcing his first-born to the rest of the pride, with the help of the ever entertaining Rafiki, created a lump in my throat. Seeing this among the other amazing scenes in 3D, takes it literally to a whole other level. I cried more than once watching The Lion King 3D, said “OH WOW!” out loud several times when the characters leaped off the screen, and cracked up at jokes from Timon and Pumbaa that I had long forgotten.
Only one thing was missing that would have made this event complete and that, of course, was my family. We have The Lion King DVD at home, but it’s just got nothing on seeing the movie in 3D in theaters, if given the opportunity to do so. And so, after the movie is released for just two weeks in theaters on September 16th, I am going to be taking my two oldest to share in the experience.
I’m so thankful I was given this amazing (I hate the overuse of this word in blog reviews, but there it is) opportunity to check out The Lion King 3D premiere in Los Angeles! Would I have taken the kids to see the 3D version during it’s 2 week theater run without this experience? It’s hard to say. Without having someone tell me how beautiful it is to see in 3D, the chance may have been missed.
Here’s your chance, I’m telling you that it’s a stunning theater experience and something not to be missed. Sharing The Lion King with your own kids is almost one of those circle of life experiences Mufasa tells us about in the movie. Take the opportunity to check it out during it’s 2 week run in theaters starting September 16th.
I’m glad you had a good time 🙂 Bummer about 3D movies for us… Leah is blind in one eye, so she can’t see in 3D 🙁
I’m glad you had a good time. Wish I could have been there to meet you
Great post Tenille. It was SUCH a pleasure seeing you at this event. I can only hope we begin running into each other more often!
Lee
It was such a magical experience. So glad I was able to experience it with you.
I had such and awesome time and the movie made me cry too! I am going to try to take my kids when it comes out in theaters and I can’t wait for the Blu-Ray to add to my movie collection at home.
It was awesome meeting you and hanging out in Beverly Hills. I felt like a celebrity, even if it was only for a couple days. I can relive the experience through all the photos and videos I took.
Speaking of those videos….. 😛
That sounds like so much fun. It has been awhile since I have seen The Lion King. I bet my kids would love it!
I so wish I could have been there (and met you)…it was awful to have to decline. It looks like a wonderful trip! Lion King is one of my favorite movies, and I can only imagine how amazing it was in 3D!
Ya it realy sucks not being able to see anything it 3d. All of these great movies from when I was a kid are coming back and I can’t see any of them. I’m realy upset because I seen next year there going to start doing the star wars movies in 3d. I lost my right eye in a bike wreck years ago. There has to be somthing they could do to make it work for us one eyed people