&lt;div class=&quot;track&quot;&gt;&lt;img alt=&quot;&quot; src=&quot;http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/75604?ns=guardian&amp;pageName=The+Lion+King+3D+*+review%3AArticle%3A1643866&amp;ch=Film&amp;c3=Obs&amp;c4=Walt+Disney+Company%2CAnimation+%28Film+genre%29%2CFamily+%28Film+genre%29%2CJames+Earl+Jones%2CFilm%2CCulture&amp;c5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CBusiness+Markets%2CFilm+Reviews&amp;c6=Philip+French&amp;c7=11-Oct-09&amp;c8=1643866&amp;c9=Article&amp;c10=Review&amp;c11=Film&amp;c13=&amp;c25=&amp;c30=content&amp;h2=GU%2FFilm%2FWalt+Disney+Company&quot; width=&quot;1&quot; height=&quot;1&quot; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p&gt;First released in 1994, Disney&#039;s &lt;em&gt;The Lion King&lt;/em&gt; proved as popular on stage as it had been in the cinema and it now returns to the big screen in 3D, which adds little except for making the original graphic work darker and less precise. It&#039;s essentially &lt;em&gt;Bambi&lt;/em&gt; with rock music, shifted from the forests of America to the veldt where a lion rules rather than a stag.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are touches of &lt;em&gt;Hamlet&lt;/em&gt;, &lt;em&gt;Macbeth&lt;/em&gt; and &lt;em&gt;The Golden Bough&lt;/em&gt; in the plot, which concerns a usurping uncle, a prince reluctant to take over a throne and the great circle of life. The setting is an Africa untouched by humans of any race or colour and there are only two characters voiced by British actors. Jeremy Irons is excellent as the suavely villainous lion Scar, who comes over as a representative of old-style European imperialism. Rowan Atkinson is amusing as Zazu, the obsequious secretary bird serving Mufasa (James Earl Jones), the Lion King, then his son, Simba (Matthew Broderick). It&#039;s an attractive film but altogether less interesting and more conventional than the Pixar productions that now dominate Disney&#039;s animated output.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;related&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/walt-disney-company&quot;&gt;Walt Disney Company&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/animation&quot;&gt;Animation&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/family&quot;&gt;Family&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/james-earl-jones&quot;&gt;James Earl Jones&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;author&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/philipfrench&quot;&gt;Philip French&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;terms&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk&quot;&gt;guardian.co.uk&lt;/a&gt; &amp;copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our &lt;a href=&quot;http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html&quot;&gt;Terms &amp; Conditions&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds&quot;&gt;More Feeds&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p style=&quot;clear:both&quot; /&gt;