by Thinus Ferreira
LION, a new 4-episode natural history series coming to National Geographic (DStv 181) and Nat Geo WILD that took 4 years to film in Kenya, thematically, sound-wise and visually, looks a bit like Disney's animated film The Lion King - and very deliberately so as a kind of homage.
The 4-episode LION - with two episodes on Sunday 23 August at 18:00, and another two episodes on Sunday 30 August at 18:00 on both National Geographic and Nat Geo WILD - follows a young lion cub called Kio and his journey of becoming a lion king.
LION is executive produced by The Lion King director Jon Favreau, the BBC Studios Natural History unit's Mike Gunton, with the score composed by Hans Zimmer's Bleeding Fingers Music and additional vocals from the Nairobi Chamber Chorus/
The narrator of LION is O.J. Lynch, who was Mufasa in The Lion King stage production.
LION will also be available on Disney+.
LION was filmed over 4 years in Kenya's Masai Mara as the first natural history production to document a lion's complete journey from cub to king.
According to National Geographic, the crew, including local Kenyan filmmakers, logged nearly 1 400 filming days across 52 shoots, the most time ever spent in the field exclusively following a single pride.
"After tracking the lions in the field for 4 years, the pride never ceased to surprise us - what Kio endures and eventually becomes is extraordinary," says Jon Favreau in a supplied quote.
"Watching the hero's journey against the backdrop of nature was incredible to witness."
LION is produced by BBC Studios Natural History unit for National Geographic with Jon Favreau and Mike Gunton as executive producers.
Jane Atkins is series producer, and Simon Blakeney is co-executive producer. For National Geographic, Janet Han Vissering and Tom McDonald executive produce.
