tiredIf you were a fan of the movie, you'll find a lot of good stuff in this package. A lot of the interviews with Lebo M and Zimmerman just rock, and there's a lot of peachy keen footage and interview about the Broadway production as well (great interviews with Julie T-someone, the producer). I spent about two hours watching just the special additional stuff, and I don't think I'm halfway through it all.
Some of the additional stuff is either trash or "OH MY GAWD! SO K001!", depending on your age. Imagine "Circle of Life" sung by 12 year old "pop stars" (ha ha ha). Bad, bad, bad hip-hop and all that other crap sung and danced by Britany Spears-wannabe pre-teens. It made me want to attach rabid wolverines to my eyeballs.
There were two forms of the movie to choose from, widescreen or that chopped up version that people like because the picture is "so much bigger". In the widescreen version, there is a new song woven into the movie. The Morning Report, sung by Zazu and Simba. While cute, it was totally unnecessary. However, it was short enough that it didn't actually hurt the movie, which it really would have if it had gone on any longer.
If you're intending to buy it for the deleted scenes, do not. There were only three "scenes" total. (Scenes being in quotes because it was all, at best, storyboards. No animation at all.) Two of the three scenes have been shown on TV many time before, and the final one was only maybe a minute or two long (and again, only storyboards, not a real scene).
If you're intending to buy it for the trailer for the upcoming "Lion King 1 1/2", do not. There was no new animation at all, just T&P talking over footage from the original LK. The only thing we learn of the story in the multi-minute trailer is that it's the Lion King story told from T&P's POV. (Yawn.)
It'd be nice if they had included the soundtrack in this package, but all in all I'm not unhappy with having paid $20 for the two DVD set. However, take that with the "I'm a giant LK fan" grain of salt.
