KEEPING SAFE: Kio rests under a croton bush, sheltered in the heart of the pride’s territory. (Image: National Geographic)
It’s very much a real-life doco version of ‘The Lion King’, with Jon Favreau executive producing, and music from Hans Zimmer echoing themes from the Disney classic.
It took Disney+ and BBC Studios’ Natural History Unit filmmakers four years to create the four episodes of ‘LION’, a landmark new National Geographic series available on Disney+ from August 19th (20th in Australia).
It chronicles the four-year journey of lion cub Kio on his path to becoming king of the pride, documenting the sweeping real-life saga of family, hope and courage as he grows from a vulnerable cub into a powerful leader.
The crew, including local Kenyan filmmakers, logged nearly 1400 filming days across 52 shoots, the most time ever spent in the field exclusively following a single pride.
“What Kio endures and eventually becomes is extraordinary,” says Jon Favreau, executive producer of ‘LION’ and the director of Disney’s 2019
photo-realistic version of ‘The Lion King’. “Watching the hero’s journey against the backdrop of nature was incredible to witness.”
ON PATROL: Summer and Kio move cautiously through the grassland, alert to their surroundings. (Image: National Geographic/Rolf Steinmann)
GOLDEN HOUR: Male lions are active for only four to six hours, sleeping the rest of the day. (Image: National Geographic/Claire Arthur)
In this image, one of Kio’s brothers stands bathed in golden light. The series ‘Lion’ was filmed over four years in Kenya’s Maasai Mara: the first natural history production to document a lion’s complete journey from vulnerable cub to king.
GETTING THE SHOT: Faith Musembi and Mark MacEwan pause by their helicopter, mounted with a GSS camera, waiting to capture the action. (Image: National Geographic/Faith Musembi)
Multiple camera methods were used to capture the pride. Here Anthony Njuguna, aerial cinematographer and documentary filmmaker for Kenya, uses a photographic drone. (Image: National Geographic/Joe Treddenick)
CLOSE ENCOUNTER: Kio’s pride became accustomed to the film-makers – and vice versa. (Image: National Geographic/Georgie Ward)
ABOVE: Cinematographer Domenico Pontillo was one of the team filming Kio with his brotherhood. Lions are naturally inquisitive and curious about their surroundings, especially when they are young, and here one of the young males stands on a mound next to the vehicle as Pontillo is filming.
TESTING STRENGTH: Kio claws the trunk of a tree, his feet clear of the ground as he tests growing strength and balance. On the right, Moja Moja, one of Kio’s older cousins, stands tall, checking a tree canopy. (Images: National Geographic/Simon Blakeney)
ABOVE: Lions check trees for potential meals – like a leopard with a carcass, a bird, or a primate. As natural opportunists, lions are always looking for food options above the ground.
LION KING: Some photography in ‘LION’ impressively echoes the classic Disney animation. (Image: National Geographic/Sophie Darlington)
In celebration of National Geographic’s LION, Disney will be continuing the ‘Protect the Pride’ campaign, supporting the Wildlife Conservation Network’s Lion Recovery Fund (LRF) and its partners working across Africa, which has helped support? more than 400 conservation projects across 26 countries focused on stabilising and recovering lion populations through locally led solutions. See more at wildnet.org.
‘LION’, a landmark new National Geographic series, is available on Disney+ from August 19th (August 20th in Australia).
