Director Jon Favreau and wildlife producer Mike Gunton collaborated on a new National Geographic docuseries titled "Lion."
The project marks a shift for Favreau, who moved from the controlled environment of computer-generated imagery to the unpredictable nature of wildlife filming. By documenting real animals in their natural habitat, the series aims to capture the raw reality of survival on the African savanna.
Favreau agreed to the project in 2022 [1]. The transition was driven by a personal desire to experience actual wildlife after his work on the animated version of "The Lion King."
"I wanted to see the real thing after making the animated Lion King," Favreau said.
Filming the series presented challenges that differed from scripted cinema. Because the production followed real animals, the filmmakers had no control over the plot or the fate of the subjects. This lack of predictability created a high-stress environment for the production team.
"Not knowing whether the lead character would survive was harrowing," Favreau said.
Mike Gunton, the wildlife producer, noted that the collaboration with Favreau brought a unique energy to the project. Gunton said that working with Favreau was unpredictable, but it pushed the team to capture the raw reality of the lions.
The series focuses on the natural behaviors, and struggles of lions in the wild. Unlike the narrative structure of a feature film, the docuseries relies on the organic events that occur on the savanna to drive the story forward.
“"I wanted to see the real thing after making the animated Lion King."”
This collaboration represents a convergence of high-budget cinematic storytelling and traditional natural history filmmaking. By leveraging Favreau's profile, National Geographic can attract audiences accustomed to narrative cinema to educational wildlife content, while Favreau gains experience in non-scripted, observational filmmaking where the environment dictates the outcome.
