Jon Favreau revealed in an interview that he brought James Earl Jones back as the voice of Mufasa because: "I see it as carrying the legacy across. Just hearing him say the lines is really moving and surreal, the timbre of his voice has changed. That served the role well because he sounds like a king who's ruled for a long time."
According to Seth Rogen, his singing skills were so poor that Pharrell Williams, working as his vocal coach, was "literally...banging his head against a wall trying to extract...a fucking good note out of me."
Jon Favreau has stated that there is only one "real shot" in the entire film. Writing on Instagram, he said, "There are 1490 rendered shots created by animators and CG artists. I slipped in one single shot that we actually photographed in Africa to see if anyone would notice. It is the first shot of the movie that begins The Circle of Life."
Unlike the original, Simba's eyes are a hazy blue as a baby. This is true to actual lion biology; cubs are born blind and cannot open their eyes until about ten days after their birth. The blue color is a result of delayed melanin production, but their eyes are golden-brown by the time they're three months old.