'The Lion King' will return with 'Jungle Book' director Jon Favreau

LOS ANGELES -- As a proof-of-concept for Disney's live-action remake machine, The Jungle Book was a stunner. Not only did it haul in $966 million worldwide, it was also a master class in realistic computer animation, showing that no animal or landscape was too naturalistic or too complex to project on the green screen.

Look what it hath wrought: All hail The Lion King! All hail Jon Favreau!

The Walt Disney Studios on Tuesday announced that the Jungle Book studio and director are re-teaming for a "live-action" The Lion King "on the fast track to production."

"Live action" are in quotes there because unlike Jungle Book, which was filmed entirely in a downtown Los Angeles warehouse but at least had a real-life kid playing Mowgli, The Lion King has no human characters. There's a very good chance that every frame will be created on a computer.

With only servers as sets, is The Lion King (still no release date, but expect it sometime around 2020, complete with songs from the original, per Disney) to be judged as an animated or a live-action movie when it comes to awards time?

And awards could certainly be in the offing. Favreau (Elf, Iron Man) has shown a certain touch for family fare, and seems to be getting more deft with each outing. The Lion King just couldn't be in better hands with Favreau, who is now solidly a Disney guy. (But will they ever let him make the Magic Kingdom movie he's been tinkering with now for years? Probably).

Speaking of Disney, the Mouse House sure is burning through its classics: We've now had "live action" versions of Maleficent, Cinderella and The Jungle Book, with Beauty and the Beast on the way and others in development.

The 1994 Lion King was itself a juggernaut at the box office -- twice -- making $968.8 million worldwide and killing it again with a 3D re-release in 2011. And the Broadway version, a Tony winner six times over, rolls on to this day, 19 years after it debuted.