This is not animated. This is a documentary of a lion cub ascending to becoming king of the pride.

A real life Lion King.

From Nat Geo, Disney+, and Hulu a series simply entitled “Lion” from director Jon Favreau with his first documentary. Starts airing Aug. 19th.on Nat Geo and Aug 20th on the Disney+, and Hulu channels.

It was abit of putting the band back together as he also brought Hans Zimmer into the project, as they both worked on the previous “Lion King ” movie from 2019.  Zimmer won an Oscar for his instrumental music for the 1994 version.

In the series, a 4 year long tracing the growth of a lion cub, Kio, and his brothers, as they navigate, learn, and overcome obstacles to lead a new family of lions.

To start, a 4 year commitment to filming the journey is a feat in itself.

Director Jon Favreau has such an incredible range of talents (I’m a fan) and this just expands his world.

He decided that this, his first documentary project should made by bring in local Kenyan talent, and it produced incredible results. Telling an emotional story like this will keep you watching the 4 part series to its inevitable conclusion. I

The dedication to the production of this doc raised so many logistical questions. The complexity of this from a physical standpoint was massive.

With a diverse set of camera choices, crew coordination became paramount: Drone, gimbal, and long-lens crews communicated by radio and WhatsApp, constantly deciding which camera had priority and who would cover the supporting angle.

We were introduced to one of the filmmakers, aerial cinematographer, Anthony Njuguna, who gave us some insight to the making of the documentary.

Anthony Njuguna prepares to capture footage of Summer’s Pride via drone. (National Geographic/Joe Treddenick)

He sees aerial work as more than simply providing a drone perspective. His goal is to create emotion, wonder, and a sense of discovery—shots that make viewers think, “How is that even possible?”

And he delivered!

For some background ,he is a NEWF fellow, and trained under some of the world’s leading wildlife cinematographers and brings a distinctive African lens to natural history filmmaking, combining immersive drone cinematography with character-driven narrative.

As the drone shots do help give an aerial visual context to each chapter of the story, if you pay attention, you will see scenes where the drone comes down to a very low altitude Without being able to track some of the shots with standard filmmaking methods, the drone delivered unique shots, that Anthony is rightfully very proud of.

Anthony Njuguna operates his drone from the crew’s vehicle. (National Geographic/Hannah Gormley)

Summer stands in the open grassland, glancing sideways at something that has caught her attention. (National Geographic/Georgina Ward)

Summer appears solemn as she stands atop a mound at sunset, surveying the pride’s territory as the light fades across the landscape. (National Geographic)

Olepolos sits while Osapuk and Orkitok stand beside him, their heads close together as the three pride males maintain a tight bond. (National Geographic/Simon Blakeney)

A lone tree is silhouetted against the rising sun in Maasai Mara, Kenya. (National Geographic/Sophie Darlington)

One of the three pride males gazes across the horizon. (National Geographic/Joe Treddenick)

At sunrise, a small herd of zebra grazes across the open grassland, a lone Thomson’s gazelle among them, with the golden sun rising behind the group. (National Geographic/Sophie Darlington)

For the drone aficionados, see if you can spot the shots made from that lower angle.

Anthony Njuguna stands with his drone. (National Geographic/Joe Treddenick)

Lens selection was critical to achieving different visual dynamics.

His camera package included; The primary aircraft were a DJI Mavic 3 Cine Pro and DJI Inspire 3, both kept on location with a large supply of batteries. The Inspire 3 used interchangeable lenses, including wide and longer focal lengths. Anthony highlighted the 15mm as his primary lens, used for roughly 70% of the shots, along with lenses including 18mm, 24mm, 50mm and 75mm.

When you think drone, you know the noise the propellers create, and I wondered how that worked with lions. / Over time, the lions appeared to recognize the drone’s sound. Anthony joked that Kio essentially grew up with the drone as a “mechanical bird.”

Timing and decision-making: There was rarely much advance notice before a drone flight. Decisions were constantly made based on light, animal behavior, landscape, whether the moment justified a drone, and what other camera crews were capturing.

Director of Photography Sophie Darlington looks down the lens as one of Kio’s brothers rests right in front of her in the film vehicle. (National Geographic/Laura McCamley)

Otipo, one of Kio’s brothers, sits alone in the long grass. (National Geographic/Claire Spelling)

To help in the continuing shoots, Footage was reviewed daily and weekly, with Anthony receiving shot lists and contextual information about what happened before and after particular moments so he could better understand how the material would be used.

He described the benefits of working together over such a long period. Despite intense and stressful moments, the crew developed camaraderie and had opportunities to relax, eat together, and enjoy the experience.

Series Producer Jane Atkins sits in the back of the GSS vehicle alongside other members of the film crew. (National Geographic/Jane Atkins)

Anthony Njuguna, Sammy Munene, Job Makatiani, Joe Treddenick and Tania Escobar pose in the camera vehicle. (National Geographic/Joe Treddenick)

I always like to know a cinematographer’s favorite shot in a production. Anthony’s favorite sequence involved lions watching birds around a tree. The crew had essentially decided to leave after the lions had been inactive all day, but Anthony stayed for another few minutes. The lions suddenly became active, creating the shot.

As you know, if wait till the last moment to pack up, as there may be gold to be discovered.

There are editors who always start with the last take first, as they know the cameras were packed once that last shot happened and people were satisfied.

For me, one of my favorite scenes is the wildebeest sequence and the opening shot of Episode 2.

Exceptional wildlife aerial cinematography is not simply about operating a drone—it requires patience, anticipation, technical choices, animal empathy, communication with the entire camera team, and knowing when to wait for the unexpected moment.

Behind-the-scenes as Anthony Njuguna operates the drone. (National Geographic/Joe Treddenick)

And Anthony Njuguna is a master.