Beyoncé also produced a curated soundtrack titled The Lion King: The Gift, which features new songs performed by multiple artists.

On September 28, 2016, it was announced that Jon Favreau would direct a remake of Disney's The Lion King, and that it would feature songs from the original film by Elton John and Tim Rice.

[5] On November 28, 2017, it was reported that Elton John had signed onto the project to rework his musical compositions from the original film before retiring.

[7] On February 18, 2018, it was reported that four songs from the original film would be included: "Circle of Life", "I Just Can't Wait to Be King", "Hakuna Matata", and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight",[8] the latter being performed by Beyoncé (Nala), Donald Glover (Simba), Seth Rogen (Pumbaa), and Billy Eichner (Timon).

Favreau felt that the original sequence, which he compared to the Night on Bald Mountain segment of Fantasia, would clash too heavily with the remake's tone and characterization of Scar.

Favreau opined that while it wasn't the full song, it would give the audiences the impression that they had still seen the sequence in the remake, and cited the final shot of Scar on a peak with a crescent moon behind him as a key image he had to keep for the film.

[5] In October 2019, John heavily criticized the soundtrack, saying in full, "The new version of The Lion King was a huge disappointment to me, because I believe they messed the music up.

I wish I'd been invited to the party more, but the creative vision for the film and its music was different this time around and I wasn't really welcomed or treated with the same level of respect.

[5][20] On July 9, 2019, it was revealed that Beyoncé produced and curated an album titled The Lion King: The Gift, which features new songs inspired by the film, as well as "Spirit" from the soundtrack.

[41] Some other African musicians featured on the album include Ghana's Shatta Wale, Nigeria's Wizkid, Burna Boy, Yemi Alade, Mr Eazi, Tiwa Savage and Tekno.