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Disney

DisneyElton John co-wrote all the songs for the original animated version of The Lion King, and even won an Oscar for one of them, “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.”  But Elton says he really wasn’t a fan of the new CGI version of The Lion King that came out earlier this year, because he thinks the filmmakers dissed him.

Speaking to British GQ, Elton says, “The new version of The Lion King was a huge disappointment to me, because I believe they messed the music up. Music was so much a part of the original and the music in the current film didn’t have the same impact. The magic and joy were lost.”

Elton points out that, as compared to his original soundtrack, the new soundtrack “hasn’t had nearly the same impact in the charts…[it] fell out of the charts so quickly, despite the massive box-office success.”

He goes on to suggest that if he’d been a part of the creative process, things would have been different.

“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,” he complains. “That makes me extremely sad.”

And the controversial opinions keep coming.  In the same interview, Elton declares, “To be a star, you have to be a star for a long time and you have to do that by being a live performer. You can’t be a star just by making records…the only real star at the moment is Lady Gaga.”

But what about Elton’s friend, Ed Sheeran

Elton says matter-of-factly, “I believe Ed will last, but he’s got to broaden his one-man-band thing.”

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