WHEN Umar Hussain was a little boy, he had a Lion King poster on his bedroom wall. And he grew up to work on the new big screen version of the Disney classic.

The former Bradford Grammar School pupil, who has worked on visual effects on blockbuster movies such as Star Wars Episodes VII and VIII; Gravity and Guardians of the Galaxy, was production manager on The Lion King, creating the world of the African savanna with stunning computer wizardry. Released today, it features stars such as Beyonce, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Seth Rogen.

Umar, 27, is a visual effects producer at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), visual effects branch of Lucasfilm, owned by Disney. He had just finished Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom when he met a colleague from Guardians of the Galaxy. He asked if I’d be interested in The Lion King, I jumped at it,” said Umar. “The Lion King is a visual masterpiece, on the cutting edge of VFX work. The care taken at every level was so high. The production schedule had to be extremely detailed.

"The biggest challenges were the details and intricacies of making everything, from the environment to the lions, photorealistic while also being conscious of our budget and schedule. It was a huge project, logistically and financially, to get over the line.”

Umar, from Calverley, has long been a fan of lion cub Simba, at the mercy of evil uncle Scar when his king of the jungle father dies. “Having had a Lion King poster opposite my bed as a child, and naming my cat Simba, it feels amazing to bring the new incarnation alive for the next generation,” he said.

Umar, whose father, Zulfi Hussain, runs Bradford-based charity Global Promise, is now working on the next Star Wars film, due out in December. “After Lion King, contacts at ILM asked if I would take on Star Wars Episode IX. After tough, long hours on Lion King, I was in two minds, as working on a project of that magnitude is mentally and physically draining,” he said. “But after weighing it up, with lots of calls to my family, I decided it was too good an opportunity to pass, especially as I could complete the trilogy of being production co-ordinator on Episode VII, line producer on VIII and production manager on IX. I’ve brought lessons I learned on Lion King, for attention to detail and nuance, to Star Wars.”

After graduating from Manchester University in politics, philosophy and economics, Umar landed a production intern role on TV’s Made in Chelsea, then worked for visual effects company Framestore. “I worked my way into production. I made connections with anyone in the visual effects-feature animation scene, it’s a very small world in the industry.”

Now he manages artistic and production crews. “I’m living the dream, having worked on some of the biggest movies in the last few years. I’m on my 12th movie in less than six years,” said Umar. “Eventually I’d love to be a producer in Feature Animation at Disney in LA.”