What made Warner Bros decide to make an animated version of The King And I?

[Hawkee]

When it was announced that Warner Bros would make an animated version of The King And I many people were surprised at this idea and when they announced the film by promoting it in the 1998 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade many fans were hopeful that it would do well. And when the animated version of The King And I debuted in theaters in 1999 the film received stellar reviews and many people thought it was a weak adaption of the original movie. I bought this movie because my mother is a fan of The King And I and when I watched the movie with my mom I saw what made this version of The King And I weak. For one thing why did they put animal sidekicks such as a monkey a baby elephant and the king had a panther? My mom and I didn't recall the king having a panther in the original The King And I so having these animal sidekicks meant that they wanted to attract children to the film. The only thing my mom liked was the music and the animation and my mom and I even got the dolls and the soundtrack but I think Warner Bros should've made a better animated movie in my opinion