The Lion King Revisited

The Lion King Revisited
Directed By	Jon Favreau
Written By	Jeff Nathanson
Screenplay By	Kendall Michele Haney Ford Riley Jeff Nathanson
Based On	The Lion Guard by Disney Junior
Produced By	Jon Favreau Jeffrey Silver Karen Gilchrist
Executive Producers	Ford Riley Julie Taymor Rob Minkoff Roger Allers
Starring	Gabrielle Union Matthew Broderick Ernie Sabella Jeremy Irons Nathan Lane Diamond White Jason Marsden Eden Riegel Lacey Chabert Alfre Woodard Madison Pettis Peyton Elizabeth Lee Sarah Hyland Joshua Rush James Earl Jones Max Charles
Music By	Hans Zimmer Christopher Willis
Production company	Walt Disney Pictures Fairview Entertainment Mercury Filmworks
Distributed by	Disney+
Released	2020

The Lion King Revisited is an upcoming American drama film directed by Jon Favreau and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. It is a computer animated remake of Disney's The Lion King franchise, particularly The Lion Guard. The film features Gabrielle Union reprising her role from the television series, as well as Matthew Broderick, Ernie Sabella, Jeremy Irons, Nathan Lane, Diamond White, Jason Marsden, Eden Riegel, Lacey Chabert, Alfre Woodard, Madison Pettis, Peyton Elizabeth Lee, Sarah Hyland, Joshua Rush, James Earl Jones, and Max Charles.

The film confirmed in 2019 following Disney's announcement to reboot The Lion King Reborn was executive-produced by Favreau. Favreau was inspired by certain roles of characters in the Broadway adaptation, and developed upon elements of the original film's story. Much of the main voice cast signed in mid-2019, and principal animation began in July 2019, which lasted in two months. Composers Hans Zimmer, Elton John, and lyricist Tim Rice, all of whom worked on the original's soundtrack, returned to compose the score alongside Beau Black and Beyoncé, who assisted John in the reworking of the soundtrack. Christopher Willis also composed the film's score when Zimmer was not available at certain times.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the film is currently held against its production, but a novelization based on the film was released early. It received mixed reviews from fans and writers, who enjoyed the score, direction, entertaining values, and performances, but criticized the overloaded storylines and subplots, visual effects, animation, dialogue, long duration, lack of originality, and facial emotion on the characters. It also dedicates the memories of Madge Sinclair, Jerry Stiller, Jason Raize, Joe Ranft, Russi Taylor, Robert Guillaume, Suzanne Pleshette and Mark Livolsi, who were all previously involved in the LK franchise.

Plot

A young lion named Simba is to succeed his father, Mufasa, as King of the Pride Lands; however, after Simba's paternal uncle Scar murders Mufasa, Simba is manipulated into thinking he was responsible and flees into exile. After growing up in the company of the carefree outcasts Timon and Pumbaa, Simba receives valuable perspective from his childhood friend, Nala, and his shaman, Rafiki, before returning to challenge Scar to end his tyranny and take his place in the Circle of Life as the rightful King. Simba and Nala's daughter Kiara falls in love with Kovu, a male rogue lion from a banished pride that was once loyal to Scar.

Kion is the son of King Simba and Queen Nala, the younger brother of Kiara and the prince of the Pride Lands. As the second-born of the Lion King, he is gifted with a power called the Roar of the Elders and becomes the leader of the Lion Guard, a team of animals who protect the Pride Lands and defend the Circle of Life. Kion, along with his friends Bunga the honey badger, Beshte the hippopotamus, Fuli the cheetah and Ono the egret, sets out to keep the Pride Lands safe and protected from animals who do not respect the Circle of Life.

Following a threat message of revenge by Scar, the Lion Guard prepare to invade the Outlands by uniting the Pride Landers and a clan of hyenas led by Jasiri. In the final battle, the Pride Landers overpower a huge army of Outlanders, but Scar and Ushari incapacitate Kion, who obtain a scar across Kion's left eye. Weakened, the Great Kings of the Past lend him their strength. Scar attacks him with his roar, but Kion deflects it using his roar, killing Scar indefinitely, without causing the volcano to erupt according to Scar's previous plan.

After Scar's defeat, the Lion Guard travels out of the Pride Lands of Africa and across the world to get to the Tree of Life to cure Kion and Ono from their battle injuries. Kion's team also gets a new member, a martial eagle named Anga who replaces Ono's position as the new keenest of sight after Ono lost his eyesight, while Ono gains a new position as the smartest. Separated by Simba's prejudice against the banished pride and a vindictive plot planned by Kovu's mother Zira, Kiara and Kovu struggle to unite their estranged prides and be together.

The Lion Guard returns to the Pride Lands, only to find out that the conflict has already been settled. Zira's daughter and Kovu's older sister, Vitani, forms her own Lion Guard in their absence, causing an argument between them and Kion's Lion Guard. However, after seeing Vitani's confidence in becoming a leader even without the Roar, Kion allows Vitani's Lion Guard to succeed his Guard as defenders of Pride Lands. Kion and his friends return to the Tree of Life where Kion marries Rani and is crowned King of the Tree of Life with his close family and friends attending. Makini closes their wedding by holding their newborn cub.

Voice cast

• Gabrielle Union as Nala, Simba's childhood best friend and later love interest. Union reprises her role from The Lion Guard. According to Favreau, the character has a bigger role than in the original film. Beyoncé provided the character's singing voice, while Moira Kelly was credited as Nala Understudy.
  • Shahadi Wright Joseph as Young Nala
• Matthew Broderick as Simba, a lion who is the crown prince of the Pride Lands. Donald Glover provided the character's singing voice, while Rob Lowe was credited as Simba Double.
  • JD McCrary as Young Simba
• Eden Riegel as Kiara, daughter of Simba and Nala and Kovu's love interest and later wife. Liz Callaway provided the character's singing voice, while Neve Campbell was credited as Kiara Reader.
  • Michelle Horn as Young Kiara
• Jason Marsden as Kovu, Zira's son, Nuka and Vitani's younger brother, and Kiara's love interest and later husband. Kenny Lattimore provided the character's singing voice.
  • Josh McCrary as Young Kovu
• Jeremy Irons as Scar, the treacherous brother of Mufasa, the brother-in-law of Sarabi and the uncle of Simba who seeks to take the mantle of king of the Pride Lands. David Oyelowo was credited as Scar Double.
• Nika Futterman as Zira, the mother of Nuka, Kovu, and Vitani.
• Khary Payton as Rafiki, a wise mandrill who serves as the shaman of the Pride Lands and a close friend of Mufasa's. Payton also voiced Muhangus, an aardvark and the leader of his shoal.
• Nathan Lane as Timon, a wise-cracking and loyal meerkat who befriends and adopts a young Simba after he runs away from home.
• Ernie Sabella as Pumbaa, a naive common warthog who befriends and adopts a young Simba after he runs away from home.
• Edward Hibbert as Zazu, a red-billed hornbill and majordomo to Mufasa and later Simba.
• Maia Mitchell as Jasiri, a friendly female spotted hyena.
• Diamond White as Fuli, a cheetah, one of Kion's friends and the fastest member of the Lion Guard, as well as its occasional leader. She is quite prideful in her running abilities.
• Christian Slater as Ushari, an Egyptian cobra who often conflicted with Bunga and would get disturbed whenever the Lion Guard was near him.
• Kevin Michael Richardson as Basi, a hippopotamus who is Beshte's father and leader of his and his son's pod.
• Lynette Dupree as Ma Tembo, an adult African bush elephant with a broken right tusk, who attains leadership of her herd.
• Michael Dorn as Bupu, a stubborn sable antelope who is the leader of the herd and values polite behavior.
• Shohreh Aghdashloo as Janna, the former queen of the Night Pride, mother of Sâhasí and Surak, and grandmother of Rani and Baliyo.
• Andy Dick as Nuka, the eldest child of Zira and the older brother to Vitani and Kovu.
• Lacey Chabert as Vitani, the middle child and only daughter of Zira.
• Alfre Woodard as Sarabi, Mufasa's mate, Simba's mother and Kiara and Kion's paternal grandmother.
• Peyton Elizabeth Lee as Rani, the leader of the Night Pride and love interest of Kion.
• Madison Pettis as Zuri, a lioness and one of Kiara's friends who has a crush on Kion.
• Sarah Hyland as Tiifu, a lioness, and a friend of Kiara's. She is shown to be kind and patient, as seen when she comforts an overreacting Zuri. Bailey Gambertoglio was credited as Tiifu Reader.
• Bryana Salaz as Anga, a martial eagle who takes over as the keenest of sight of the Lion Guard from Ono.
• Joshua Rush as Bunga, a honey badger, Kion's childhood best friend and the bravest member of the Lion Guard. He is also the adoptive nephew of Timon and Pumbaa.
• Landry Bender as Makini, a young mandrill who is Rafiki's new apprentice.
• Keegan-Michael Key as Kamari, an aggressive and hot-headed hyena prone to complaining and acting on impulse.
• Whoopi Goldberg as Shenzi, the ruthless and cunning matriarch of her hyena clan with no-nonsense attitude and air of authority.
• Eric Andre as Azizi, a dim-witted hyena.
• Dusan Brown as Beshte, a hippopotamus, one of Kion's friends and the strongest member of the Lion Guard.
• Atticus Shaffer as Ono, a cattle egret, one of Kion's friends and the smartest of the Lion Guard, as well as its first non-mammal member.
• Julie Kavner as Ma, Timon's encouraging and optimistic mother.
• Jerry Stiller as Uncle Max, a prominent member of the meerkat colony and relative of Timon and Ma.
• James Earl Jones as Mufasa, the king of the Pride Lands and the father of Simba. Gary Anthony Williams was credited as Mufasa Understudy.
• Max Charles as Kion, Simba and Nala's second born cub, Mufasa's grandson, the Prince of the Pride Lands, and the former leader of the Lion Guard as well as its former fiercest member.
• John O'Hurley as Hadithi, a legendary African hawk-eagle who faked having invented the Hadithi Spin.
• Erica Luttrell as Boboka, a sable antelope who is part of Bupu's herd.
• Maurice LaMarche as Kifaru, a white rhinoceros who is the leader of his crash.
• Kevin Schon as Chungu, one of Janja's right-hand henchmen. He is an unintelligent hyena who has a tough attitude and a slightly heavier build than the other hyenas. Schon also voiced Thurston, a dimwitted plains zebra who is the leader of his herd, and provided Tamaa's singing voice.
• Andrew Kishino as Janja, the cunning and aggressive leader of the hyenas in the Outlands.
• Vargus Mason as Cheezi, one of Janja's right-hand henchmen. He is an excitable hyena who is usually seen sticking his tongue out.
• Sinbad as Uroho, a sneaky yellow baboon who is the leader of Traveling Baboon show.
• Blair Underwood as Makuu, a young, sleek, and well-built Nile crocodile who leads the Pride Lands' float.
• Ron Funches as Ajabu, an okapi who came to the Pride Lands to get away from Makucha and made friends with Beshte.
• Dee Bradley Baker as Tano, a sloping, but devious, and smart hyena. Baker also provided Mbeya's singing voice.
• Christopher Jackson as Shujaa, a large adolescent mountain gorilla warrior who was sent to the Pride Lands by King Sokwe of the Theluji Mountains to help Kion, Fuli, Ono, Bunga and Beshte to fight and defeat the army of Scar. Jackson also voiced Fikiri, the father of Makini.
• Common as Kiburi, a former member of Makuu's float.
• Alex Cartañá as Twiga, a teenage giraffe.
• Lou Diamond Phillips as Surak, Janna's second-born son and Rani and Baliyo's uncle.
• Michael Luwoye as Askari, a lion and the leader of the original Lion Guard who was the second-born of the unnamed king and queen and a distant relative of Mufasa, Simba, and Kion.
• Hudson Yang as Baliyo, Rani's younger brother.
• Miki Yamashita as Nirmala, the Night Pride's healer.
• Jacob Bertrand as Chama, a young fun-loving African bush elephant who used to be part of Ma Tembo's herd. He, Mzaha, and Furaha are best friends and share a tree together near Big Springs.
• Phil LaMarr as Goigoi, a jackal who only thinks with his stomach and has the tendency to fall asleep. LaMarr also voiced Shingo, a Masai giraffe who is part of Twiga's herd.
• Cade Sutton as Mzaha, a young fun-loving sable antelope who used to be part of Bupu's herd and is one of Chama's friends.
• Mekai Curtis as Furaha, a young happy-go lucky Zanzibar red colobus and former member of Tumbili's troop who is one of Chama's friends.
• Virginia Watson as Vuruga Vuruga, a buffalo who is the leader of her herd. Watson also voiced Muhanga, Muhangus' mate.
• Tunisia Hardison as Swala, a Thomson's gazelle who is the leader of her herd.
• Jaime Camil as Pinguino, a macaroni penguin who lives at the Tree of Life.
• Maisie Klompus as Madoa, a spotted hyena who is Jasiri's sister.
• Gerald C. Rivers as Pua, an elderly Nile crocodile who originally led the crocodile float, until he is defeated by Makuu in a "mashindano" battle for the position of alpha male.
• Kari Wahlgren as Muhimu, a plains zebra who is the leader of her herd.
• Justin Felbinger as Mtoto, an elephant calf that looks up to Beshte as his hero.
• Behzad Dabu as Azaad, a prideful cheetah that the Lion Guard encounter in his canyon during their journey to the Tree of Life.
• Raven-Symoné as Binga, a female honey badger. Riley also voiced Shabaha, a lioness who is the bravest member of the Lion Guard.
• Rachel Crow as Imara, a lioness who is the strongest member of the Lion Guard.
• Greg Ellis as Mzingo, a vulture who is the leader of his parliament.
• Dan Howell as Majinuni, a gorilla prince and Hafifu's brother.
• Alexys Gabrielle as Kasi, a lioness who is the fastest member of the Lion Guard.
• Jon Favreau as a homosexual and gay oryx
• Hans Zimmer as an eland
• John Rhys-Davies as Sokwe, a gorilla who is the king of Theluji Mountains, and the father of Majinuni and Hafifu.
• Chance Bennett as a galago
• Phil Lester as Hafifu, a gorilla prince and Majinuni's brother.
• Sophie Reynolds as Tazama, a lioness who is the keenest-of-sight of the Lion Guard.
• Heather Headley as Kitendo, a female mandrill and Makini's mother.
• Amy Sedaris as a guinea fowl
• C.J. Byrnes as Tamaa, a fork-tailed drongo who can imitate the voice of any animal.
• Nick Watt as Zito, a grouchy and impatient African bush elephant who is part of Ma Tembo's herd.
• Howy Parkins as Mbeya, a black rhinoceros.
• Nolan North as Tamka, an arrogant crocodile.
• Beau Black as Nne, a sly hyena.
• Ana Gasteyer as Reirei, a jackal and the matriarch of her pack.
• Jacob Guenther as Dogo, a jackal pup who uses his innocent looks to his advantage to win the trust of others in order to take advantage of them.
• Amber Hood as Kijana, a jackal pup who is Reirei and Goigoi's daughter.
• Russi Taylor as Mbuni, a panicky ostrich who leads her flock.
• Meghan Strange as Laini, a galago. Strange also voiced Shupavu, a skink.
• Lyons Mathias as Tunu, a hyena cub.
• Mckenna Grace as Wema, a hyena cub and Tunu's sister.
• Jorge Diaz as Nduli, a crocodile part of Kiburi's float.
• Penny Johnson Jerald as Sarafina, Nala's mother.
• Cam Clarke as Mwoga, a vulture who is the spy of Mzingo's parliament.
• Elise Allen as Kulinda, a hamerkop.
• Vyvan Pham as Ullu, a snowy owl who is the majordomo of Janna.
• Danny Jacobs as Kiril, a musk deer who is the leader of his herd.
• Iris Bahr as Varya, a tiger. Bahr also voiced Astuto, a fox.
• Tiffany Espensen as Heng-Heng, a giant panda. Espensen also voiced Rama, a mountain goat.
• David S. Jung as Kely, a stubborn gentle lemur who is the leader of his conspiracy. Jung also voiced Tsah, a water shrew.
• G.K. Bowes as Sasem, a water shrew that resides at the Tree of Life.
• Henry Kaufman as Feliks, a tiger cub.
• Bluebelle Saraceno as Pasha and Polina, tiger cubs who are Feliks' sisters.
• Jeremy Ray Valdez as Cek, a mountain goat that resides at the Tree of Life.
• Rafael Petardi as Tangaagim, a polar bear that resides at the Tree of Life.

Production

TBA

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 52% with an average score of 6.2/10. On Metacritic, it holds a rating of 56%.

Trivia

TBA

Goofs

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Credits

Main page: The Lion King Revisited/Credits

Gallery

Main page: The Lion King Revisited/Gallery