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Disney’s Latest 'Lion King' Trailer Is Basically A Shot-For-Shot Remake Of The Original

Everywhere you look, Simba's standing in the spotlight

Disney revealed a new TV spot for its upcoming remake of The Lion King during the Oscars on Sunday night (February 24), and it's serving some serious nostalgia.

The minute-long teaser opens much in the same way the original animated version does, with "The Circle of Life" played over brief shots of the entire animal kingdom gathering around the baboon Rafiki. He's seen painting young Simba's forehead and holding him up above the rest of the animal kingdom proudly from Pride Rock.

Simba's anointing as the future king is one of the most iconic scenes of the movie, and it'll send excited shives down your spine here, too. We even get the adorable little sneeze from Simba that melted our hearts back in 1994, which is a bit of new footage this teaser trailer blesses us with. Yes, it's just as cute now as it was then.

The star-studded cast has some huge names, including Donald Glover as adult Simba, Beyoncé as Nala, James Earl Jones reprising his role as Mufasa, and Chiwetel Eijofor as Scar. Meanwhile, Billy Eichner takes on Timon, while Seth Rogen is set to embody Pumbaa.

And we've never heard Scar's infamous hyena trio like this before: Florence Kasumba, Keegan-Michael Key, and Eric Andre are poised to join as Shenzi, Kamari, and Azizi. Two names have been changed from the original story, as the animated version featured Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed – who never really got a chance to speak beyond maniacal laughter.

From what we can tell so far, it looks like the remake should follow much of the original closely. However, we do know that the Jon Favreau-directed version will include a new character. It's an elephant shrew voiced by Amy Sedaris. We'll have to wait and see how all that plays out, but a new character could certainly add something fun and exciting to the mix.

The Lion King is the latest in a long line of "live-action" versions of Disney classics out on the market, like Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. Though, there seems to be a debate whether the film can really be considered live-action given how much work the animators put into bringing CGI-enhanced characters like Simba to life.

There's still more to come, too: DumboAladdin, Mulan, Lady and the Tramp, Pinocchio, and The Little Mermaid are all in various stages of production over at Disney.

The Lion King is set to charge into theaters on July 19, 2019. Good thing, because we just can't wait for our fave Childish Gambino to be king.

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