We’re just over two weeks away from the release of Disney’s much-hyped The Lion King remake, and a new featurette gives us a peak behind the scenes of how this retelling of one of the Mouse House’s greatest tales came about. Including a snippet of the new version of “Hakuna Matata,” you can catch the two-minute video in the player above.
As well as new clips from the movie – including iconic moments such as Simba looking for his father in the water and Timon’s “what’s a motto” joke – the featurette contains various talking heads with the cast and director Jon Favreau. Summing up his approach to the project, after previously helming 2016’s The Jungle Book for Disney, the filmmaker says: “I think when you can capture the spirit but show them something new and surprising, it’s sort of the best combo.”
It’s also clear that the movie was made with love and reverence for the original. “I’ve never seen anything made this way before,” says Donald Glover, voice of adult Simba. “The level of care, where everybody knows how much it means and is so invested.”
A previous TV spot has given us a listen to a part of Simba and Nala’s love song “Can You Feel The Love Tonight,” as sung by both Glover and Beyonce, who plays the lioness. As for “Hakuna Matata,” Billy Eichner (Timon) and Seth Rogen (Pumbaa) sound like they do a great job with covering the eternal earworm. Fingers crossed the rest of the classic songs will be recreated just as well.
Admittedly, there was a bit of controversy around some unintentionally creepy character posters, and their super-realistic depictions of the animals, but generally, The Lion King looks set to reign supreme at the box office when it arrives on July 19th and we’re certainly looking forward to returning to Pride Rock. Are you?