Disney's classic animated film 'The Lion King' roars anew in an upcoming TV movie and series.
Writer and producer Ford Riley was assigned to do a spinoff of the 1994 beloved movie that talked about Simba and his journey towards being the rightful heir of Mufasa. The Disney Channel movie created by Ford follows Simba and Nala's second cub, Kion, who is destined to be the protector of his home, the Pride Lands. Kion will be the protagonist for two spinoffs; one is an hour long Disney Channel movie entitled "The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar" which will air this Sunday, November 22, at 7 p.m. EST, and the other is a Disney Junior series "The Lion Guard," which will be shown January of next year.
According to Associated Press, the movie will revolve not only on Simba's second offspring, but also on Kion's diverse set of friends, consisting of the wild's strongest and fiercest creatures. The gang will include Bunga the brave honey badger; confident cheetah Fuli; Beshte the friendly hippo, and Ono the intelligent egret. Riley shares that the project will tackle a very timely message of working harmoniously together despite of each other's differences.
The producer is reported to have used the same 2D animation as the original film in 1994, with hand-drawn images through a computer, instead of the usual 3D computer generated animation used in other animated series. This ensures that the sequel would have the same look and tone as the 1994 movie.
James Earl Jones will return as the voice of Mufasa and Ernie Sabella will still play as the hilarious Pumbaa. Rob Lowe will give voice to Simba and Gabrielle Union will give life to Nala; Eden Riegel as Kiara and Max Charles as Kion. The other well-loved characters from the original movie including Timon, Rafiki and Zazu will also appear in the sequel.