With “Maleficent” cleaning up, and live action reboots of “Cinderella” and “Beauty And The Beast” along the way, Disney continues to reach into the vault to exploit their classic titles for new cash as much as possible. And with “The Lion King” already making nearly a billion dollars worldwide at its time of release twenty years ago, Disney certainly already tried. They knocked out a direct-to-video sequel in 1998, “The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride,” and in 1995 there was the series “Timon & Pumbaa” which lasted five seasons. And now the mouse house is ready to bring Simba and co. back to the small screen. Sorta.
The Wall Street Journal reveals that Disney Junior and Disney Channel will unveil “The Lion Guard” next year. The story will focus on Kion, Simba’s son, who works with a group of animals to protect the jungle. “It’s kind of like ‘The Lion King’ meets ‘The Avengers,’ ” Disney Junior general manager Nancy Kante told the paper. Obviously.
Anyway, until that show drops in November 2015, here’s Screen Junkies take on the Disney original, with their Honest Trailer for “The Lion King.” It’s hard to diss a classic, but yes folks, it’s as dark as you remember.