It's exciting times for Disney fans as it's finally been confirmed who'll be playing all
the main parts in the star-studded remake of Disney's animated classic The Lion King
when it hits the big screen in 2019!
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers, it's Jan here, and in this video, I'm going to run through
all the details of the voice cast who'll be playing the much-loved Lion King characters
in director Jon Favreau's new take on the 1994 hit movie.
Between his critically-acclaimed TV show Atlanta, playing a young Lando Calrissian in the Han
Solo movie, and starring as Simba in The Lion King, the Emmy-award-winning Donald Glover
is on fire right now.
And frankly, I just can't wait for him to be king in Disney's iconic musical!
Speaking of music, in the animated movie, Matthew Broderick only provided Simba's speaking
voice, but didn't perform his songs.
I'm sure Glover will make a tremendous new Simba and he certainly won't have any trouble
in the singing department either.
On the subject of singing, none other than Beyoncé is going to be lending her voice
to the adult Nala.
Yes, after turning down the role of the feather-duster Plumette in the live-action Beauty And The
Beast film, the modern Queen of Pop is taking on a more suitable role as the Queen of the
Pride Lands.
Now, in the animated movie, adult Nala and her mate Simba don't actually have that much
to do when it comes to belting out songs, but since the remake has cast two talented
singers in those roles, I think we'll see the range of songs expanded from the classics
written by Elton John and Tim Rice for the original movie.
After all, that's what they did in Bill Condon's recent version of Beauty And The Beast.
And given Beyoncé and Glover's musical leanings, I wouldn't be surprised if they'll have something
of a hand in that themselves.
It's fantastic to see James Earl Jones, aka the voice of Darth Vader, returning to the
role of Simba's father Mufasa, after he first lent his vocal talents to the character in
the animated movie.
With Jones's incredible voice and powerful style, I can't think of anyone better to play
the role.
The man is a legend!
Given that the brilliant British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor has been cast as Scar, I'm assuming
that this version of Simba's uncle will be continuing the long Hollywood tradition of
villainous characters with English accents, just as Jeremy Irons did back when he voiced
the role in the original animation.
If you're wondering where you've seen Ejiofor previously, he gave an Oscar-nominated performance
in 12 Years A Slave, and most recently, he also starred in Marvel's Doctor Strange.
Now, I just can't wait to hear his take on Scar!
Speaking of British actors, I presume that talk-show host John Oliver will be hanging
on to his English accent when he takes on the role of Zazu, the same way Rowan Atkinson
did when he lent his voice to the animated character in 1994.
The last movies where Oliver did some voice acting were The Smurfs movies, which were
pretty terrible, so he's got nowhere to go but up!
By the way, interestingly enough, Oliver previously starred in the TV comedy Community alongside
the new voice of Simba himself, Donald Glover.
If you're wondering who'll be taking on the role of Mufasa's wife and Simba's mother,
Sarabi, it's Alfre Woodard, who's given fantastic performances most recently as the corrupt
councilwoman Mariah Dillard in Marvel's Luke Cage and as the fearful Aunt Josephine in
Netflix's A Series of Unfortunate Events.
South African actor and playwright John Kani is taking on the role of Rafiki, who teaches
Simba some valuable lessons in the film.
Like many of The Lion King cast, you'll have seen Kani most recently in the MCU, where
he played the Black Panther's father, King T'Chaka, in Captain America: Civil War.
Given how comedic the characters Pumbaa and Timon are, Disney has wisely chosen to go
with two comic actors for the new film.
Star of Knocked-Up, Seth Rogen will be playing warthog Pumbaa.
But this certainly won't be Rogen's first voice acting gig as he's already lent his
vocal stylings to the Kung Fu Panda movies as well as the more, er, adult animation,
Sausage Party.
Meanwhile Billy Eichner, who's best known for his work on the comedy shows Difficult
People, Parks And Rec, and Billy On The Street, is taking on the role of the wise-cracking
meerkat Timon, first brought to life by Nathan Lane back in 1994.
I've gotta say I'm kinda interested to see what Seth Rogen and Billy Eichener's version
of Hakuna Matata will be like.
There are loads of Marvel connections among the actors in this movie, and Florence Kasumba
is no exception!
In The Lion King, she'll be playing the hyena Shenzi, who was originally voiced by Whoopi
Goldberg, but if you've watched Captain America: Civil War, then you'll have seen Kasumba face
off with Black Widow as one of Black Panther's elite female bodyguards, the Dora Milaje,
and she'll be back in that role in the Black Panther solo movie.
Comic actors Keegan-Michael Key and Eric André, best known for their respective TV series
Key & Peele and The Eric André Show, complete the movie's trio of hyena characters.
In the animated movie, the other two hyenas were known as Banzai and Ed, but their names
have been given a make-over for the new film, with Key and André's characters being called
Kamari and Azizi.
Voicing the young Simba and Nala are relative newcomers JD McCrary, who has a handful of
TV credits to his name, and Shahadi Wright Joseph, who appeared in the TV musical Hairspray
Live!
I'm sure Disney will have done as good a job casting these important roles as they did
with other recent films such as Moana.
And I've got my fingers crossed that being part of The Lion King cast brings great things
for these two new young actors!
Now, who's your favourite character from The Lion King and how excited are you about the
new cast?
I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
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Yippee ki-yay, movie lovers!