Disney To Bring Lion King Sequel To TV

The Lion King is one of the best animated movies of all time- this in an irrefutable fact and if you disagree, we can't be friends anymore. It spawned a couple of lesser direct-to-video sequels (although The Lion King 3- a.k.a. The Lion King 11/2- has it's moments) a Timon and Pumbaa series, and a hit stage musical. Now the classic is headed to TV, twenty years after its original release.

As reported over on Slash Film, Disney has announced The Lion Guard, an animated series centred around Kion, the mohawk-sporting son of Simba and Nala. The plot will see the plucky cub assembling a rag-tag team of animals to defend the Pride Lands.  These will include a cheetah, a hippo and (to the internet's delight) a fearsome honey-badger. It's being described by Disney's Nancy Kanter as "Lion King meets the Avengers". It will be launched with a TV movie to broadcast on Disney Junior in late 2015, before the series proper launches January 2016.

It will also reportedly feature appearances from beloved characters from the movie. It's still a long way off, but fans of the original will be wondering if it can possibly hope to live up to such an illustrious predecessor. The fact that this is being targeted at the very young (2-7 year olds) suggests that it might not be quite what you'd hope for. Hopefully, knowing the special place this property holds in the hearts of those who grew up on it, they'll be careful not to mess it up. There's certainly plenty of good stuff being produced right now in the field of kid's animation, so we're choosing to remain hopeful. We'll be watching out either way. What do you think? Is this something you're looking forward to, or is it a terrible idea? If anybody wants us, we'll be off holding our cat in the air and singing "The Circle of Life".

[/Film via WSJ]