First Trailer For Disney's New Lion King Movie Looks Stunningly Realistic

Disney has released the first trailer for its upcoming live-action Lion King reboot--and it looks absolutely stunning. The trailer showcases just how far advanced animation has become.

The trailer begins with Mufasa giving his famous "Everything the light touches" speech, and yes, that's James Earl Jones back in the role. The video then cuts wider and we see lovely scenes of the Serengeti, including the immediately familiar Pride Rock. Check out the full trailer in the embed above. One thing that this movie will have to wrestle with is how weird it's going to be to see animals that look so realistic talking. It seems to be bordering on the uncanny valley.

As mentioned, James Earl Jones plays Mufasa, while Donald Glover voices SImba. Singer-actress Beyonce plays Nala, while Chiwetel Ejiofor voices Scar. Comedian John Oliver plays Zazu, while Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner voice Pumbaa and Timon, respectively. John Kani voices Rafiki.

Keegan-Michael Key and Eric Andre are also voicing characters. You can see the full cast in the image below.

The new Lion King's story was written by Catch Me If You Can and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales' Jeff Nathanson. It's directed by Jon Favreau (Iron Man, Jungle Book) and hits theatres in July 2019.

The original Lion King made more than $968 million at the box office and won multiple Academy Awards, in addition to a pair of Grammy Awards for its soundtrack.