Lion King characters to return in Disney’s ‘The Lion Guard’

Khary Payton (Cryborg on Teen Titans) will voice the mandrill Rafiki and Kevin Schon will reprise his role as Timon from the TV series The Lion King’s Timon and Pumbaa.

Disney’s The Lion King franchise will welcome a newcomer to its pride.

The Lion Guard follows the adventures of Kion, who has just accepted a leadership position within the Lion Guard, a team of animals who work together to preserve their native land, Pride Rock.

The cast also includes Max Charles and Atticus Shaffer, with James Earl Jones and Ernie Sabella reprising their “Lion King” roles of Mufasa and Pumbaa, respectively.

Simba’s son Kion will lead The Lion Guard on Disney Channel.

This news is sure to make everyone happy today.

Rather than calling upon the fastest and the fiercest animals, Kion bucks convention and invites his friends to join the guard.

Be still our beating hearts – The Lion King is back. However, Disney Channel has a long-standing tradition of returning to its characters’ pre-happy-ending days for its spin-off series. In the movie and the TV episodes that follow, the crew will learn how to use unique abilities to solve problems while introducing young viewers to new kinds of fauna.

To get all the details right for the new program, Disney consulted with wildlife education experts at its Animal Kingdom theme park about the characteristics of the various animals who appear in the program, and also tapped the knowledge of Sarah Mirza, an author and Swahili expert. Attendees of the 2015 D23 Expo can catch a special preview of the movie on Sunday, August 16 at 2 p.m.