If you are a huge fan of The Lion King, like most people, then you will be excited to hear about this great new TV movie and upcoming TV series – The Lion King: Return of the Roar!
In The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar, you will get the continued Lion King story where it leaves off – You will be introduced to Kion who is the second born cub of Simba and Nala. Kion becomes the leader of the Lion Guard, which is a team of animals that are to protect the Pride Lands. Usually the Lion Guard is made up of all lions, but Kion chooses friends that fit the bill. This includes: Bunga, who is Kion’s best friend and is a fearless honey badger. Timon and Pumbaa are also Bunga’s uncles! Beshte is a strong hippo, Fuli, is a fast cheetah, and Ono who is a smart egret. Together they help to make sure the Pride Lands are safe.
I am totally in love with The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar, and cannot wait to sit down with my family and watch it this Sunday. Between the graphics, the music, and the fun story, you just cannot find a better movie to sit down to as a family this weekend. I know that Kion and his friends are going to become quick favorites of my daughter’s. This movie and TV series is meant to fall in between The Lion King and The Lion King 2.
Photo Credit: Disney
In addition to screening this fabulous movie, soon to be TV series, we also got to interview some wonderful people behind the movie, including:
Ford Riley – Mr. Riley serves as the executive producer of The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar and the subsequent TV series The Lion Guard. He was approached by Disney Junior to develop a series that would expand on The Lion King. After taking inspiration from his son, Quinn, the concept of a group of heroes with traits and qualities that are different came to life as Kion and the Lion Guard. Ford Riley has also worked as an executive producer for Disney Junior’s Emmy-nominated animated series Special Agent Oso. He’s also worked on Doc McStuffins, Higglytown Heroes, Teamo Supremo, Teacher’s Pet, Recess, Land Before Time (the TV series), and Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles.
Christopher Willis – Mr. Willis is the composer behind The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar.
Beau Black – For the singing and songwriting of Lion Guard: Return of the Roar, Disney has Beau Black. He has written all of the music, and he performs on the series’ theme song as well as “A Beautiful Day” and “The Lion Guard” from the TV movie. For this movie and television series, Beau wanted the music to be influenced from The Lion King, but not be pulled exactly from it because he wanted it to stand on its own. I definitely think he did a great job at accomplishing this!
Sarah Mirza – Sarah Mirza is an author and Swahili expert that served as the language and cultural advisor for this movie and upcoming TV series. She is originally from Mombasa, Kenya
Dr. Jill Mellen – Dr. Mellen is the Education and Science Director of Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Making sure each animal’s behavior and personality is portrayed as correctly as possible for an animated movie is important, and that’s where Dr. Mellen came in. One of my favorite things that Dr. Mellen said is that since not all children get the opportunity to go to Africa, The Lion Guard brings Africa to them. I couldn’t agree more!
On the Disney website, you can download several fun activity pages centered around The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar. The first one is an activities packet with a matching game, connect the dots, message decoder, and more. You can also print off a Kion and Fuli mask so your children can play as them!
A couple of my favorite Swahili catch phrases that you will hear in The Lion Guard include: Zuka Zama! This means pop up, dive in! Another favorite of mine is Twende Kiboko! Meaning Let’s go, hippo!
You can get your kids even more excited for The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar and help out animal conservation at the same time, too! By sharing your best “ROAR!” on social media with the hashtag #ReturnOfTheRoar, Disney will donate $1 (up to $25,000) to the Disney Conservation Fund during the week leading up to the premiere of The Lion Guard: Return Of The Roar on November 22nd! So make sure to capture your children’s (or your own!) roars and help protect African Wildlife.
Follow The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar Online:
Website
The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar airs Sunday, November 22nd at 7pm EST!
I was sent on an all-expense paid trip to Los Angeles, California courtesy of Disney to experience The Good Dinosaur as well as other fun adventures I can’t wait to share with you all. All opinions, as always, are 100% my own.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
mmmm… i dunno. has potential, im kind of leery of kids movies these days
It’s a great movie for kids! I loved it.
looks so much fun!