Rob Lowe Is Your New Simba Opposite Gabrielle Union in Lion King TV Event, The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar

Exclusive! Rob Lowe, Gabrielle Union, Sarah Hyland, James Earl Jones and more star in Disney Junior's newest

By Lauren Piester Aug 12, 2015 1:00 PMTags
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What do you get when you mix The Lion King with Rob Lowe

We don't know, but we sure can't wait to find out! We've always been kind of in love with the grown-up version of Simba, but now we've got even more fuel to add to that weird and confusing fire with the fact that Lowe will be voicing the famous king of the lions in the upcoming TV movie, The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar.

Lowe is joined by Gabrielle Union, who plays his lion wife Nala, and fellow cast members Sarah Hyland (Modern Family), Max Charles (The Strain), Atticus Shaffer (The Middle) and many more. James Earl Jones will be reprising his role as Mufasa (who lives on in spirit), and Ernie Sabella will be returning as Pumbaa. Check out exclusive images of Lowe and Union recording their roles below.

The Lion Guard, which continues the story set up by 1994's epic The Lion King, follows Simba and Nala's second born cub, Kion (the 11 year-old Charles), as he becomes the leader of the Lion Guard, a team of animals tasked with preserving the Pride Lands.

Of course, instead of picking the biggest and most ferocious lions that would typically make up the Guard, Kion picks his most heroic friends, and together they use their unique abilities to solve problems and preserve balance within the Circle of Life, while also introducing young viewers to the vast array of animals found in the African Savanna. 

The movie will act as a precursor to the previously announced Lion Guard series, which is set to debut on Disney Junior in 2016. 

The series was once described by the Disney Junior general manager Nancy Kanter as "The Lion King meets The Avengers," which actually sounds like an incredible combo that may be lost on the preschoolers it's aimed at, so we might as well also tune in, just, you know, to make sure it's appropriate.

And, you know, watching TV is sometimes our job, so it would be totally normal and actually expected of us to watch this movie and this show, and we won't be crying childhood-related tears or anything because we definitely don't love The Lion King that much, because we are grown adults, and we definitely haven't been singing "The Circle of Life" as we wrote this. 

Definitely not at all. 

Anyway, Hakuna Matata, and we will see you whenThe Lion Guard: Return of the Roar debuts on Disney Junior in November. Check out exclusive images of Lowe and Union in the recording studio above.

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