The Lion King Cast Revealed: Beyonce and More!

If you were on Twitter on Wednesday night, you saw everyone collectively lose their minds. Actually, that’s every night on Twitter in 2017, but this time, it was in a good way.

Because Disney finally found a way to make people not complain about their live-action revivals of classic films.

The recipe for success is complicated, but the key ingredient for all of this The Lion King enthusiasm is … Beyonce. But she’s not the only big name in the cast.

As appropriately beautiful as the live action Beauty And The Beast trailer was, it was also a source of controversy.

Many fans saw it as an unoriginal, transparent money-grab by Disney. An effort to feed off of Millennial nostalgia and transform that into profit.

And … well, the movie was good, but that doesn’t mean that these critical fans were in any way wrong.

It was, by definition, unoriginal.

Unlike Maleficent, it wasn’t a total reinvention — it was a retelling.

As for being a money-grab, well … aren’t most big production films?

Beauty And The Beast raked in over a billion dollars, so it was definitely a success in that department.

The thing is that those who are critical of these live-action remakes of classic Disney films seem to feel that this is all a bad thing.

That is not necessarily so.

But even those who had professed a profound weariness for Disney’s remakes are more or less losing their minds over The Lion King.

Why?

Well … take a look at this cast:

As we mentioned, Beyonce is not the only big name in the newly announced live-action The Lion King cast.

She’s the biggest, to be sure.

Now, we talked about Millennial nostalgia. Do you know what about half (at least) of ’90s have in common?

Having had a big ol’ crush on Jonathan Taylor Thomas. Seriously, look at any list of childhood celebrity crushes and you’ll see “JTT.”

Well, JTT voiced Simba in the original animated film.

You know who’s playing Simba now?

Donald Glover. On whom plenty of those ’90s kids grew up to have a much more adult crush.

Which means that Disney is catering to your weird, confused childhood Simba crush.

Let’s see … oh, The Lion King‘s beloved hedonistic and very probably gay couple, Timon and Pumba, will be played by Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen, respectively.

Zazu will be played by Emmy-winning comedian and talk show host John Oliver, who is almost unbelievably perfect for the role.

So, as you can see, the lions and hyenas will all be played by black actors, while the bird character, the meerkat, and the warthog will be played by white actors.

People have been pointing out for years, as fans of the original film drew human versions of The Lion King characters, that a royal African family should be portrayed as black humans if they’re going to be humanized.

Disney hasn’t always been great about racial representation (and they still seem to be deeply in denial about how racist a lot of early Disney stuff was), but they’ve been making a lot of great strides recently.

Note, by the way, that James Earl Jones will be reprising his role as Mufasa, Simba’s father.

Now, they’re calling this a “live-action” remake, but let’s be clear — there’s going to be a lot of CGI.

We imagine that they’ll all be motion-captured into lions (and other animals) for this musical adventure, but the exact details haven’t been revealed.

Production only began during the summer.

Honestly, just knowing that Donald Glover and Beyonce are going to be playing an on screen couple will be enough to tide us over for a good long while.

And Baron Mordo from Doctor Strange (that and Serenity are where you’ve seen him before) playing Scar is a very promising decision, too. Disney films are nothing without a good villain.

While I’m personally the most excited about the new Aladdin (it was my first-ever film in theaters and I was a big Jafar fan growing up), the casting news has more than doubled my enthusiasm for The Lion King.

Really looking forward to 2019!

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Robert Guillaume Dies; Benson & The Lion King Actor Was 89

Sad news out of Hollywood today, as Emmy-winning actor Robert Guillaume has passed away at the age of 89.

Reports of Guillaume’s death were confirmed this afternoon by his wife of 31 years, Donna Guillaume.

You may not be familiar with Guillaume’s name, but if you’re a film and television fan, you’ve almost certainly encountered and enchanted by his work.

For seven seasons, Guillaume portrayed the title character on the ABC sitcom Benson, a spinoff of the popular series Soap, on which he also starred.

His work on the two shows earned Guillaume a pair of Emmys.

While Benson may be the role fans most commonly associate with Guillaume, the Broadway alum went on to produce decades of acclaimed work on both stage and screen after his signature series came to an end.

Almost as well known for his rich baritone voice as he was for his comic timing, Benson was nominated for a Tony for his work in a 1977 production of Guys and Dolls.

Guillaume later became the first African-American actor to play the title role in The Phanton of the Opera.

To younger fans, he’s perhaps best known as the voice of Rafiki in the 1994 Disney animated classic The Lion King.

Throughout the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, Guillaume remained a television staple appearing in guest roles on such popular series as Good Times, The Jeffersons, Sanford and Son, Saved By The Bell: The College Years, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and A Different World.

In his later years, Guillaume appeared in Tim Burton’s Big Fish, and was a regular on the short-lived, but critically-acclaimed Aaron Sorkin sitcom Sports Night.

After suffering a stroke in 1999, Guillaume returned to Sports Night, and his slight speech impairment and reliance upon a cane were written into the show in a memorable story arc.

The actor was widely applauded by health advocacy groups for his honest and courageous portrayal of life after a stroke.

All told, Guillaume racked up nearly 100 screen credits over the course of his 50-year career.

He is survived by his wife and four children.

View Slideshow: Celebrities Who Died in 2017: In Memoriam

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Justin Timberlake Goes "Lion King" On Random Baby at Golf Tourney

Throw Justin Timberlake’s name in the hat to play Rafiki in the live action “Lion King” flick — ‘cause he executed the Simba lift on a baby to perfection at a golf tourney … and TMZ Sports has the video.  JT and Steph Curry were in between…

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Rihanna Uses Lion King to Troll Kevin Durant: You Killed LeBron!

We"ve learned two things about Rihanna over the past several days:

1. She is not a fan of Chris Brown any longer.


2. She is a very big fan of LeBron James.

The pop singer attended Game 1 of the NBA Finals this month, sat courtside and cheered loudly for the Cleveland Cavaliers star.

Alas, his team fell to the Golden State Warriors, both in the opening contest and overall in the championship round, by a score of four games to one.

It wasn"t an especially close series, which is why one of the highlights took place after Kevin Durant drilled a three-pointer and then stared down Rihanna.

He was very much aware of where RiRi"s rooting interests lay.

Fast forward to the day after the Warriors earned the title with a 129-120 victory in Game 5 and Rihanna wasn"t done paying tribute to James, who is often referred to as "King."

In one of the most random and hilarious videos we"ve seen shared by a celebrity on social media in awhile, the artist posted a lengthy clip from The Lion King.

Except she"s imposed her own face over that of Simba.

And the face of LeBron over Mufasa.

And the face of Durant over Scar.

The scene in question is one of the most dramatic in the classic film, as Mufasa saves Simba"s life, only to then be killed by his own brother.

So, in this analogy, Rihanna is accusing Durant of… murder?

"#LongLiveTheKing #KingisStillKingBitch (whispers congrats to KD, cause….ROCNation) BUT: me and @mdollas11 beefing all summer!!" wrote Rihanna as a caption to this footage.

Check it out below – and prepare to be confused/impressed/humored…

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YIKES! Sea Lion Yanks Girl Into Water, Scares Ish Out of Internet

In a word? YIKES!

In another word? PHEW!

Footage of a sea lion leaping up out the water and dragging a young girl back down under with it has spread across the Internet, causing many to react in shock and fear over the actions of this unexpectedly aggressive creature.

The video below was filmed in Richmond, British Columbia near the Steveston Fisherman"s Wharf in Canada.

It starts off innocently enough, too, as a group of people are seen throwing tiny bits of food to the animal and commenting on how large it is. We hear someone"s cell phone go off.

It all seems like harmless, normal fun.

But then the sea lion swims close to a docked boat and closer to the dock itself. It sticks its head out from under the water and approaches a squating little girl.

At first, it leaps out of the water toward the girl, almost to give her a kiss on the face.

The girl laughs. So does everyone around her.

From there, however, the girl sits down… turns her head away slightly… and, almost as if it was waiting for its prey to peer in the other direction, the sea lion jumps up and actually bites down on the girl"s dress.

It then yanks her into the water.

Thankfully, a man (believed to be a relative) immediately springs into action, leaping in to save the girl before any physical damage can be done.

Michael Fujiwara, who captured the dramatic footage, told CBC News that the girl’s family “were just in shock” over the terrifying incident.

“They were pretty shaken up,” he said.

According to Andrew Trites, the Director of UBC"s Marine Mammal Research Unit, the sea lion likely thought the girl"s dress was food.

"My first reaction to the video is just how stupid some people can be to not treat wildlife with proper respect," he said, adding:

"This was a male California sea lion. They are huge animals. They are not circus performers. They"re not trained to be next to people."

And Bob Baziuk, the general manager of the Steveston Harbour Authority, explained to CNN how they"ve ben warning visitors not to feed animals for years.

"It"s not Sea World, it"s a place where you buy fish," Baziuk says. "If you feed the animals like this, you"re asking for trouble."

The video has been viewed over 2.2 million times.

See it for yourself:

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Puppy Mourns Mufasa"s Death in The Lion King

We"re just gonna come out and say it:

The Lion King is the best children"s movie ever made.

Heck, it"s one of the best adult movies ever made.

And now we can apparently also add that it"s one of the best animal movies ever made.

No, not because it stars animals. Because animals actually experience a wide range of impactful emotions while watching it.

Or at least one animal does.

In the following video, a puppy is sitting on the couch alongside his owner, taking in the saddest scene from The Lion King.

Simba has just stumbled upon his dad, Mufasa, after Mufasa"s own brother dropped him to his death. 

(Sorry: SPOILER ALERT! Also: Darn you, Scar!)

We"re not exaggerating when we say it"s really as moving as nearly any scene we can think of in cinematic history… and we"re not alone in thinking this.

Because look at how the dog is responding!

As Simba implores his father to get up, you can tell the dog is thinking the same thing in his head.

And the more he realizes that Mufasa is not going to get up, the more he whines and sulks and is simply downtrodden by what he"s witnessing on screen.

We just hope he watched the movie all the way through and eventually sees that Simba comes out on top and hears all those great songs and learns some valuable life lessons.

For now, though? We feel you, dog. We feel you and we love you…

Ashley Benson Apologizes for Offensive Lion Costume

Ashley Benson learned an important lesson this week:

It’s one thing to make fun of Amanda Bynes. It’s another thing to make fun of a dead lion.

The Pretty Little Liars star came under major fire on Tuesday after sharing a photo of her proposed Halloween costume, which featured the young actress dressed as Cecil the Lion.

Yes, the same Cecil the Lion who was hunted down and killed by a dentist in Africa this summer, despite his status as a protected species.

Following backlash from those who don’t believe one ought to essentially wear an animal corpse as a costume, Benson wrote the following on Instagram yesterday:

“Yesterday’s post was in poor taste and I absolutely regret all of the hurt that photo caused.

“The caption that was posted was incorrect and my costume was not Cecil the Lion, when I saw that, I contacted my management who handled the post and had it immediately changed.

“I recognize that I am responsible for everything posted on my social accounts and this was an unfortunate oversight.

“I am a supporter of Animal conservation and I will be donating all the proceeds of this deal to the World Wildlife Fund. I love you all and I apologize if I let you down.”

We’re not sure if we’re buying the fact that Benson was not dressing as Cecil, but just as a regular lion.

But hey. She has no real history of controversy and, as you can see below, plenty of celebrities have donned far more offensive Halloween costumes over the years:

View Slideshow: 12 Scandalously Scary Celebrity Halloween Costumes

Ashley Benson Dresses as Cecil the Lion, Hears It from Critics

A Pretty Little Liar has made a pretty major costume faux pas.

Ashley Benson took to Instagram on Tuesday in order to give followers an early look at her Halloween outfit, sharing the following image and explaining her look thusly:

“Help! Can’t decide on my Halloween costume this year! What do you guys think of this cecil the lion costume? @yandy #thanksyandy #halloweencostume.”

Cecil the Lion, of course, was a protected animal in Africa who unfortunately made headlines this summer after a dentist from Minnesota shot and killed him illegally.

Not long afterward, online stores started to sell Cecil the Lion costumes, offending many who don’t think it’s appropriate to use an innocent creature’s murder as some kind of holiday prop.

So you can imagine the backlash Benson received upon posting this photo.

The criticism was so extreme and immediate, in fact, that the young actress quickly jumped online and changed her wording to simply read:

“What do you guys think of this lion costume?”

But at least follower wasn’t gonna allow Benson to get away with this edit, shooting back at her:

“you called it ‘Cecil the Lion!’ #clueless #smh #insensitive,” while another added:

”It’s a shame lions can’t wear dead ignorant humans as costumes. Totally unaware douche.”

View Slideshow: 12 Scandalously Scary Celebrity Halloween Costumes

OUCH!

At least Benson has company in the controversial costume game, as you can see above.

To see the star dressed in far less scandalous attire, follow this link to watch Pretty Little Liars online.