The Lion King's Live Action Pumbaa Is Giving Disney Fans Nightmares

Just like Sonic the Hedgehog or any number of characters from Detective Pikachu, Disney's upcoming [...]

By Russ Burlingame

Just like Sonic the Hedgehog or any number of characters from Detective Pikachu, Disney's upcoming motion-capture revival of their animated classic The Lion King has fans on the internet screaming "Nightmare fuel!" This time around, it's the photorealistic take on Simba's buddy Pumbaa that is making fans run for the door, revealed in high resolution as part of a rollout of character posters earlier today. Looking very much like his animated counterpart (except, y'know -- more like he might be in real life), Pumbaa combines teeth, horns, and an oddly-shaped head for a truly unsettling close-up for the movie poster's "camera."

You can always rely on fans on Twitter to provide some thoughtful and hilarious takes on something like this, and so of course that's where we went...!

Disney's The Lion King, directed by Jon Favreau (The Jungle Book), journeys to the African savanna where a future king is born. Simba idolizes his father, King Mufasa, and takes to heart his own royal destiny. But not everyone in the kingdom celebrates the new cub's arrival. Scar, Mufasa's brother—and former heir to the throne—has plans of his own. The battle for Pride Rock is ravaged with betrayal, tragedy and drama, ultimately resulting in Simba's exile. With help from a curious pair of newfound friends, Simba will have to figure out how to grow up and take back what is rightfully his.

Staying true to the classic story, director Jon Favreau utilizes pioneering filmmaking techniques to bring the iconic characters to the big screen in a whole new way. Featuring the voices of Donald Glover as Simba, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter as Nala, James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, Seth Rogen as Pumbaa and Billy Eichner as Timon.

Is this not a children's movie?

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Where's the color?!

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Is he going to kill me?

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Here for it

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Wrong movie, bro

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Therapist's advice

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Dead End Job

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One for Zazu, too

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...On the other hand...

What do you think of Pumbaa and the other "live-action" interpretations of Disney's classic characters? Chime in below or hit us up on Twitter to join the discussion.

The Lion King hits theaters on July 19th.

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