Disney’s The Lion King International Trailer Released

We’re just about halfway through the year of the Disney live-action reboot. Dumbo and Aladdin are now in the past, with Maleficent: Mistress of Evil coming up this fall. However, the next in line is The Lion King, which isn’t actually a “live-action” film, but is designed to look as real as possible. Jon Favreau’s take on the iconic Disney animated flick is hitting theaters in July, and Walt Disney Studios is finally starting to ramp up the marketing efforts around the globe. Just days after the release of some new TV spots and posters, a Japanese trailer for The Lion King.

The new trailer, which you can watch above, focuses mainly on Simba as a cub, and his relationship to his father, Mufasa. It includes the iconic “everything the light touches” scene, as well as the sequence where Simba pounces on Zazu. Just like every other bit of footage released so far, this international trailer is full of nostalgia.

A lot of people will refer to the new Lion King as “live-action,” though that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Director Jon Favreau and his team created the movie completely digitally, though it was always their goal to make the characters look like real animals.

“We’re really giving them the time to do it right,” Favreau said of his effects team. “That was relatively early footage, rushed for that event because we wanted to get it out. But I’m here working with them. It’s a lot of the same people I worked with on Jungle Book. There was probably a big learning curve for me on that one. Now I’m up to speed and I’m used to working with all of them, and I know what the tech could do and there’s all new tech. A lot of the consumer facing VR stuff that’s out there that wasn’t out there back around the time of Jungle Book.”

“We were using mostly motion capture tech, and now using game engine tech and consumer facing VR stuff, we’re able to create virtual production,” he continued. “It’s a very cool, efficient way of working and helps contribute to a live action feel because we’re able to actually go into VR and set cameras and operate real cameras that drive virtual cameras. It has a look that, hopefully will feel photo real. Even though everything’s animated in it, it still should have a look of a live action film. You’ll see.”

Disney’s The Lion King hits theaters on July 19th.