The Lion King: Beyonce and Donald Glover Perform "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" in New TV Spot

New #TheLionKing international TV spot featuring Beyoncé and Donald Glover singing 'Can You Feel [...]

By Charlie Ridgely

A lot of the magic of the original Lion King came from the iconic musical performances throughout the movie. One of the most difficult parts of remaking that movie was always going to be finding a way to continue the legacy of the music. Luckily, Jon Favreau and Disney landed some of the best vocal performers in the industry in the film's most important roles. Donald Glover, aka Childish Gambino, is voicing Simba and Beyonce is voicing Nala. It's a stellar duo of musicians, and they finally get the chance to show off their chemistry in the film's latest TV spot.

In the new spot, which you can watch above, Glover and Beyonce perform the iconic song "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," which was written for the original film by Elton John. While the old rendition is certainly iconic, these two performers manage to bring their own exceptional talents to the table and create something that both honors the original, while also standing alone as its own.

This is the first time in any of The Lion King's marketing that we've heard either of the two actors sing. In fact, this is the first time Glover's voice as been included at all.

Glover and Beyonce are definitely the stars of Favreau's new movie, but they're far from the only notable names in the cast. The film also includes performances from Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Chiwetel Ejiofor, John Oliver, Alfre Woodard, John Kani, Keegan-Michael Key, Amy Sedaris, and James Earl Jones.

Unlike the original Lion King, Favreau's reimagining is designed to look as life-like as possible, using groundbreaking technology to create a real depiction of the animals and settings.

"We're really giving them the time to do it right," director Jon 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.

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