After years of speculating what a CGI photo-realistic lion looks like with Beyoncé’s voice coming out of it, finally, we have our answers: It looks like director Jon Favreau muted Animal Planet and let “Lemonade†play over it. In a 30-second clip posted to Beyoncé’s own YouTube channel, Queen Bey as Nala implores Donald Glover as Simba to “come home.†Interspersed with shots from the original teaser, Beyoncé’s honey-smooth voice commands better than the mightiest roar ever could.
“Simba, you have to take your place as king,†she says over clips of fighting lions. (But who is fighting whom? We don’t know. Lions all kind of look the same.) “We need you.â€
Although we only get one very short shot of Nala speaking, the clip ends with comedic stars Timon and Pumbaa, voiced by Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen. Despite being two of the … least majestic CGI animals, they’re maybe the most charming. For now. All bets are off when we get a closer look at Mufasa, the George Clooney of animated animals, on July 19.