Surprise! Disney drops first trailer for “live action” film The Lion King

Enlarge / D'awwww... newly anointed baby Simba is presented to his people for the first time. (credit: Disney)

The fine folks at Disney just gave us a last-minute holiday surprise by releasing the first trailer for its hotly anticipated "live-action" remake of the 1994 animated classic, The Lion King. The Mouse House sneakily didn't give any hint they were planning to debut the trailer. The only giveaway was a Thanksgiving Day Instagram post by actor J.D. McCrary, who voices Simba in the film.

(Spoilers for original film-and probably the remake-below.)

The original animated The Lion King was a smashing success, raking in $766 million worldwide at the box office to become the highest-grossing animated feature of all time. It won two Oscars for its music (by Hans Zimmer), spawned an equally successful long-running Broadway musical, plus a number of smaller spinoffs. In short, it's been nothing but a money-making machine for Disney over the last 24 years.

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