The marketing campaign for Disney’s upcoming The Lion King has relied a lot more on the visual than the auditory. We haven’t heard much from the cast, at least not directly. Any dialogue heard came from characters that are out of sight.

But that all changes with this new TV spot which reveals Beyoncé Knowles as the voice of Nala. Check out the TV Spot below.

It’s unclear why Disney may be taking this approach to the marketing campaign. It’s not as though this is the first time we’ve seen Jon Favreau realizing a Disney classic with talking animals. The first was back with The Jungle Book, which was released a few years ago. For that film, the director even talked about how he and his team “did research into the behaviors and mouth movements of real animals, and would then layer that on top of the motion-capture work.”

I suppose the two are different because The Lion King is purely about the animals. It also looks like they are trying to sell us on the visuals, with re-created moments, to show how much the technology has advanced. Clearly, the photorealism has gotten better by leaps and bounds, especially with how these animals interact with the environment like the jungles and desert, and the elements like the rain.

Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alfre Woodard, Billy Eichner, John Kani, John Oliver, Florence Kasumba, Eric André, Keegan-Michael Key, JD McCrary, Shahadi Wright Joseph, and James Earl Jones also star.

Here’s the official plot synopsis:

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.

The Lion King will be released on July 19, 2019. Click right here for trailers and more.

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[Source: Disney YT]