Hear Beyoncé Knowles-Carter for first time as Simba's bae Nala in new 'Lion King' teaser

Ethan Alter
·Senior Writer, Yahoo Entertainment
Beyoncé Knowles voices Nala in 'The Lion King.' (Photo: Disney)
Beyoncé Knowles voices Nala in 'The Lion King.' (Photo: Disney)

Months after breaking the internet with her Netflix documentary Homecoming, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is trying to orchestrate a homecoming of a different sort in an all-new teaser for Disney’s upcoming remake of The Lion King. The 30-second spot (watch below) puts the music icon front and center for the first time as Nala, the childhood friend — and grown-up love interest — of the heir to Pride Rock, Simba (Donald Glover).

Watch the spot:

As you may recall from your copious viewings of the 1994 cartoon classic, Simba exiled himself following the death of his father, Mufasa (James Earl Jones), a tragedy orchestrated by his treacherous uncle, Scar (Chiwetel Ejiofor). After years in hiding, Nala has found him at last and makes it clear she won’t be returning to Pride Rock without him. “Simba, you have to take your place as king,” she says. “We need you ... come home.” (Watch the teaser above.)

Not surprisingly, the Beyhive has already been activated on Twitter.

It’s safe to say that The Lion King director Jon Favreau anticipated that reaction when he approached Knowles-Carter about appearing in his film. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, the filmmaker acknowledged that while her onstage persona is “bigger than life, she’s very down to earth and is very much dedicated to her family and having a life that is human-scale. ... At the end of the day, she’s also an actor and it’s a great bunch of people to work with and a project that I think she felt was going to be special. And then of course, there are these wonderful musical numbers that she can be involved with, and my God … she really lives up to her reputation as far as the beauty of her voice and her talent.”

Of course, we’ll have to wait a little longer to hear those musical numbers, including what’s sure to be a blockbuster rendition of “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.” In the meantime, the ecstatic reaction to this clip reminds us who really runs the world: Beyoncé.

The Lion King roars in theaters on July 19.

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