Listen to The Lion King 2019’s Circle of Life Song in New Clip

Fans can now listen to The Lion King‘s new version of “The Circle of Life.” With just a week left until the film’s debut, the public is getting even more hyped up for the latest Disney classic remake, especially with the House of Mouse teasing by releasing snippets of the iconic tracks from the original film. After “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” and of course, the pleasantly contagious “Hakuna Matata.” the chorus of the movie’s iconic opening song is now available to listen to online.

Jon Favreau brings everything he learned from working on 2016’s The Jungle Book and utilizes it in The Lion King. The contemporary take assembles a star-studded voice cast, including Donald Glover as Simba, John Oliver as Zazu, Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Scar, John Kani as Rafiki, Billy Eichner as Timon, Seth Rogen as Pumba, and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter as Nala. Meanwhile, the legendary James Earl Jones reprises his role as Mufasa. The 1994 animated movie is beloved, and the pressure to justify this retelling is immensely high. Now, with just a few days left before it hits theaters, fans can start to get a taste of this major undertaking, as they can now watch a part of the movie’s opening scene, complete with “The Circle of Life”

Debuted at the end of The Lion King‘s red carpet premiere official live stream (via Movieclips Trailers) is a never-before-seen clip for the film. It’s a snippet from the opening scene where Rafiki presents a baby Simba to the rest of the Pride Lands, while the other animals rejoice at his arrival. As in the animated film, this scene is set to “The Circle of Life.” Watch the full video below:

Since it’s a photorealistic version of The Lion King, the new movie doesn’t have the heightened reactions that the animated version had.  Fans might also notice a bit of a difference in the new version of the track as Lebo M. teams up with Lindiwe Mkhize, instead of Carmen Twillie who was part of the original version of the song. Hans Zimmer is still behind the slightly different arrangement. Nevertheless, seeing the scene is still chill-inducing, especially as “The Circle of Life” hits its highest notes.

Like the song, fans can expect tweaks in The Lion King – be it with a slightly different song arrangement or additional material. Favreau’s film is confirmed to run for 118 minutes – 29 minutes longer than the animated version, backing up the notion that it won’t be a shot-for-shot remake, and making it clear the director took some creative liberty to add his own twists to the classic. All that being said, some things will be intact, including the core of the story – Favreau himself has said that time and again. Another one is the opening scene. Despite minimal changes to “The Circle of Life,” the sequence was too iconic that changing aspects of it could prove detrimental to people’s experience of watching this modern take. If anything early reactions have been generally positive, a good sign for those still skeptical that this take could ruin such a beloved Disney property.

Source: Disney (via Movieclips Trailers)

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