Congratulations, humans: Last-minute Thanksgiving Day rumors that Disney would drop the first teaser trailer for the highly anticipated live-action remake of The Lion King turned out to be true — and there was much rejoicing.
The company sneakily released the trailer with almost no notice, save for an Instagram post by J.D. McCrary, who plays Young Simba, alerting fans that the trailer would drop sometime during the Cowboys/Redskins football game.
And lo, unto us the trailer appeared, and thus did the people of Earth gather around their screens and sing:
*the lion king starts playing*
— IG: @itssdarwinn (@itssDarwinn) November 20, 2018
Don’t say it
Don’t say it
Don’t say it
Don’t say it
Don’t say it
Don’t say it
Don’t say it
Don’t say it
Don’t say it
Me: “AHHH ZABENYAAAA BAGITHI BABA”
In keeping with the holiday spirit, the trailer is a comforting blanket of warm fuzziness, starting with the fact that it showcases a verbatim repeat of the legendary opening scene you know and love: when Rafiki the baboon presents the future king cub to his people. And yes, it’s just as adorable as you were hoping.
Add in the familiar Hans Zimmer score, the familiarity of James Earl Jones’s steady narration as he reprises his role as Mufasa, and the glow of watching a beautifully convincing CGI version of Simba blink his sleepy, confused eyes as he looks upon his domain for the first time, and it’s all calculated to give you a deep, sated holiday glow in your chest.
In other words, there’s no way you aren’t watching this a zillion times while you fumble blindly for the nearest box of tissues.
Happy Thanksgiving!
