--- description: Disney Junior is launching an animated series called "The Lion Guard," based on the 1994 classic children's movie "The Lion King" title: Spin-Off of The Lion King Aims to Enchant a New Generation of Viewers image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b3aec700ff695ec/698696daf983e768f304e528/the-lion-king_0ee2d31b.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Spin-Off of _The Lion King_ Aims to Enchant a New Generation of Viewers by [Melissa Hellmann](/author/melissa-hellmann/) ## Melissa Hellmann Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 10, 2014 4:51 AM CUT  Disney by [Melissa Hellmann](/author/melissa-hellmann/) ## Melissa Hellmann Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 10, 2014 4:51 AM CUT Disney Junior, the American television network that is owned by the Walt Disney Co., is [launching](http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/06/09/disney-junior-plans-preschool-animated-series-based-on-the-lion-king/?mod=e2tw "undefined") an animated series called _The Lion Guard_ based on the 1994 classic children’s movie _The_ _Lion King_. The series — which will debut in November 2015 on both the Disney Junior Channel and the Disney Channel — will follow Kion, the son of King Simba, as he and his coterie, the Lion Guard, defend the jungle from usurpers like the hyenas. _The Lion Guard_ will begin with an hour-long movie in November 2015 followed by episodes in January 2016. “It’s kind of like _The Lion King_ meets _The Avengers_,” Disney Junior general manager Nancy Kanter told the _Wall Street Journal._ Kanter added that _The Lion Guard_ is only one of Disney Junior’s TV shows that have tapped into the “heritage” of the company. _The Lion Guard_ will join the network with pre-existing shows like _Jake and the Never Land Pirates_, which is inspired by the 1953 hit _Peter Pan_. She notes that remakes of classic Disney movies have seen a good deal of success on the network. A new line of toys by Disney Consumer Products will also be released in 2015 to complement the new series. \[[_WSJ_](http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/06/09/disney-junior-plans-preschool-animated-series-based-on-the-lion-king/?mod=e2tw "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2851192/spin-off-of-the-lion-king-aims-to-enchant-a-new-generation-of-viewers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2851192/spin-off-of-the-lion-king-aims-to-enchant-a-new-generation-of-viewers/"},"headline":"Spin-Off of The Lion King Aims to Enchant a New Generation of Viewers","datePublished":"2014-06-10T04:51:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:18:59.411Z","description":"Disney Junior, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Co., is to launch an animated series called The Lion Guard in November next year based on the classic movie The Lion King","url":"https://time.com/2851192/spin-off-of-the-lion-king-aims-to-enchant-a-new-generation-of-viewers/","keywords":["Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b3aec700ff695ec/698696daf983e768f304e528/the-lion-king_0ee2d31b.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Hellmann","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-hellmann/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b3aec700ff695ec/698696daf983e768f304e528/the-lion-king_0ee2d31b.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"the-lion-king_0ee2d31b","caption":"Lion King","creditText":"Disney","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2851192/spin-off-of-the-lion-king-aims-to-enchant-a-new-generation-of-viewers/","name":"Spin-Off of The Lion King Aims to Enchant a New Generation of Viewers"}}]}] ```