Disney dropped a load of character posters for the upcoming Lion King remake yesterday, giving fans their first proper look at the inhabitants of the Pride Lands. As we’ve seen from the trailers, director Jon Favreau has continued on from the technique he used with his Jungle Book reboot by reimagining the animated film’s animal cast as photo-realistic creatures. That seems to have worked in most cases, but folks are having a bit of a problem with the CGI Pumbaa.
And that’s putting it lightly. Honestly, people are seriously freaking out on social media over how terrifyingly real the new Pumbaa looks. The original cartoon warthog was a jolly, smiley soul but this one, voiced by Seth Rogen, looks like he’s staring straight into your soul.
Here are just a few of the reactions going around:
Therapist: It's okay, photo realistic Pumbaa isn't real & can't hurt you.
Photo realistic Pumbaa: pic.twitter.com/Xy0Aot1awX
— Funky (@LordFunkyFist) May 30, 2019
Are we sure this poster isn’t for a spinoff of The Witch called The Warthog?
https://twitter.com/DerfelMacGuffin/status/1134133383720841217
As Timon says in the original movie, “Pumbaa, not in front of the kids!”
https://twitter.com/schezrehn/status/1134142577551323141
One fan pointed out that Disney didn’t need to change Pumbaa’s distinctive maroon coloring, as there are red warthogs out there in the wild.
https://twitter.com/Lutbarg/status/1134144899933200384
Alternatively, how else was a realistic-looking warthog going to look? Unlike Pumbaa’s best pal Timon, meerkats aren’t naturally cute, so he wasn’t going to be as loveable-looking as the one from the cartoon.
What the hell yall thought Pumbaa was suppose to look like? Piglet? pic.twitter.com/c7HKcC4OiZ
— DKT (@darleneturner53) May 30, 2019
Pumbaa isn’t the only redesigned character that has received some flack, as reactions were previously mixed when it was revealed that Scar would look very different in the remake as well. Again, the filmmakers have gone for a more realistic vibe for the villain – he’s now a mangy, albino lion instead of the vibrantly-colored original – and it didn’t sit well with some.
Still, if there’s any backlash against the reboot, it’s not expected to dent its impact at the box office, with predictions saying that it’s going to make a royal amount of cash in its opening weekend.
You can look forward to returning to Pride Rock when The Lion King roars into theaters on July 19th.