The Lion Guard’s Ford Riley

Later this month, Disney Channel will premiere The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar, a prime-time television event that continues the story of the hit 1994 film The Lion King. The 44-minute animated special follows Kion, the son of Simba, as he assembles the members of the new Lion Guard, a group of animals tasked with protecting the Pride Lands and the circle of life. Instead of selecting lions as per tradition, Kion decides to choose different types of animals, including a honey badger, cheetah, hippo and egret, whose skills are being the bravest, fastest, strongest and keenest of sight, respectively.

The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar, produced by Disney Television Animation, is due to debut on Disney Channel in the U.S. and Canada on Sunday, November 22. Early 2016 will see the premiere of The Lion Guard television series. Both productions will roll out globally through 2017 on Disney Channel and Disney Junior. TV Kids speaks to executive producer Ford Riley (Special Agent Oso) about The Lion Guard TV movie and show, both of which he also developed.

TV KIDS: How did the decision to continue the story of The Lion King come about?
RILEY: It probably goes back to when The Lion King was re-released a few years ago in 3D and on Blu-ray. It was such a huge success that it really inspired [Disney] to think about expanding the world of The Lion King, especially for the next generation of Disney fans, whose parents grew up with the original.

When Disney Junior asked me to come up with an idea for expanding The Lion King in a TV-series format, that’s pretty much all I got. They wanted it to be relevant and fresh and exciting for the new generation of Disney fans, and it would have to stand on its own, not rely on all of the classic characters. I didn’t have anything off the top of my head, so I went home to think about it and I was actually in my kitchen that night thinking about it when my son got home from playing in the park with his friends. Every Thursday, he and his buddies have this imaginary superhero team [that has] all these imaginary adventures. That’s when it hit me—that’s what to do with this property! Take superheroes and put them in the Pride Lands, sort of The Avengers meets The Lion King. [But] instead of the Lion King, it would be the Lion Guard, this group of animals that defends the Pride Lands and protects the circle of life. And so I actually pitched it to my son, who was 8 years old at the time. I came up with little clip-art silhouettes of the different animals—the bravest, the fastest, the strongest, the keenest of sight—and said, “What do you think?” And like any 8-year-old, he said, “Yeah, that’s cool, Dad,” and then he went off to his room. But what was cool is that he actually pulled out the plastic animal figurines that he had and started playing “Lion Guard”—that’s what he said to me. He hadn’t seen The Lion King; all he knew was this concept of a diverse group of animals protecting other animals, and it obviously resonated with him. And so the next week I pitched the idea to Nancy Kanter and Emily Hart at Disney Junior and they liked it as well. The 44-minute special that’s coming out in November is essentially the story that I had pitched to them. It’s the background of the Lion Guard and how it ties into the relationship of Mufasa and Scar and how in the new series it will affect the relationship between Kiara, who we met in The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride, and [her brother] Kion, the lead character in The Lion Guard.

TV KIDS: What are some of the core themes explored in the story?
RILEY: Kion looked for the best in the Pride Lands, and the best in these specific abilities weren’t necessarily lions, they were a whole diverse group of animals. We’ve got Fuli the cheetah, who’s the fastest; Bunga the honey badger’s the bravest; Beshte the hippo is the strongest; and Ono the egret is the keenest of sight. So, we’re really trying to express the value of diversity and that it’s a real strength. Even though our five main characters are all very different and they’ve got different personalities, sizes and shapes, when they work together, they’re stronger than when they’re apart.

The Lion Guard’s role in the Pride Lands is to defend the circle of life, and so there’s a message of conservation, which has certainly been in the news lately with animals. That’s sort of the Lion Guard’s role, to make sure that no animals are wiped out, that there’s a balance in everything. And it doesn’t mean that the lions don’t hunt for food—it means that they just don’t take more than their fair share.

[Bullying is also] something that we touch on very specifically in several episodes in the series. Kion, who has this great power, is learning how to use it and standing up to bullies while not becoming a bully himself. So, there are some really interesting lessons that we explore in the series as we move forward.

TV KIDS: The Lion Guard soundtrack comes out next year. Is music going to be a big part of the series?
RILEY: Yes, absolutely. I’ve been very fortunate to work with Beau Black as our songwriter and lyricist. We’ve been writing a lot of great songs, not just for the 44-minute special, but for the series as well. There’s a lot of great music, a lot of really catchy songs, as well as the score itself. Chris Willis is our composer for the underscore, and I think that the score really gives the series and the special an epic, almost cinematic feeling. Music is really, really important to The Lion King franchise, and The Lion Guard is no exception.

TV KIDS: Why do you think The Lion Guard TV movie and series will resonate with young viewers around the globe?
RILEY: I think that at the core of the series is this friendship between two unlikely animals, the lion (Kion) and the honey badger (Bunga). They’re best friends and despite their differences, they have this unique and fun bond. And beyond that, their friends Fuli, Beshte and Ono are all really relatable. They’re kids that are thrust into this amazing responsibility to help other animals. I think that’s really relatable. Kids—at least in my experience—love wild animals, and I think they will find our characters really relatable.