The Lion King: Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen in talks to voice Timon and Pumbaa

Pumbaa, not in front of the kids.

Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen are in talks to join Disney’s upcoming remake of The Lion King, playing the beloved comic duo Timon and Pumbaa, who birthed “Hakuna Matata” into the world.

Following in the vocal footsteps of Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella in the original 1994 film, Eichner and Rogen would voice the wilderness companions of exiled Simba (Donald Glover) following the death of his father, Mufasa (James Earl Jones). Eichner would play Timon, the tall, smooth-tongued, sarcastic meerkat, opposite Rogen as his closest friend, the good-hearted albeit gassy warthog Pumbaa.

Timon and Pumbaa have never been tied only to the original Lion King film or its sequel; the duo featured in a successful 1995-1999 afternoon cartoon series, the 2004 spin-off feature The Lion King 1 1/2, the current Disney Channel series The Lion Guard, and a slew of other appearances throughout the Disney family.

Jon Favreau is directing the movie, which features technology similar to the CGI hybrid techniques on display in his 2016 live-action remake of The Jungle Book. Fresh on the savanna is another piece of intel from The Lion King’s morning report: The 3-D film will arrive in theaters on July 19, 2019.

The news of talks with Rogen and Eichner was first reported by The Wrap.

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