Fans of Simba and Nala will be delighted to know that their beloved lion story is coming back, albeit in a different incarnation. Disney Junior has announced that it is planning to bring back the popular kids movie "The Lion King" as a television series. Two decades have passed since "The Lion King" was first seen on the big screen. Disney announced today that it would be making "The Lion Guard', an animated series which will be a made-for-TV movie.

"The Lion Guard" TV series will revolve around the adventures of Kion, Simba and Nala's son. Kion looks like Simba except for a pawprint tattoo and a red Mohawk. "The Lion Guard" will have a pre-showing on Disney Junior for an hour in November 2015. The regular showing will come later in January 2016. In keeping tradition with Disney's character toys, a new set of "Lion Guard" toys will be available following the series' launch date. The toys are developed by Disney Consumer Products and they will cater to children from 2-7 years old.

The new show deals with a diverse group of animals who are responsible for protecting their land, known as the "Pride Lands". Kion leads this group, which consists of a self-assured cheetah, a courageous honey badger, a logical egret and a carefree hippo. Familiar characters from "The Lion King" movie will also make an appearance, including Pumbaa, Timon, Zazu, Rafiki and Mufasa. Kiara, the older sister of Kion and the future Queen of the Pride Lands, will play a major role in the series.

Nancy Kanter, the general manager of Disney Junior, has said that the TV series will be "The Lion King" meets "The Avengers." The significance of natural conservation will be highlighted in "The Lion Guard", as well as the values of family, diversity and community. The advice of the Disney Animal Kingdom theme park's wildlife experts was consulted for the project. The first spinoff of "The Lion King" was Timon and Simba, who had their own animated series shown back in 1995. In 1998 and 2004, two direct-to-DVD sequel spinoffs were released.