Meet Kio! Your Next Family Watch Is A Real Lion Cub's Coming-Of-Age Story
See the 8-week-old cub meet the world (and stick very close to his mom) in this exclusive first look at the new National Geographic docuseries Lion.
You’ve probably watched the classic animated version of The Lion King more times than you can count, and the number of times you’ve streamed the 2019 live-action version is getting up there too. Well, you’re about to get the real deal: Lion, a four-part event series premiering Wednesday, Aug. 19, follows the rise of a real-life tiny lion cub named Kio in Kenya’s Maasai Mara. The ambitious National Geographic endeavor tracks Kio for four straight years as he grows from a wobbly furball into the leader of one of the largest prides in Africa.
And Scary Mommy has an exclusive clip.
In it, we meet cute baby Kio, just 8 weeks old, back when he was mostly just ears and paws. We also meet his mother, Summer, who is doing what all mothers of little ones do: hovering. She has raised many cubs in this nursing ground, the narrator tells us, but she’s an older lioness now… and Kio may be her last. Kio climbs a mini red dirt mound in a moment that feels like a tiny tribute to Pride Rock. Then, he returns to nuzzle with his fierce but tender mother.
As a child who grew up dreaming of becoming a journalist for National Geographic (didn’t all of us millennials?!), it’s impossible not to be awestruck by the details of Lion. The crew logged nearly 1,400 filming days across an impressive 52 shoots to get footage like this. It’s the most time any production has ever spent in the field following a single pride, and the first natural history production to document a lion’s entire journey from cub to king.
They actually had to whittle it down quite a bit, cutting roughly 1,000 hours of footage to fit into four hours of story.
But with the team behind the scenes on this docuseries, it’s clearly in exceptionally capable hands. It’s executive-produced by Jon Favreau, who directed Disney’s live-action version of The Lion King, alongside BBC Studios Natural History Unit creative director Mike Gunton (Planet Earth II). Academy Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer (Dune, Interstellar), who scored the 1994 animated film, leads the score here with Niccolò Pacella and George Hutson Warren for Bleeding Fingers Music.
They recorded using sounds captured in the Maasai Mara, including actual lion roars and local singers, and added vocals from the Nairobi Chamber Chorus to the soundtrack (which releases Aug. 21 wherever music is streamed). You may even notice some rerecorded musical nods to the original tucked throughout.
And the narration? That voice belongs to O.J. Lynch, who’s played Mufasa onstage in the Broadway adaptation of The Lion King.
Of course, Kio is a real lion cub. There’s no CGI. No happy warthogs singing “Hakuna Matata.” So filming meant that there was always the very real possibility our hero wouldn’t make it to the end for his full-circle moment. That’s an important note to keep in mind when watching with your kids, as Kio faces loss and danger along the way. The hunting scenes aren’t too gory, but they may be a bit scary for younger kids. Older kids and tweens should be fine and will likely be utterly invested in Kio’s journey.
Plus, it’s always so nice when you can feel good about what you’re watching. Disney is using the premiere of Lion to continue its “Protect the Pride” campaign supporting the Wildlife Conservation Network’s Lion Recovery Fund, which has the goal of doubling the number of wild lions by 2050. According to Disney, the company has invested more than $5 million in the fund since 2019, and that has backed more than 400 conservation projects across 26 countries.
Lion premieres Wednesday, Aug. 19, at 9/8c on National Geographic, with all four episodes streaming on Disney+ and Hulu the next day.
