Audiences are holding Disney’s live-action The Lion King to a new standard, and no one is feeling that pressure more than the movie’s director Jon Favreau, who also directed Elf, Iron Man 2, and the live-action Jungle Book. 

During a Q&A this weekend at Tribeca Film Festival with Scarlett Johansson, Jon opened up about taking the responsibility very seriously as well as what we can expect.

“When you’re directing, you have to love [what you’re making]. You have to love it to the point of obsession,” he said. “I have to live, breathe, sleep it, dream it. If I’m going to do my best work, I need to be completely immersed… With Lion King, people really know [the original], and they grew up with it and it has emotional impact…

“The Jungle Book was 50 years ago, Lion King was 20, and people grew up with it in an age of video where they watched it over and over again,” he added. “So, I have to really examine all of those plot points. Also, the myths are very strong in it, so you’re hitting something even deeper than the movie sometimes. What I’m trying to do is honor what was there… There are certain expectations people have.”

He continued: “I think about when Prince played halftime at the Super Bowl. There was more entertainment packed into that because he hit every song you wanted to hear and he did it the way you remember it or better… To me, it’s like you’re doing a big DJ set for the audience. It’s about the audience having the experience they’re hoping they have, and if you can surprise them along the way, they’ll enjoy it even more, but you gotta live up to what

want.”

Donald Glover and James Earl Jones are set to voice Simba and Mufasa. And it was also reported that Jon really wants Beyonce to play Nala — oh please, oh please, oh please!