As second-born to the throne, Kion was gifted with a power called the 'Roar of the Elders' and becomes the leader of the Lion Guard, a team that protects the Pride Lands and defends the Circle of Life.

At the start of Season 2, the Lion Guard's mission becomes harder when Kion's evil deceased granduncle Scar returns as a fiery spirit and plans to destroy the Pride Lands.

After Kion and Ono are healed and their enemies are defeated, hyenas Jasiri and Janja (the latter having reformed during the final confrontation with Scar) come looking for them and alert them that Zira and her pride are back.

Disney Junior general manager Nancy Kanter stated: "It's kind of like The Lion King meets The Avengers".

Iger suggested to Kanter that Disney Junior should consider producing content to celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Lion King in 2014.

[11] Disney Consumer Products launched a line of toys to tie into the television series, as well at book titles based on the series such as Return of the Roar, Can't-Wait to be Queen, Bunga the Wise, Meet the New Guard, Fuli Finds Her Place, Join the Lion Guard!, and Kion's Animal Alphabet.

[13] On August 12, 2015, a sneak peek was shown, with new information that the television movie was scheduled to air in November 2015 to be titled The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar.

[15] On coming up with the idea, the series' creator and executive producer Ford Riley noted that at the end of The Lion King the presentation of Simba and Nala's newborn cub is seen.

[4][16] Riley confirmed the timeline of the series; in Simba's Pride there is a years-long time gap, The Lion Guard takes place during the years in-between Kiara's first meeting with Kovu as a cub and her first hunt as an adult.

[17] Speaking on the show's educational aspect, Parkins stated that research was done on animals and habitats in the Serengeti, and that this information is woven into storylines without being overt.

[23][24] Max Nicholson from IGN gave the pilot episode score of 7.7, describing the special as "a fun-filled, if younger-skewing, hour television".