It fits when you consider that the same was true with Disney’s previous remake of an animal-focused remake, The Jungle Book.
In the original of that film, Baloo the bear spent a lot of time walking upright like a human being, however, his computer-animated counterpart in the remake moved much more like you would expect an actual bear to walk.
While it’s far too early to know what this new version of The Lion King really has in store for us, what we see from Rafiki and the few changes that are visible likely indicate that one place where the new movie will be different is in the dipiction of the animals.