John Rendall and Anthony Bourke are just two dudes who bought a lion named Christian from a department store in 1969 (because, hey, you can do that). They eventually decided it was only appropriate to reintroduce him into the wild, which was probably really difficult for them to do as they'd (only naturally) become quite fond of their big kitty.

One year later, upon searching him out in Africa while filming a documentary for their story, called The Lion at World's End (or Christian The Lion), they actually did come across Christian. They didn't expect that he would remember them. Big surprise: he did, and their now-infamous, lion hugging reunion was captured on film.

Since animal videos make the YouTube go 'round, the clip took on new life online and became heavily shared and a viral phenomenon. On its own, the video is sweet, but with the assistance of one Ms. Whitney Houston and her power ballad "I Will Always Love You," the Christian the Lion video will instantly turn on the waterworks. And that's the power of the Internet right there.