Interesting Facts about Disney's The Lion King
Interesting Facts about Disney's The Lion King
Some of the characters were given their names for a reason. Here are a list of names that I know along with their meanings, and the language in (brackets). I apologize for any mistakes or inaccuracies, I am still learning Swahili.
Simba: Lion (Swahili)
Sarabi (Simba's mother): Mirage [some reference to her beauty?] (Swahili)
Pumbaa: dull-witted, foolish (Swahili)
Shenzi (one of the Hyenas): Uncivilized, savage, barbaric (Swahili)
Banzi (one of the Hyenas): Spit [as in to roast on a spit] (Swahili)
Rafiki: Friend (Swahili)
Nala: Gift (Swahili, Thanks to Brian Tierman of LK.org)
as above but also:
Kovu: Scar (Swahili)
Nuka: Stink (Swahili)
Zira: Hatred, to hate (Swahili)
as in The Lion King, but also:
Ma: Mother (Geordie, other regional English dialects.)
Mufasa
Ed (the stupid Hyena)
Timon
Kiara (I think it may be derived from 'Kiarabu' which is Swahili for 'Arabian' [some veiled reference to beauty?])
Zazu
Vitani
When Rafiki goes looking for Simba in the jungle, he is singing 'Thank you very much for the squashed banana, you're a baboon, and I'm not' (Asante Sana, squash banana Wewe Nugu, Meme Apana) (Asante = thank-you, Sana = much, very (Swahili))
Hakuna Matata really does mean 'No Worries' (Swahili, Hakuna Matata = 'No Problems')
In The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride, during the song 'Upendi' when Kiara and Kovu are on the 'boat', Kiara says 'Upendi means love, doesn't it?' This is the only time that a Swahili word is translated in any of the films, apart from 'Hakuna Matata', in the orginal TLK film. (and in TLK3, which doesn't count, because it is basically a remake of TLK)
If one man, and one computer had been used to make the original Lion King film, it would have taken over ten years to make it.
The PAL (Phase Alternating Line, the UK television colour system) version of the Lion King film contains over 127,500 frames (pictures). Each one had to be drawn out so that it was nearly identical to the previous one. When you watch the film, you are seeing 25 frames each second (24 or 30 in USA).
In the orginal TLK film, Nala's eyes were green. In TLK2: Simba's Pride, they are blue. This lack of continuity causes much distress in the Nalaholic community, and is a major factor in the reaons why most Nalaholics don't like TLK2 as much as TLK.
