Lion King – Sarabi needs to swallow the pride

Full transcript of Lion King – Sarabi needs to swallow the pride.

0:00KT: Hey, guys. Welcome back to For Your Reference. We're starting off with your phrase, oh, mine. And wouldn't you know it, I've got the proverb. Mhmm. Even though you should probably do it for this episode, I will bring this South African proverb to life. Alright. Are you ready, Oti?

0:00Oti: Yep.

0:00KT: Knowledge is like a lion. It cannot be gently embraced.

0:28Oti: Wow. Okay. Does it mean that just like a lion for you to be able to tame it, you have to go all for it? Like, really just put your nose into it and get the nitty gritty done.

0:45KT: Would I be wrong in saying maybe this is a cheat because you might have experience? You are correct, sir. So you get to choose next week's episode. Now let's get on to the show. Jambo, friends and lovers. Welcome to another week of For Your Reference. You got your host, KT.

0:45Oti: And Oti.

0:45KT: And this week, we are diving into the 2019 version of Lion King.

0:45Oti: Yep.

0:45KT: It's another remake for the rest of your days. You're welcome. Straight off the cuff, guys. We did not get paid for this.

1:47KT: Jon Favreau, we will get into our feelings, but I feel like he did quite well. You've got a lot of the juggernauts that have come back for this 2019 production, namely Tim Rice, Elton John as the songwriters, and also Hans Zimmer, who's iconic in his own aspect as well. Yeah. According to the budget, it's not on IMDb, so just off a really dodgy Google search, it's telling me do you wanna guess?

2:15Oti: I reckon north of a well, way past a 100,000,000, though.

2:21KT: Well, that means you're right in any sense. 260,000,000 United States dollars. Yikes. Right? And on IMDb, it's been just over a couple of weeks now that it's debuted. It has brought in 543,600,000.

2:41Oti: Sorry. What?

2:43KT: 543,600,000.

2:47Oti: Wow.

2:47KT: They've made a healthy profit out of that. And and just to specify, because this is Disney and they might remake it again, we are talking about the July 2019 version of The Lion King. Welcome. If it's your first time listening to For Your Reference, we would love to have you back after this episode. This is a family friendly movie. We aren't, but we do love our daddies.

3:11Oti: Mhmm.

3:12KT: And, yeah, let's get into it. Obviously, there will be spoilers, but, you know, I really don't feel like that's necessary for this particular episode.

3:22Oti: Yeah. I don't think so. As long as you've watched the original Lion King, original,

3:27KT: I've used it loosely, but, you know Yeah. You should be fine. And we also wanna preface that we are learned people, so we are aware that Kimba the Lion exists and it relied heavily, you know, Disney relied heavily on that whether they wanna admit it or not. I think we're supposed to say alleged so we don't get in trouble. Allegedly?

3:48KT: Hopefully, Disney doesn't come out of his cryogenic chamber to come and fight us. But yes. So allegedly. So we're aware of that, but we're not gonna get anywhere in this episode if we continue to draw comparisons between that. We might try and have some inklings about the 1994 version, but, yeah, we're we're aware of it, but we're just gonna have to keep it moving. Right? So those are the stats. Let's get into first impressions. Oti.

4:15Oti: Oh, wow. I really enjoyed it. Well, the opening scene alone just set the tone. Okay. For some reason, I expected David Attenborough to just start narrating.

4:28KT: Like a little mole out of a hole. Just

4:31Oti: Oh, wow. In the savannah. Exactly. It it felt so uncannily Animal Planet-y kinda thing.

4:37KT: And And that's credit to the CG, but let's go

4:37Oti: It really is credit to the CG.

4:37KT: Dial it back a couple of decades. Sorry. Let's dial it back a couple of decades and talk about your first impressions about the 1994 version, particularly because you did grow up and you are Kenyan. Did that enhance the experience about Lion King?

5:00Oti: Oh, for sure. It did that was the first movie I saw that had Swahili words in it. Like, box office. Nice. And you have Simba, you know, even going beyond the names and having Hakuna Matata and singing it, it was just breathtaking. And I thought, wow. Is this something that's out there that people talk about Swahili and you know?

5:24KT: Okay. Let's let's put it on the record. Is that actually how you pronounce it, Hakuna Matata, or is that the more easily pronounced western version?

5:36Oti: I don't know why it's not matara. It's it's it's matata. You gotta break those t's off, you know. Matata. But yeah. It's it's Don't touch my Tata's. It's really just amazing. It was breathtaking. It got me excited. It pretty much brought me to the trajectory I am now as a tech person because it got me interested in animation, got me interested in technology. I was I was enthralled by it, and I wanted to learn more of what the hell is that and how can I get to do that? Mhmm. And it just,

6:14Oti: yeah. It really did set a trend for me and it it's just amazing.

6:18KT: And you know what? If you just came here to listen to facts and a play by play of the movie, you're in the wrong podcast because sometimes we come from our frame of reference, if you'll pardon the reference. And, you know, sometimes you'll hear little anecdotes or, you know, what it meant to us. And if you are interested, Black Panther, we do talk a lot about, you know, the first inklings of a black hero

6:43KT: that you've seen in media as well. So if you guys are interested in that, you can just I think Get Out also had a lot of themes about racism, even some stories about my fat aunties, but we're not gonna get into that today. Is there anything else you wanna add about Lion King?

7:01Oti: No. It's just the original one was amazing, and I don't know any anyone would want to add anything to it.

7:10KT: Yeah. And we'll we'll get into that in the comparisons. But let's dive into my first impressions. Without giving you a specific pinpoint of how old I am, I just wanna point out that when Lion King came out in 1994, I was not at an age to go and watch it in the movies. Lion King was so impressionable to me, but I actually consumed it through the VCR, which are tapes,

7:38KT: younger children. If you're younger than us and you don't know what cassette tapes or what no. They would know what Blu rays are. Right? Yeah. Yeah. But it got to the point where me and my siblings would watch Lion King so much that you would have to it would get static. You know when you watch things too much and it starts to get static because you keep rewinding it and watching it over and over again? That's kind of how it was for me.

8:03KT: I didn't find the CG jarring, but we'll we'll come to the 2019 version. But I just love animals. So just to immerse myself in that world, it was quite nice. Mulan is actually my favorite Disney movie, but Lion King is definitely a close second. Would you say Lion King is your most favorite?

8:03Oti: Yeah. There's nothing that comes close to it. Not even Mulan.

8:03KT: Oh, I'll make a man out of you. Well, yeah, it meant a lot to us growing up. And just to capture off the first impressions and we'll transition into the 2019 version,

8:37KT: I don't see what kids would get out of this. You know, we have lived for a couple, maybe a few decades. So we've seen the transitioning of really manual sort of technology into more streamlined digital technology. Right? It's just in the case of, like, CG. Right? The way it changed from, like, two d animation and where it is now. I don't see what a five or six year old kid would enjoy out of seeing how realistic the animals are. I think it's more,

9:13KT: you know, a nod that us as adults would have that we've come so far technologically. Right? But as a kid, if they were to go and watch the 2019 movie without context of the 1994 movie, I really don't see what they would get out of it because it just looks like scary animals. Like, there was some, you know, when you had Scar and the hyenas, it just looks scary. Like, I don't understand what

9:37KT: I don't know. I feel like we're in a wave now where there are kids movies that are being made, but they're essentially for us to have those nostalgic sort of feels. But let's let's dive into it. Do you let's let's talk about the CG first, about 2019.

9:52Oti: Oh, it's it's quite breathtaking. You know? Like I said, the starting scene, it's pretty much shot by shot from the 1994 version Mhmm. Which is breathtaking. You feel this immense nostalgic feeling Mhmm. Which also because I think this would come later in our qualms section.

10:19KT: But if you guys didn't know, the For Your Reference household foundation is built upon qualms.

10:21Oti: But yeah. It's it's really good. It was really well animated. You could tell that a lot of effort went into doing that. Yeah. And kudos to the voice actors. They really, really did an amazing job on this.

10:31KT: I do agree. And we actually didn't go through the cast, but as we as we go through each character, we'll do that. But I thought the CG was quite outstanding. I think also because there weren't any humans in it, it didn't become jarring because The Jungle Book was a bit dodge.

10:54Oti: Yeah. I'm not a fan of and Jungle

10:56KT: you've definitely improved. That that's a nice example of improving of where you've where you've been and where you are now. But I I really like the CG. I really appreciated it. I I liked how real that it looked. So there there were some, like, images circulating. Someone actually re illustrated the CG to make it look more like the cartoon. But I'm just like, at this point, why? You know? In this generation of petitions for Game of Thrones, just let it be.

11:27KT: And I guess as we continue to talk about this film, I just want to preface something because, you know, at For Your Reference, it's more about a discussion, you know, and a tantalizing tiff between Oti and KT. Right? But we try not to talk about reviews a lot, but, you know, there's been quite a a thunderstorm on Twitter. Right? And people are like, this is not My Lion King, and My Lion King is from 1994. I don't know why they all sound cockney, but that's what that's how they are in my imagination.

12:01KT: But it's also, like, if you're going to pay money, which will obviously go to Disney, and you're purposely going in there just to not like it, then why bother? Right? Go and see the film. And then if you don't like it, that's fine. But from a lot of from a lot of critic reviews and also just the general sort of Twitterverse, it seemed like people didn't even wanna give it a chance. I you know, leading up to this, I was even saying to Oti when we're looking at our schedule. I'm like,

12:33KT: you know, I I'm not sure if I even wanna do Lion King. Like, let's just wait until we can watch it in the streaming service. You're like, no. Let's do it. Let's go and see it for ourselves. Right? And I went and saw it, and I got really emotional. I felt it. And we we'll talk about, you know, the touching moments that we experienced

12:53KT: through the film. I think all's I'm saying is if you get your finger out of your ass and you be open to the experience, you might actually enjoy it is all's I'm saying.

12:53Oti: Yeah. You would enjoy it because you'd have the 1994 version to reference to, and I think that's the whole experience for it. Because take it out of context and it just looks like you know, and this is something that I would agree with the complaints that are out there.

12:53KT: Uh-oh. We're gonna fight.

13:22Oti: No. Because it's it's kinda hard to portray emotions when it comes to such realistic looking animals. Mhmm. And us as humans would like to kind of connect to these creatures and see how they'd react in certain scenarios. So Yeah. You have Mufasa dying and Simba being sad, and that was one of the most saddest scenes that I've experienced in the 1994 version. And it was I think back then I cried. Mhmm. But in this version, I was like, it didn't really hit home for me.

13:53KT: But I I did. And yes, they are animals. And, you know, as humans, we have a tendency to project human sort of behaviors on animals which doesn't make sense but we do it because we're fallible creatures. Right? And I felt the the sort of human relatability that you lose in the animals is gained and is achieved through the soundtrack, which we will get to. The only other thing I wanna pinpoint as a general sort of note is the 1994 version was exemplary.

14:32KT: As a narrative, you didn't really need to improve on it. What could be improved, arguably or not, was the animation. The way that I see it, you know, growing up, our sort of generation, you'd be lucky if you have a few photographs of yourself as a child. If if anything, you might not even have any, especially if it gets damaged in a flood or a fire. Right? But if you had the technology available today, would you not want that, you know, that clear definition and the volume

15:07KT: of memories that you can capture? And that's how I see the twenty nineteen version.

15:12Oti: Yeah. I'd agree with that. Like, I understand. I don't have any problems with Disney trying to recreate the old animations to real life because technology allows for it. Mhmm. So go for it. Like, it's it's exciting to see what they could do, and it's quite intriguing to actually watch regardless of whether or not you're disappointed that it didn't portray the emotions or it didn't have the scores or the soundtrack that you well, in the original version,

15:41Oti: all those, I feel like we're just people trying to be really picky about stuff that shouldn't really be about it because this is just a marvel to watch in itself.

15:51KT: Trademark. But it it's also you are entitled to your own opinion. So if you did feel like it's overplayed and it's been done before and we've seen it, then don't buy tickets to go and see it. Unless you're an actual critic and it's your job, Don't buy tickets that contribute to the impression that let's continue making these movies because we are going at you know, we just heard the stats over close to 600,000,000 probably now.

16:19Oti: Yeah. A whole lot lot of people went to watch

16:23KT: But there's there's, like, just as many complaints about it. And if you if you want this cycle to stop, maybe you are just one person. But if you do wanna make a ripple effect as one person, then go and support your local filmmakers. Yeah. Go and see some arthouse films. Go and support some independent productions. And if you don't wanna go and watch independent productions and you're gonna continue to buy tickets to go and see Lion King, then you can shove it up your ass. Done. Okay?

16:52KT: I'm just I'm sick of it. I'm sick of these people and I'm one of those people. I went and bought a ticket. I wasn't really sure what to do with Lion King but we're also picky because we chose not to go and watch Aladdin. Come and fight us, Jasmine and Aladdin and Babu. Is it Babu? The little monkey. Come and come and fight us, but we actually choose which remakes we wanna go watch. We're not just blindly, begrudgingly going to the cinema and just watching it because it's there and then regurgitating

17:22KT: what everyone else is saying.

17:24Oti: Yeah. For sure. But then again, everyone has a right to their own opinion. And for me, I'm not influenced by whatever other people say online. I'd really like to experience it myself. And for me, the 2019 version wasn't bad. It wasn't as good as the ninety nine four version, but nothing could be. And it's just I was there to just see how the technology works and how cool it looked and seeing lions fight.

17:53KT: Well yeah. And there were quite a few scenes Yeah. Of that as well. But let's let's so we talked about CG. Let's talk about the soundtrack and the score because they all culminate together.

18:06Oti: Yeah. I it was good. I think I've seen people a bit standoffish because of like, Be Prepared song wasn't the same as it used to be or saying afternoon coming, you know. How does it go again? Can you feel

18:21KT: the love at 12PM?

18:25Oti: Like, you're just picking stuff out of the air right now. Ever ever heard of a noona?

18:31KT: Everyone loves a good afternoon delight.

18:33Oti: So you had a problem that it was daytime when they were playing that song. Did you have a issue with that?

18:46KT: No. What I had qualms with in the Can You Feel the Love Tonight, You know, Oti is our behind the scenes technical editor, you know, handling all the mics. See, I don't even know what the words are. Right? And he bought himself a nice little toy that we can we can both enjoy for the podcast, some sort of soundboard looking thing. But from what I understand, Oti, is you can actually isolate our mics and make the volume change and that sort of thing. Right? So coming back to 2019, Lion King, during Can You Feel the Love at 12PM, it kind of felt like

19:18KT: shade but no shade that Beyonce's levels were just a tidge bit higher than Donald Glover's voice. That's all I'm saying. And I'm not coming for the queen because I know the hive is quite strong.

19:35Oti: No. No. No. Now that he say that, I don't think and I love Darugova. It's just that he didn't sing it as well as it could have been sung. And You know? That's more down to him not being appropriate to sing that song rather than not being talented or anything. It just I I

19:47KT: think it really depends more on the type of artist. Because I do agree with you that he's not the strongest musically. He it's more about his message. He's kinda like Khalid. He's not really like a a stadium concert sort of person. We know we know Childish Gambino was at Coachella, but also we watched that performance. So I I'm disarmed. Don't come for me. Don't come for me. But, anyway, there were moments in the film where I felt like,

20:19KT: you know, the they didn't rebrand it enough to call it Beyonce King because there were some moments where I felt like she was more important than the overall production. That's all I'm saying.

20:19Oti: Oh, really?

20:19KT: Like, just like I said, Can You Feel the Love at 12PM? And also Spirit as well. I enjoyed Spirit in its in the soundtrack. I've listened to the whole thing on YouTube. Didn't you wouldn't skip it. As if you wouldn't skip it if you heard all the other songs.

20:51Oti: Oh, it would definitely be a a skip on a soundtrack if I bought the CD or something. But I'm saying in Lion King, the way it was overlaid when Simba was running, and it was like, spirit.

21:06KT: Spirit.

21:08Oti: I really did that injustice but it was I was Rebecca. It was kind of it was kinda moving.

21:15Oti: It was moving to me. But if you listen to the whole song, it's like it doesn't really make any sense. It just feels all repetitive and I don't know. It just kinda felt like she was on SNL, and it was so obvious that it was her. That's all. Yeah. It was really really it was it was really Beyonce. I I I do appreciate because she's got that majesty about her, you know, and the way that Nala moved was,

21:37KT: you know, embodied into her Yeah. Yeah. Her whole being. And you could Which is fine, and that's great. And I appreciate that.

21:45Oti: Yeah. And I think you made a really funny comment when we're watching it. All the time. And Nala Nala was riling all the other lionesses, and you said, come on girls, let's get into formation.

21:55KT: You know? Well, I said it I said it way more sassier and way more in rhythm than that. But, yes, I did I did say that.

22:03KT: But but, yeah, you could tell it was Beyonce. My my my qualms are not for the queen, so please don't come for me. It's more I appreciate the narratives, and I don't like when the stars or the guests are more important than that. And there were some moments in the film where I felt like it was, but that's enough about her. Let's talk about the original soundtrack. I told you, in the opening scene, I felt an overwhelming sense of emotion. Because, yes, it was a play by play. But also at the same time,

22:34KT: the the richness and the orchestral instruments that you heard really built to the rising and the coronation of Simba being introduced to the rest of Pride Rock. Yeah. And I think that's where we differ in regards to how we view things because when it comes to the score, when it comes to the soundtrack,

22:58KT: I really lean on that quite hard when I'm viewing something. You know, even when we're watching, like, a horror movie, when I start to hear the tension build, I'm like, babe, someone's about to die. And you're like, what? And I'm like, no. Someone's about to die. Can you hear the ring ring ring? Yeah.

23:13Oti: Well, you know, this and this is the issue. When you're making things so realistic, it it's kinda hard to show that. And then it like I told you, the first movie I ever cried on was watching Bambi Bambi's mother die. And I could just say Boiler. Could come on now. If you're in 20 two childhoods now. If you're in 2019 and you've not watched Bambi, just just stop listening to For Your Reference, please.

23:13KT: Don't age shame people. Maybe they just weren't born at the time.

23:45Oti: Anyway, if they remake that, I would pretty much bet everything. Not everything, but I would bet don't we don't have much anyway. So, yes, everything. I would hazard that it wouldn't be as emotional as the animation was for the original one. Like, it's just so hard. Yeah.

23:45KT: But you're also not baby Oti now.

23:45Oti: I am not.

23:45KT: You've got 20 Oti babies, but you're not baby Oti anymore.

23:45Oti: But then again, things make me cry all the time anyway, so nothing has changed that

24:13KT: You don't need to tell people what we do. Okay? You don't need to tell them about the pain and the anguish I inflict on you. Okay? This is some level next level Paul Giamatti shit going on here. He calls me mommy. But I and I also when Mufasa when Scar let go of Mufasa, I actually cried as well. Because it's one of those things where you

24:13Oti: In this latest version?

24:13KT: Yes. Because I was listening to the music, you need to let it build up within you. Right? For the spirit to take you over. Otherwise,

24:52KT: if if you're not, like, paying attention to it and you're just, you know, writing down in your little citations everything that's wrong, then you're not going to get you're not going to get into the movie.

25:03Oti: Yeah. Probably not. But I I didn't find it I didn't hate it as much as people hated it. It was alright movie. I enjoyed the action scenes in this. Mhmm. It was really well done and, yeah, it's Lion King. What's not to like?

25:22KT: Right. So let's get into the cast and also the characters. Who else to start off with aside from the OG, James Earl Jones, reprising his role of Mufasa?

25:30Oti: Oh, he's amazing, isn't he? What a voice. What a voice. I think the first time first thing ever saw him in was in Coming to America playing

25:40KT: The father. The father. Yeah. And he also voiced Darth Vader as well. Oh, really? Yeah. Sorry. Because we said the father, so I don't know if you're Yeah. Because he plays the dad, and then the the mother and the father pretty much play the same in Coming to America and also Lion King. Very nice. Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. But it's it's so iconic, and it did if they had to have continuity aside from the fact that they brought Hans Zimmer back, hey, girl. Hey. We we see you. We appreciate you.

26:11KT: Because, wow, that soundtrack really took us places. Well, it took me places. I think you you you're still in the cinema. I was drifted off in a world of fantasy. But having James Earl Jones as Mufasa was the essential anchor that you needed. Right? You know, when, you know, traditional people get married and it's like something old, something borrowed, something blue or whatever the fuck it is. Yep. Yes. The something awesome, I'm not gonna say something old, James Earl Jones. If they had if they had to have anchoring for this film,

26:44Oti: it was great to have him back. Was really good to have him back.

26:47KT: And he he really gave you those vibes of, oh, I fucked up as a kid. If he's telling you off, then you know you're in trouble.

26:55Oti: And and, you know, his his voice is so so welcoming. And one of the scenes where Simba is struggling to find who he is and he's chasing Rafiki into the marshlands, and he looks up and there's this cloud and Mufasa is speaking. You know, it's it's it's so emotional because Simba's reaching out and he's struggling.

27:21Oti: Yeah. And then, well, in this latest version, the cloud didn't change into the shape of oh, I missed it. I completely missed it. It didn't shape or form into Mufasa's face or anything. It It was just, like, really really looking like a really hazardous weather going on. Oh, wow.

27:37KT: It was like, the editor just went for lunch.

27:40Oti: Editor went for lunch. There's a storm coming.

27:43KT: I think it was more abstract. Like, even when they had I don't know what the actual title is, but I Just Can't Wait to Be King, that song. You know, in the original series, they had the ostriches, like, showing their asses and their fans, like, their little feathers. It's like, you know, colorful sort of fans. And then you had, you know, the giraffe sprawling out as well so, like, Simba can, like, come and slide down.

27:43Oti: Yeah. You wouldn't that would look ridiculous.

28:09KT: Would it? Like So hang on. So so they they they nodded to it. And instead of the giraffes doing that, they were actually at the watering hole. So they were drinking at the water and then they all, one by one, pulled up. And I appreciated that because

28:09Oti: Yeah. It is. If you're gonna take it all the way

28:09KT: You've gotta make it a bit more realistic. I get it. But Hello? Didn't you didn't you you would know have the most reference

28:32KT: for these sorts of animals living their best lives. Yeah. Aren't you happy that they weren't doing a song and dance?

28:39Oti: I am. And well, we've all played the game where we look at clouds and tell shapes it looks like whatever whatever. Yeah. We've all done that. It's clouds. You can pretty much form into anything. But it they didn't do that. It was just all thick and cloudy and looked like some serious cumulonimbus going on there, and then the lightning, it was just too distracting. It was feeling very dangerous.

29:01KT: Okay. Poseidon.

29:01Oti: No. It's those little moments in the movies that, know anyway, that's just a minor thing.

29:01KT: Man, when when you said you were a tech guy, I didn't realize you were also talking about physical clouds. I thought it was just the digital cloud that you're an expert on. That's some that's some IT techy banter and if you don't like it, well, that's kind of us. You need to embrace it. Just o f four. There you go. There's some more geeky banter.

29:33KT: But, yes, James Earl Jones as Mufasa was quite good. I also just wanna mention because we talk about 1994 Lion King and we also talk about Kimba the Lion, but can we also talk about Hamlet? Because there are many themes that are drawn from Hamlet that also appear in The Lion King, specifically his dad talking to him from a dream or from a vision. Yeah. Not really the Oedipus complex that Hamlet has

29:58KT: aside from the fact that they all fuck one male lion but that's that's its own thing. We're not gonna get into that the today.

30:05Oti: Is does Hamlet have a movie that's like, five hours long with your guy that you like?

30:10KT: Kenneth Branagh. And he's the guy that everyone likes. He's the guy your guy will never be able to act as.

30:19Oti: Alright, man. We read Hamlet ages ago, but watching it is just a completely different thing. It's wow. It wasn't for me.

30:28KT: Just while we're digressing for a second, listen to our episode of After Life from Ricky Gervais that's on Netflix because there's a little bit in there in After Life where Ricky Gervais is going off about Kenneth Branagh looking like a nondescript man. Like, there's no he's so plain looking. There's no way you would be able to distinguishably identify Kenneth Branagh. First of all, I wanna apologize to Kenneth Branagh even though we had nothing to do with it. And you are exemplary, and I would love to see you in more films. That's all. But let's continue because we've just covered

31:06KT: Mufasa now. Let's cover the young Simba, JD McCrary.

31:10Oti: Oh, he can sing.

31:12KT: Yeah. And he he had all of the mannerisms that you would want. He did. He really did. And you watch interviews, and he's exactly like that. Yeah. We don't have kids, so I don't know if I would wanna be around that energy twenty four seven. But it was nice to experience it in the film.

31:25Oti: Yeah. And you could see in the behind the scenes, you could see Favreau giving him direction and him just taking it on like Oh, totally. Some seasoned pro. Super professional. Wow. Kudos to you.

31:39KT: Just amazing. And then we also have Shahadi Wright Joseph who's our girl from Us.

31:39Oti: Oh, yeah.

31:39KT: Playing young Nala. She's gonna have a bright future. She already has a bright future. Yeah. We also have an Us episode, guys. You're welcome. But she did that quite well and she also took direction quite well from Jon as well. Yeah. And that was quite nice. We might as yeah. Let's let's go to the adults. Adult Simba is voiced by Donald Glover. Chance the Rapper also auditioned for the role. Oh.

32:15KT: Yes. But he did he did have a smaller role in the film, so he didn't lose completely. And, apparently, Disney didn't purposely didn't reinvite because there's a trivia about Jeremy Irons wanting to come back to reprise his role as Scar.

32:15Oti: Oh, he wanted to come back?

32:15KT: Yes. And and then I was reading further into the trivia, and it was actually saying that him as well as Matthew Broderick and whoever voiced Nala, they weren't invited back because they only wanted to reinvite the black character the black actors, the voice cast.

32:47Oti: What's wrong with that? I don't know. That sounds a bit weird.

32:50KT: I think it's great. It's dude, are you not from Africa? Like, wouldn't you want that?

32:50Oti: I'm from Africa, but then again, you have John Oliver playing himself as a dodo.

32:50KT: And we'll come to that in a second. But T'Challa's dad voices Rafiki. Oh, nothing? Sorry. T'Challa.

33:12Oti: There you go.

33:14KT: But let let's talk about Donald Glover. You've already mentioned how you felt like he wasn't up to snuff singing wise, which, again, fight Oti. Don't come and fight me. But how about his just general voice performance?

33:28Oti: It was okay. But then again, he I don't know. Maybe I'm just used to hearing him in Atlanta. I just expected Paper Boi to appear out of nowhere in that movie. But he did alright. Aside from his dodgy singing, he did he did

33:46KT: Oh, come on. It wasn't dodgy. It just wasn't the Disney that you knew. Yeah.

33:53Oti: That's all. Yeah. True. What did you think about his acting?

33:57KT: I think it was great. I think he had exactly the right sensibilities because Donald Glover has a very youthful voice. Right? He has a whole lady. I don't know if you're married, but he also has a whole child. Like, he's he's living a grown up life, but he still has that naivety in his voice Yeah. In a good way. Right? He doesn't like, his voice doesn't sound like he's jaded by the world. Right?

34:24KT: And he's such a creative mind, so you know he's not gonna be standing outside of Disney Studios offering to sign people's autographs. Like, he's got projects on the go. Please be Atlanta. Please come back with another season. But it it was nice to have that. And if he couldn't be Spider-Man, then young adult Simba is a good way to go. Right? At least he gets his reparations some way. Our poor Idris Elba got blindsided. Here I was in our

34:56KT: Spider-Verse episode, which was just a couple of weeks ago, saying that I would campaign for him to become James Bond. They just really didn't want him. They just really didn't want him to Well, go step father and just make Bond a lady. Double o 69. Yeah. I know. Wow. Wow. Right? Wow. We've already talked about Beyonce.

35:20KT: Do you wanna say much about her? Much more about her rather?

35:20Oti: No. Well, I liked her voice acting. I think she brought knowledge. But she's got a very distinctive voice as well. So it's it's nice. She's she's got a good voice.

35:20KT: Yeah. She is. And I think she did well. Her singing is great. It's Beyonce.

35:36Oti: But, yeah, she she did well. Amazing.

35:39KT: Yeah. You know what's funny? I actually had to scroll up and down the list because, well, not even James Earl Jones, but not even Donald Glover or JD McCrary. They're not even top billed. Do you wanna guess who's top billed according to IMDb in The Lion King?

35:55Oti: Beyonce?

35:56KT: No. Right?

35:58Oti: No. Who's top billed?

35:58KT: Chiwetel.

36:01Oti: Oh, Chiwetel has been heaps of stuff. So Makes sense.

36:01KT: I I don't know. For some reason, I thought that he because if you think about the duration of the film as well. Anyway, so let's talk about it. Do you want to hazard into pronouncing his last name?

36:17Oti: Ejiofor.

36:18KT: Cool. So copy and paste. Chiwetel, copy and paste. And he voices Scar. So we already mentioned that Jeremy Irons didn't reprise his role at request of Disney according to IMDb, so don't come and find us. But let's talk about it. Let's talk about Scar. You can also talk about, you know, the 1994 version if you want. How did how did you feel? What did you feel about Chiwetel?

36:41Oti: So his acting was alright. I didn't find any fault with him being Scar.

36:41KT: Boo.

36:46Oti: Oh, sorry. Wait. No. I think I think that was our dog.

36:46KT: No. You said I didn't find any fault with him being Scar. You said he was alright. I think that's what the boo was for.

36:46Oti: Yeah. He was fine. Like, what more could you do with Scar?

36:59Oti: Scar as a character is just stupid. Wow. He had multiple opportunities to kill Simba, but no. Let's trust some skimpy looking hyenas to do the job. That just doesn't make sense.

37:14KT: I think it's more of a power thing. Right? Like, I'm too good to kill you. I'm going to get my, you know, subordinates to do it for you.

37:20Oti: No. In the jungle, if a lion if if a lion the the leader of the pride dies Mhmm. The next in line kills all the cubs.

37:31KT: And and that's why Disney hasn't hired Oti.

37:34Oti: I'm just saying. They made Scar really stupid to trust hyenas to do a job that he could have done it. He had multiple opportunities to kill Simba, and it would have been game over. He would have ruled Pride Rock for forever.

37:34KT: Would I be wrong in guessing you did like a essay for this in school?

37:34Oti: You wanna guess my twist at the end?

37:58KT: It was all a dream?

37:58Oti: Yep. And pepper in the limousine.

37:58KT: Yeah. But how did you thanks for not answering the question. How did you actually feel feel about Chiwetel? Or is alright your answer?

37:58Oti: Yeah.

37:58KT: Like boo. Another boo.

37:58Oti: What exactly do you want Chiwetel to do in this role as Scar?

37:58KT: Well, first off, I do love Chiwetel, and we do stan a Chiwetel in the For Your Reference household. I don't think I realized how much dimension he has in his voice. Mhmm. Because unlike my honey daddy, Mahershala Ali, like, oh, smooth like honey.

38:35KT: Right? And you can you can hear that voice coming from a mile away. I don't think I realized that Chiwetel had so much range. I just appreciated the multiple dimensions that Chiwetel had to his voice. What I would have appreciated though because people keep talking about the CG, especially of Scar because he was so iconic looking in 1994. Right? I was more wanting to not that they did flash forward and flash backing, but we watched the Eyes Among Us. What what was it called?

39:05Oti: The lies behind your eyes or something?

39:08KT: Yeah. The eyes behind the lies. Something like It has Nicole Kidman in it as well. And in Chiwetel, every time they would flash back and flash forward, when it was in the future, he would have, like, one strip of white. One strip of white in his hair. So I was hoping when Scar got older, he would have, like, one strip of white in his mane as well. But, you know, I I I'm nitpicking at this particular time. I do just wanna mention something just between Oti and myself.

39:42KT: Do you remember how we went to Ethiopia and we went to a particular zoo? Yep. It was very sad. And, you know, tourism also contributes to the fact that, you know, sometimes sometimes it's genuine when they talk about conservation of animals, but a lot of the times, can say it's a money grabbing. Right? And we're in Ethiopia and we're in a particular zoo. And the lion that we saw there was so mangy looking Oh my and god. So sad.

40:12Oti: It looked like Yes.

40:15KT: Yes. Line looked exactly and, you know, there are some things we we talk about it. Right? I always whisper my valuable commentary to Oti while we're in the cinema, which probably makes him wanna punch me, but he also enjoys it as well. No. But there are some things that I don't mention because I actually wanna say it on the podcast, and that was one of them.

40:37Oti: Yeah. It it really does. It it really did look like the malnourished lion there. And and and fun fact is that people say that when a lion eats a human being Uh-huh. A male lion, its mane falls off. So maybe Scar has done some really shady things in his past.

40:37KT: Is that genuine or is that like a old wives' tale?

40:37Oti: When they're building the railway in Tsavo, a lot of people got killed and a lot of lions lost their manes.

41:07KT: So it's more like merging the two facts together? Yeah. That's interesting. Yep. Try and find us a documentary or a movie and we can cover it. There you go.

41:16Oti: Don't say For Your Reference never taught you anything.

41:20KT: And don't say For Your Reference has taught you many things. You can count it on one hand, guys. Anything else you wanna say about Scar?

41:29Oti: No. Other than him being a stupid character, no.

41:29KT: Well, he also wasn't the pride, if you'll pardon the pun, of, you know, Pride Rock. Right?

41:29Oti: Yeah. It must really hurt him. But he had little man complex, and he fit that role quite well. It must really hurt because it all goes by lineage. His eldest brother, he should probably be ruling it. But it somehow skipped him and went to Mufasa

41:53Oti: just because he was stronger, which, I guess, makes sense in this grand scheme of wanna carry on those strong sperm genes. Yeah. So you can penetrate everyone. Right?

42:03KT: Let's move on. Next billed is our best friend, John Oliver, voicing Zazu. Do you wanna guess or do you even know who voiced Zazu in the original?

42:03Oti: No. Who?

42:03KT: Rowan Atkinson.

42:15Oti: Oh, wow. Right? Mister Bean. Mister Zazu Beans. Oh, that's fun.

42:22KT: I love John Oliver, and I feel like we've peppered it throughout our podcast that we do love our unassuming Briton, John Oliver. And, you know, he constantly talks about drawing comparisons about how he has a beaky face. Right? And he is the Zazu I never realized I needed because I'm like, oh, he reminds me of someone. And there you go. Like, that fit quite well.

42:40Oti: Yeah. I don't know. I like I like Johnny Oliver as well. It just felt like he was just he didn't feel like he was acting to me. He just felt like he was being himself. Maybe that's kudos to him. Wrong with that. Which there's nothing wrong with it. It just came off as, oh, this is John Oliver just how much work is he putting in? Yeah.

43:08Oti: He probably was just sitting in his bedroom. Yeah. Just spitting out the lines, bro.

43:17KT: Oliver and Keegan-Michael Key were the two people where as soon as they were talking, I could actually imagine them in the studio recording it. The way that John Oliver works himself up into a huff, I live for. Those are one of my favorite moments. Let's talk about Sarabi played by Alfre Woodard, Woodard. Yeah.

43:36Oti: She is iconic in every sense, and her voice is great too. Yeah. Her voice is great, but Sarabi is also a crop queen, isn't she?

43:43KT: Yeah. It's like if you don't wanna leave the pride and you also don't wanna submit, which it's twenty nineteen and even for female lions, don't agree with. But there's a trade off. Right? And if we're talking about rudimentary primitive animals, you kinda need to follow the laws of the jungle.

44:00Oti: And it's like her people suffered. Yeah. And it kinda weird. You know, it being made into this all kinda realistic graphics and stuff, you can imagine, like, I had about two minds of this watching this because somehow I felt like I was being pulled apart I was being pulled away from the The lions and the lions. More like human politics? Not even. It felt more natural

44:24Oti: and more geared toward nature where I'd be like, Mufasa would be probably be buying all the lionesses there. It's his duty to do so. Uh-huh. He wouldn't be tied to one lioness. And the fact that Scar took over and he was still asking for permission and consent matters, you know.

44:37KT: Yes. Thank you, Oti. Yes. We love a progressive queen.

44:44Oti: But it was like, it's so different from the nature of lions and and I guess that's just the whole point of the all this. It just pulled me away a bit. It just pulled me away to the animal planetiness of it all based off what Lion King really was.

45:02KT: Yeah. Much like James Earl Jones with that authoritative sort of dad voice, Alfre's Sarabi had a very authoritative mom voice.

45:14Oti: Yeah.

45:15KT: Like, it's the way she talks, she just like, you already know she knows that you messed up and you haven't yet. Yeah.

45:24Oti: But then again, when Scar was blaming Simba for Mufasa's death, everyone was like, what the hell did you do, Simba? Was anyone actually buying that?

45:31KT: It seemed like they were for a second. It's a child's movie, though. We're not going to get into the complexities of adulthood and, you know, people fucking you up. We're not talking about that. It's Lion King, dude. Yeah. It's Lion King. Yeah. I get it. Yeah. Keegan-Michael Key, Eric Andre, we can just clump them together. They actually renamed it was Ed and something else in the 1994 version. So they gave them more African ish names. Are they Swahili? There's Kamari and Azizi. Are those Swahili? No?

46:03Oti: I think Kamari might mean gambling. I'm not sure what Azizi means. Okay. I think my Swahili is a bit rusty, but Kamari means gambling, and I know Shenzi is stupid.

46:15KT: So Oh. Yeah. Azizi, a Shenzi person? What? There's a sound bite right there. That doesn't make sense. But who else speaks Swahili that listens to us? Nailing it. Well, the good thing is I don't think you've ever called me Shenzi, so so good for us. Oh, I don't think you've had it, but You probably used words. But let's let's talk about Shenzi. Florence Kasumba.

46:47Oti: Oh, have oh.

46:49KT: She wow. And then we watched the behind the scenes where She is intense. She is intense. So Jon Favreau, for most of the characters, mostly the hyenas, Timon and Pumbaa and young Nala and Simba, would actually, theatrically act it out like a play to rehearse for the first time. And then the second time, they wouldn't have the script. And then they will go into the recording studio, which I think is quite nice because you got muscle memory, and it helps convey

47:15KT: the emotions. You know? They probably listen to For Your Reference because we're not monotone, and there's highs and lows on this roller coaster. Oh, wow. Florence, scary. Yeah. She is. She's Even seeing her, it's like she like, her voice personified everything that it needed to, but even just watching her move and, you know, corral herself into that role, wow.

47:43Oti: Yeah. She really did. Because we loved Whoopi. Yeah. We we loved Whoopi. But It's I a different take. It's a bit more realistic as well. Yeah. Florence brought definitely herself into this and her personality into this. So it was really kind of I feel like I prefer her to Whoopi's, though. Not sure I'm allowed to say that, but I do.

48:05KT: Of course, you're allowed to. She's she's also made features in Black Panther, Wonder Woman, and Captain America. Yeah. So, hopefully, you do have the staying power, and we can see you in much more substantial roles. Yeah. For sure. What a woman. Wow. Oh, wow. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. Do you know who we're going to next?

48:25Oti: Billy Eichner.

48:27KT: Billy. Slay. Slay all the bitches. Wow. You better work at Queen. He has, like, a theater background.

48:36Oti: Oh, does he?

48:36KT: Yes.

48:38Oti: I didn't know that.

48:38KT: And even listening even watching and listening to this film, it was hard for me to even identify Billy Eichner when he's not talking really fast and throwing dollar bills at people. But I was living. I was living. He gave me life in this film. I think he he brought something different to the role. It was a bit play it was played a bit more straight. Timon and Pumbaa were played a bit more straight, more so Timon. Mhmm. Right?

49:11KT: I really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed it. And, you know, even in interviews, Billy Eichner and also Seth Rogen were talking about how as much as they appreciated the 1994 Timon and Pumbaa, they wanted it to be a bit more conversational. And he was Billy was actually surprised because a lot of the ad libs and a lot of the improv that they did actually made it into the film. Oh, really? One of the most notable ones is when Pumbaa says fart,

49:38KT: Timon lets him do that. So there are some meta references that are quite nice, and they're delicious. Again, for us, not for the kids. I don't know what the kids get out of it Yeah. Aside from hearing fart.

49:50Oti: Apparently all it takes for to make kids laugh nowadays. So you know?

49:55KT: Right? Yeah. Which, you know, that that state of affairs we are not dipping into today. I really I saw it. As soon as I heard Seth Rogen as Pumbaa, I'm like, yeah. He's got that that that josty sort of voice, and it really fit in quite well. Where he fell short in every underlying instance was his singing. Oh, man. Man. Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh, man. Yeah. That was oh, wow. Because, you know, sometimes when you're sitting on the couch and you're watching all of those singing competitions and you delude yourself into thinking, hey.

50:35KT: I singing is not that hard. I can do it. Oh, this was proof that not everyone can be a singer, my friend.

50:41Oti: Or just rewind a few minutes back. And listen yeah. Listen to us Listen to us trying to sing it together, which is very sad. Oh, yeah. Then again, warthogs don't sound especially nice. They're they're really

50:54KT: grumpy sounding. They chut around. It's like they're wearing heels. It's like little chutting. But oh, wow. Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner had such an undeniable chemistry, though. Yeah. And I think it worked quite well because, you know, people make jokes about the fact that they were raising a single child like Simba together. Whether they were gay or not, that has nothing to do with anything. You can just Wait. Is that people what? Yeah. The same people that focus on the fact that all of the lionesses are fucking one dude. Like, it's just okay. Dude,

51:31KT: are you really I don't know. I feel like people like that are also the same sort of people that think that they're the most funny, smartest, wittiest people. Like, do you really think you were the first person to think of that? You didn't realize that in the laws of the jungle this thing happened?

51:48Oti: Then again, you know, Walt Disney has had some really shady stuff in his Oh, yes. In his in his cartoons. So probably for the adult audience.

52:01KT: Was that to make Gus feel better or feel worse? Because I I I don't know how to reconcile what I'm feeling right now, sir. I'm a death fan. Let's continue. My point was, before you took us on a real trip, was that Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen really exemplified what it's like to know each other for so many years, and you're just so comfortable with each other. Mhmm. And, you know, the banter just rolls off your back. Right? Yeah. It was nice. It was great, and I loved it. Apparently, according to Seth Rogen,

52:37KT: Pharrell also produced a lot of the music as well. Oh. And, apparently, Pharrell pretty much just wanted to punch him in the face because he was so bad. Like, he couldn't even hold one note. But, again, Seth Rogen's also a comedian, and Pharrell seems really nice. So I think he's just trying to amp it up for comedy. Probably. But, again, we also heard you, Sefer, again. And we love you and all of your Stoner movies, but we also know there was some truth in your joke. What an expansive cast.

53:09Oti: It really was. Like, how it all worked out at the end? Like, would you write this off as a success for Disney? Well, not financially. In terms of uplifting or making Lion King come to life in 2019.

53:31KT: Because you used the word success. Right? And that's a relative term. Because obviously, coming from a corporation

53:38Oti: Yeah. They'll they'll made a profit. Yeah. Of course, it's success.

53:42KT: And bounds. Yeah. I think you can appreciate or not appreciate this film and have it not tarnished 1994. Whether you want to allow it into your heart chambers is completely up to you. I enjoyed it, like I said. I felt the same feels that I had as a child watching the cartoon version. But then again, it might just be because I like animals and I really love seeing animals. In our Titanic episode, we talked a bit about a bit about this realism and about movies

54:22KT: and how they get adapted. Right? So listen to our Titanic episode, but essential essentially, the qualm that I had with James Cameron's adaptation was that it really centered around a love story. And the events that led up to the sinking of the Titanic was fascinating in and of itself. But then you also

54:43KT: interjected that, you know, it puts butts in seats. Yeah. That's how people get to the film because they have some something to anchor, if you pardon the pun, to anchor their feelings to. Right? So I would say in the same sense with The Lion King, yes, you can talk about it's not your 1994 version, but also at the same time, we're moving into a different age. And if if that's not what you want, then that's fine. Don't consume it.

55:12Oti: True. But one thing that I could say I could take out away from this movie is the fact that I want to go back to Kenya. I want to go on a proper safari because it made me miss seeing the wildlife so much. Yeah. So there's that, you know?

55:29KT: And I think you're you're a bit more lucky than the rest of us because while, you know, me, I'll talk for myself, you know, Australian kids, we are on an island. So we're not even in Europe where we can just go to Paris for a school trip or anything. We literally just went went from one outback to another outback. Right? You know? But for you, you talked about going on school trips where you would have hippos being near where you would have your tents and stuff. Right? Yeah. And that's that's amazing.

56:01KT: And that would be such a great experience to have.

56:04Oti: It is. And it's just one of those things that you have to experience in your life. There's so much stuff to do out there in the world that you you could get confused by like in Australia, we went to Taronga Zoo which is a great but they have this section you set want me the story up? Set the story up. Set the story

56:25KT: So without talking too much about our lives because you probably don't care that much, Oti and I actually met in Kenya. So when so when Oti finally came to Australia, hey, go, hey, I

56:40KT: wanted to show you know, when people come to your country for the first time, you wanna take them to all the hot spots and all the touristy sort of places. And we do have a zoo called Taronga Zoo, which is, you know, the pride of Sydney because you don't have to go far into the depths of the countryside. It's literally within Sydney. Right? And just for context, in Kenya, even within Nairobi, the national city, there is also a reserve, Nairobi National Park

57:11KT: Yeah. Which you don't have to go far. It's literally right there. Yep. And you can drive for hectares and hectares. Like, it's massive. Yep. You draft your way to walk and you see elephants, you see lions, you see

57:24KT: Is it three out of the big five? I don't know. There's a there's Three out of the big five. There's three out of the big five in Nairobi National Park, and you can drive for, like, half a day Yep. And spend your time just looking at the actual animals in there. They do so much about conservation as well, which we're really big on. Right? Anyway, so just just for context. So Oti finally makes his fine ass over to

57:49KT: Down Under. Right? And I'm like, oh, babe, let's go to Taronga Zoo. You know? You'll love it. They even have, like, an African safari. You know? We'll have so much fun. It'll be a cute little date, and we'll all have fun. Right? So we ended up going to Taronga Zoo, and they have all different sections. They have, like, a seal show. They have a penguin show. As soon as you walk in, there's, like, there's a giraffe enclosure.

58:15KT: If they're tentative, that's not really the right word. But, yes, there's a giraffe enclosure, so you can see them as soon as you first walk in to Taronga Zoo. And we're looking at the map, and it says African safari. And we make our way there. For any of you fellow Aussies or any daring traveling people that have been to Sydney, namely Taronga Zoo, you will know exactly what I'm talking about. It's legitimately 200 meters, and they have, like, two bongo. Like, just a really sad, well fed animals, but a really sad selection

58:52KT: of an African safari. So you I don't know. Oti can definitely tell you, but you can just imagine coming from a rich country of, you know, just animals in abundance, genuinely living their best natural lives. Coming over, they had this really sad, possibly offensive looking structure with African village with, like, some totem poles on it. I I'm pretty sure I took a picture of you. I don't know where it is now. And you have Oti excitedly pointing at the African safari.

59:29Oti: And I did I was making it authentic, mate.

59:29KT: And I I did not take any pictures once we finished that safari because it was it was really sad. Probably not as sad as the zoo that we went to in Ethiopia.

59:43Oti: And now just to tether this back to Lion King, since Jordan Peele doesn't know how to do that properly. Oh my.

59:51KT: Jon Favreau?

59:53Oti: No. I'm talking in reference to us. Like, because the way they made this really does make you feel as if you're in a you're watching something out of

59:53KT: So you're saying this was so well done?

59:53Oti: Yeah.

59:53KT: Gotcha. Got it.

59:53Oti: It was so well done and it made me feel nostalgic and I have no qualms with it in terms of its execution. How else would they do Lion King? Because I would not think of a possible way to do that if using this kind of graphics.

60:25KT: On a general note, it's just something that I'm curious about. You know, the opening credits well, not opening credits, but the opening scene with the Circle of Life was composed by Lebo M. Mhmm. And he is a Zulu composer. Yep. But then you also have a lot of the names of the cast and also Hakuna Matata Mhmm. Being from the Swahili language Mhmm. Which is mostly East Africa. Mhmm. Does that bother you? Because it's also done in Black Panther as well.

61:00Oti: No. It doesn't. Like, it's it's it's good to get our culture out there because little is known about Africa outside of suffering. So when when we get the best bits of our culture integrated into the Western world in such ways that people can resonate and maybe get curious about it, then the better for it. Wow. I truly find it amusing because,

61:24Oti: like I said, then me seeing something that's the reason eight twelve and Lion King got me interested in animations and stuff. So Yeah. Without that, then it's just weird. So It it's it's a nice nod as well Yeah. I guess, in respect

61:38KT: Yeah. As well. In saying that, without hijacking your beautiful sentiments, please don't ask me what the language is in Moana. Please stop asking me how Moana has shaped me as a person. Oh, man. I I used to work with someone that kept asking me every day, have I watched Moana? Because it would resonate with you. You would understand it. Your hair is exactly like her.

62:07KT: I really think you should watch it. And it got to a point where I just had to lie and eventually I did watch it but I just I just got to a point where I'm like, yeah. I've watched it. Oh, it's so great. Oh, yeah. I understand the language. I don't because they use, like, three different languages. And it's like general Polynesia, so it it's not specifically like Lion King and Black Panther. It's not pinpointed towards a specific nation.

62:24Oti: Yeah. You know what would have been good? I think they would have been better if they also brought Lebo to do some kind of work in the current version. Because I think they hid some of the stuff he did in the towards the end of the credits. But I feel Circle of Life is him. He's done it. He can do it again at a grander scale. Just give him the opportunity.

62:48KT: Yeah. And maybe he does. Maybe that's work on us to go and have a look into what else he's gotten up to. Right? Yeah. For sure. Like, they they did get him involved, but some of the stuff that he did was after the movie had pretty much finished and yeah. Yeah. How are you feeling? You feeling good? Yeah. All all ironed out. Yeah. Right? And I I don't have any experience on what it is to exercise but I feel like we really got our heart rates up to a point and this was a nice little cool down

63:18KT: conversation. And maybe it's also sparked inspiration for you to go back to the African safari in Taronga Zoo.

63:27Oti: I'd save my pennies and go on a proper safari.

63:33KT: But, you know, if Taronga Zoo wanna give us a free trip, we will be more than welcome to come there. Not even. Wow. Well, I I would like to. I would like to. You enjoyed seeing the Australian animals there. That that was the most value you got out of it. Yeah. But then again, I have feelings about zoos.

63:49Oti: Yeah. It's just more for people to enjoy animals rather than what's best for the animals themselves. So Yeah.

63:56KT: I'm not really I'm not a fan of those. Like, why would you have a panda all the way in Africa? Yeah. Or why would you have a giraffe all the way in Australia? Just doesn't make sense. It's not Pablo Escobar's exotic farm.

64:07Oti: Well, the hippos are thriving there. So Right? The hippos are thriving too much.

64:15KT: Jarul Jarul didn't thrive there, but that's for another day. Let's finish off with For Your Reference. Oh. Yeah. We've got some obvious ones, so you can do those or you can add on to it. Oh, yeah. So

64:28Oti: I'm gonna reference the 1994 Lion King.

64:32KT: I'll cheeky of you.

64:35Oti: Like, it's it's just a must watch. And if anyone out there who's thinking that the first Lion King experience should be this version, please, I urge you. Just watch the 1994 version. It's it's it's just all you'd need. And if you didn't like the 2019, like, let this wash out of your mouth with the 1994 version. Yeah. And my second reference would be Kimba. Just because of the history of how Lion King came to be and how everyone just started stealing everything

65:05Oti: and I don't know, whatever what they got into. Yeah. Kimba needs its appreciation and especially in this modern day and age where we things come to this office.

65:11KT: Nice. I will reference Hamlet with my best friend ever eternal Kenneth Branagh. So make sure you check that out as well. On Twitter and Instagram, we are @ForYourRefPod. And you can write us an email on aloha f y podcast podcast dot com. Thanks for sticking around, guys. If you want, please leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcast so we can reach more people. We'll see you next week.

65:39Oti: Thank you and see you. Spirit.