10 Things You Didnt Know About Rafiki From The Lion King

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Rafiki From The Lion King

There are many things to know about the beloved character, Rafiki, from The Lion King, as well as the voice actors who played him over the years.

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The mandrill Rafiki is one of the most recognizable characters in Disney’s The Lion King. Even though the shaman appears as an eccentric figure, he is a wise sage and royal advisor who offers moral lessons to Mufasa and his son, Simba. He also heavily stresses the concept of the “Circle of Life” in the Pride Lands and how this Circle should always be kept in balance.

As seen in The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride, Rafiki also seems to possess the spiritual powers to communicate with the dead. Apart from the first two films, Rafiki has been featured in several spin-off series, more than often as comic relief.

10 A Changed Role In The Musical

When it comes to The Lion King musical, director Julie Taymor wished to have a stronger female character in the story’s ensemble. For this reason, Rafiki was played by a woman in the Broadway musical.

The actress was Tsidii Le Loka. Her role is slightly increased towards the third act, with Rafiki also engaging in hand-to-hand combat against hyenas. Finally, she crowns Simba king while presenting Simba’s cub to the rest of the kingdom. Tsidii Le Loka earned a Drama Desk Award and a Tony nomination for her performance.

9 The Meaning Of His Name

Most of the characters from The Lion King bear names derived from Swahili, and Rafiki’s name is no exception. In Swahili, the word “rafiki” translates as “friend.”

The meaning seems more than apt, given how the mandrill is one of the closest confidantes of the titular king of the Pride Lands. Similarly, Simba’s name translates to “courageous warrior,” while his father’s name, Mufasa, can be interpreted as “king.”

8 Geographical And Biological Inaccuracies

Even though Rafiki is a mandrill, he’s referred to as a baboon by other characters. Interestingly, some of his physical features also resemble that of a baboon, including his long tail. In contrast, a mandrill has a very short and diminished tail that measures between 5 and 10 cm.

A geographical inaccuracy around the character is his very presence. Mandrills aren’t endemic to the Sub-Saharan African region in which the film is set and are mostly found in the equatorial rainforests of Africa.

7 The First Draft Versions

Originally titled King of the Beasts, the first Lion King film went through several rewrites that had initially envisioned Rafiki as a cheetah. One of these versions had also labeled the antagonistic Scar as a baboon!

Later, a wise, old baboon called Kwashi was introduced in the story. Kwashi is the one who helps the lion prince Simba run away from the hyenas following his father’s murder. When Simba grows up to be a stronger lion, Kwashi mentors him to take back his throne. Kwashi was, of course, replaced by Rafiki in the final cut.

6 The Inspiration Behind The Voice

Rafiki’s original voice actor Robert Guillaume, based Rafiki’s voice on what he referred to as “a Jamaican accent.” As he revealed in an interview, “I was having fun trying to be Jamaican or something like that. I was just having fun with it, and I realized later on that it was a really poor attempt at a Jamaican accent.”

In the same interview, Guillaume also touched upon how he had been playing around with Rafiki’s voice at parties, even before his role was finalized.

5 The Meaning Behind Rafiki’s Song

Even though the iconic opening track is in Zulu, many others are in the Swahili language. In one of his interactions with the adult Simba, Rafiki hangs by a branch and merrily sings a Swahili line, “Asante sana, squash banana, we we nugu, mi mi apana.”

This roughly translates to, “Thank you very much, squash banana, you are a baboon and I am not.” Even though it sounds like a nonsensical lyric, there might be philosophical undertones, given how Rafiki usually talks in metaphors.

4 Three Voice Actors

As mentioned before, Robert Guillaume voiced Rafiki in the first film. He went on to reprise his role for all the subsequent films, as well as the animated series Timon & Pumba. In 2014, he finally retired from the role, with Khary Payton taking his reins for playing Rafiki in The Lion Guard.

While Guillaume was well known for playing the character Benson DuBois in the comedy series Soap, Payton is a noted voice actor providing the voices for Cyborg in Teen Titans and Aqualad in Young Justice. As for the 2019 remake, Black Panther’s John Kani voiced Rafiki.

3 Equivalent Of Hamlet’s Horatio

It’s no secret that The Lion King’s premise of seeking vengeance is heavily similar to that of William Shakespeare’s classic tragedy, Hamlet. So, if Simba is to be seen as Hamlet, then Rafiki easily doubles as Horatio.

In the play, Horatio is a friend and advisor to the protagonist, knowing him since his days at Wittenburg University. Horatio also served as a close aide to Hamlet’s father, accompanying him as he defeated the King of Norway.

2 Parodying Circle Of Life With Scar

In the House of Mouse episode Ask Von Drake, Rafiki appears in a brief cameo holding Scar just like he held young Simba during the Circle of Life sequence.

The episode features Mickey Mouse testing Ludwig Von Drake’s memory. With several Disney characters filling up a restaurant, Mickey challenges Van Drake to name every guest in the vicinity. This prompts the latter to sing a song introducing each and every character. As he sings, “There’s Simba by Mufasa and Rafiki next to Scar,” one can catch a glimpse of the mandril lifting the antagonistic lion.

1 The Original Voice Actor Won A Grammy

Robert Guillaume won a Primetime Emmy for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Soap back in 1979. After a slew of Emmy and Golden Globe nominations (for his lead role in Soap’s spin-off Benson), he even won a Grammy for voicing Rafiki.

The actor received a Grammy Award for Best Spoken World Album for Children as a part of the voice cast of The Lion King Read-Along. The 1994 audiobook was released as a tie-in in the same year as the film’s release.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/trivia-facts-about-rafiki-from-lion-king/

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