Hakuna Matata? More like ‘Hakuna Mufasa’.
Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner reprise their favorite roles as they portray Pumbaa and Timon in Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King, and the pair were very excited that their improvised line turned into a little song in the film. (But no thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote songs for the prequel.)
‘We were quite pleased with ourselves for coming up with this [‘Hakuna Mufasa’]Rogen told Yahoo Entertainment. “And I remember clearly: It’s one of those things where we spend about 25 minutes on it and we’re looking at each other the whole time, like we’re wasting everyone’s time right now. .. This can’t possibly happen in the movie. They are nice to us and let us make each other laugh.”
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Rogen continued, “If Lin wins an Oscar for it…”
“He better not submit ‘Hakuna Mufasa’ for best original song,” Eichner chimed in.
“We wrote that,” agreed Rogen, who joked that he and Eichner have “outward resentment” toward Miranda for not writing songs for them. Mufasa.
Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner talk about reprising their roles in Mufasa: The Lion King. (Kate Green/Getty Images for the Walt Disney Company)
In the new film, which hits theaters on December 20, Rafiki Mufasa’s granddaughter Kiara tells the unlikely story of how the lion became king of the Pride Lands. Kiara, voiced by Blue Ivy Carter, is the daughter of Simba and Nala. Of course, Rafiki needs some help from best friends Timon and Pumbaa to give the story some comic relief.
Rogen and Eichner credit Jon Favreau, who directed the 2019 live-action film The Lion Kingfor encouraging them to “record together all the time.”
“[It’s] very rare in these animated films. I’ve done dozens of them over the years and you’re literally never in the room with the person you are [talking] with,” Rogen explained. “I think it really created the dynamic that the two characters have, the joke style and the rhythm. I think this all came from the fact that we could actually communicate with each other. And for this one it was the same. We never shot without each other and we improvised almost everything we say throughout the film.”
Rogen concluded, “We play well together, like each other and understand each other’s sensitivities.”
Mufasa: The Lion King can be seen in cinemas from December 20.
