What are the meanings behind the characters’ names?

On December 19th of this year, the film “Mufasa: The Lion King” will hit theaters, a live-action film that promises to present to the public a little more about the story of Mufasa, Simba’s father, and his entire path to becoming the King of the Savannah.

The production will be a prequel to the film released in 2019, responsible for adapting the renowned animation franchise “The Lion King” to live-action format for the first time. Now, the audience will be able to learn more about Mufasa, as well as discover what his relationship with his brother, Scar, was like. Watch the trailer!

In addition to the premiere of “Mufasa: The Lion King”, 2024 also marks the 30th anniversary of the animation, which managed to become one of the biggest box office animated films in history, and was the first to be created from an original idea at Disney.

This is because the studio, until then, had only produced animations inspired by fairy tales, however, with the story of Simba, it was different. Although the plot has some references to other famous works, such as “Hamlet”, by William Shakespeareits entire plot is entirely authored by the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

The story remains faithful to its setting and features numerous references to African culture in its songs and script. Tracks such as “The Endless Cycle” and “Hakuna Matata,” for example, feature verses in Zulu and Swahili.

In the famous song by Timon and Pumbaa, composed by Tim Rice alongside the renowned singer Elton John“Hakuna Matata” means in Swahili “take it easy”, “no problems” or “no worries”, since “Hakuna” is translated as “there are no”, while “matata” is “worries”, according to the ScreenRant portal.

In “The Endless Cycle”, we can see phrases like “Nants ingonyama bagithi baba / Sithi uhm ingonyama / Ingonyama / Siyo Nqoba”, which, as reported by Super Interessante, means in Zulu “Here comes a lion, father / Oh, yes, it’s a lion / It’s a lion / We will conquer”.

Another point that also has references to the languages ​​of the South African continent are the characters’ names themselves, which have curious meanings behind them. Find out!

1. Shenzi

It means “rude” in Swahili. In the plot, Shenzi is one of Scar’s hyena henchmen who, in fact, are not very well-mannered.

2. Rafiki

In Swahili, Rafiki means “friend.” In the film, he is portrayed as an extremely wise baboon who is a longtime friend of Mufasa, and who performs ceremonies in the kingdom.

3. Sarabi

Also in Swahili, Sarabi means “mirage”. The character is introduced in “The Lion King” as the great love of Mufasa, Simba’s mother and queen of the Pride Lands.

4. Scar

In English, Scar means “scar”, referring to the scar on the face that Mufasa’s brother has. According to the book “A Tale of Two Brothers”, by Alex Simmonshis real name is Taka, however, one day, while trying to play a prank on his brother to tarnish his image with his father, the lion was hit by a herd of buffalo, causing the injury.

5. Pumba

Pumba, Timon’s best friend and one of those responsible for taking care of Simba after the little lion fled the Pride Lands following his father’s death, has the meaning of “simpleton” as his name, representing his personality.

6. Nala

In “The Lion King”, Nala is introduced as Simba’s best friend, but as they grow up, the character becomes the protagonist’s great love and future queen of the Pride Lands, replacing Sarabi. Her name, in the Swahili language, means “we”, referring to the lioness’ great sense of community.

7. Simba

Finally, the protagonist, Simba, future king of the Pride Lands, also has a name with a curious meaning. This is because, in Swahili, the word Simba means “lion”.