rafiki's voice was given to robert guillaume in the lion king.
rafiki's voice was given to robert guillaume in the lion king.
who did rafiki voice in the lion king?
robert guillaume
bullet::::- "upendi" – sung by robert guillaume, liz callaway, gene miller, and ladysmith black mambazo. rafiki's song to kiara and kovu about love, friendship, and happiness. sung by rafiki and his animal friends.









































bullet::::- "one of us" – sung following kovu being exiled by simba after he accuses kovu of betraying him. this was the first time the animals other than lions outside of the main characters (excluding "the lion king 1½") have been seen talking.
the lion king ii: simba's pride
in "the lion king", rafiki is introduced in the opening scene when he travels to pride rock to perform newborn simba's presentation ceremony. during the film, rafiki sings a nonsense chant: "asante sana, squash banana, wewe nugu, mimi hapana." this is a swahili playground rhyme which translates to "thank you very much (squash banana), you're a baboon and i'm not!" like "hakuna matata" (no worries), the chant was heard by the filmmakers on their research trip to kenya. rafiki travels to the jungle where simba lives with timon and pumbaa, and teaches him lessons about learning from the past: "yes, the past can hurt but, the way i see it you can either run from it, or learn from it" and then whacks him with his stick. during the battle for pride rock, rafiki saves simba from banzai by whacking him with his stick, while fighting many more hyenas. at the end of the film, rafiki presents simba and nala's newborn cub.
list of the lion king characters