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‘The Lion King’ Casts Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen as Timon and Pumbaa

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D

Dalek

Member
‘The Lion King' Casts Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen as Timon and Pumbaa

Today, Walt Disney Pictures set release dates for a bunch of their movies coming to theaters over the next couple years, and that included their live-action remake of the modern animated classic The Lion King. Director Jon Favreau is tackling the project after remaking The Jungle Book for Disney last year with Donald Glover taking on the role of Simba and James Earl Jones reprising the role of his father Mufasa, with Beyonce being eyed to play Nala. Now two of the most important characters in the movie have been cast as well.

Undoubtedly the most entertaining characters in The Lion King are the meerkat and warthog duo known as Timon and Pumbaa. The characters were voiced by Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella respectively in the 1994 animated musical, but in the live-action remake, they'll be voiced by Billy on the Street host Billy Eichner and blockbuster comedy star Seth Rogen.

The casting of Timon and Pumbaa (reported by The Wrap) is arguably more important than that of Simba. The two characters were easily the most memorable from The Lion King, and they're also responsible for the most popular and infectious musical number, ”Hakuna Matata." :
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There has been no confirmation as to whether or not this remake of The Lion King will be a straight-up musical like the animated original, but since the Beauty and the Beast remake went that route, it's not out of the realm of possibility, especially with musical talents like Donald Glover (who raps as Childish Gambino) and Beyonce taking the two lion leads.
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P

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
Brilliant casting with Eichner as Timon.
 
B

brian577

Banned
Disney, you fucked up. There is no excuse for not getting the original VAs. If Timon and Pumba are that important then why wouldn't you go with the obvious choices.
 
J

johnsmith

remember me
giphy.gif
 
Rentahamster

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
Is there a point to an adaptation of an animated movie when there are no human characters in the movie anyway?

This would basically be the same movie, except in cgi instead of 2D animation, yes? Not that I think that's necessarily a bad thing. Jungle Book was cool, but it had live humans in it.
 
C

Camjo-Z

Member
Rentahamster said:
Is there a point to an adaptation of an animated movie when there are no human characters in the movie anyway?

This would basically be the same movie, except in cgi instead of 2D animation, yes? Not that I think that's necessarily a bad thing. Jungle Book was cool, but it had live humans in it.
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the point is $$$
 
I

Ithil

Member
Rentahamster said:
Is there a point to an adaptation of an animated movie when there are no human characters in the movie anyway?

This would basically be the same movie, except in cgi instead of 2D animation, yes? Not that I think that's necessarily a bad thing. Jungle Book was cool, but it had live humans in it.
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Particularly when The Lion King is already a superb film. The animated Disney Jungle Book was one of their weaker films and benefited from the remake, but the Beauty and the Beast remake had no reason to exist, it was already excellent and the live action version ended up a worse film.
 
J

jph139

Member
My only experience with Eichner is on Parks and Rec where he was aggressively unfunny, but I can't say if that's the actor or character. Rogan is whatever.

Definitely weird seeing the hard recasts though. Like, dump Matthew Broderick, keep James Earl Jones - pretty easy decisions. But Nathan Lane, Jeremy Irons, Rowan Atkinson... those are tough choices.
 
Y

yunbuns

Member
Outside of Scar and Mufasa, Timon and Pumbaa have the most distinctive voices in the movie to me. It's going to be weird hearing someone else but oh well I guess.
 
T

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Is James Earl Jones playing Mufasa's dad?
His voice is weak as shit these days.
Oh, he's playing Mufasa? That's unfortunate.
 
A

AnotherDayAnotherDollar

Banned
I don't know who Eichner is so that's good. Rogen has too unique a voice that I will always liken to that cop in Superbad. It will possibly break the immersion for me like Johansson and Walken did in Jungle Book.
 
A

Acorn

Member
yunbuns said:
Outside of Scar and Mufasa, Timon and Pumbaa have the most distinctive voices in the movie to me. It's going to be weird hearing someone else but oh well I guess.
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I mean it's not really for 'us'. It's for today's kids so it doesn't need to be 1:1. Except for circle of life.
 
M

mclem

Member
brian577 said:
Disney, you fucked up. There is no excuse for not getting the original VAs. If Timon and Pumba are that important then why wouldn't you go with the obvious choices.
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Strictly speaking, if you're arguing that, why not just go the whole hog (Okay, Mr. Hog) and use the same audio?
 
J

jb1234

Member
Like others, I found Eichner obnoxious on Parks and Rec but maybe there's more dimensions to him as an actor.
 
B

Betty

Banned
TAJ said:
Is James Earl Jones playing Mufasa's dad?
His voice is weak as shit these days.
Oh, he's playing Mufasa? That's unfortunate.
Click to expand...

It's still got the right sound for Mufasa.

I don't really get the point in having Jones return and not the rest, but what do I know.
 
Jag

Jag

Member
I love Billy Eichner and he will be a fantastic Timon, but they really didn't have to remake this classic.
 
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