Post #1707251
2026-04-18 06:18 UTC
@passenger I was gonna say, on top of everything he's the magical guide to Simba's hero journey, though we still run into certain problems there https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MagicalNegro
Replies (1)
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@passenger@kolektiva.social 2026-04-18 06:38
@wilbr Yeah, all jokes about smart ones aside, it's definitely problematic that the "king of the animals" is coded White and his spiritual guide is clearly African (not to mention using spiritual trappings that play into the "witch doctor" trope.) There are a few characters who are voiced by Black Americans: Mufasa, Shenzi, young Nala, probably a few others I think. I was a kid in 1994 and I'm not American so I don't understand how progressive this was at the time, but filmmakers hiring American actors to play African characters is a problem we experience even today.