The Lion King Reborn/Transcript/4

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 * (Simba and Nala run north, near the outermost border of the Pride Lands)
 * Simba: (arrogantly) I am a genius!
 * Nala: Hey, genius, it was my idea.
 * Simba: Yeah. But I pulled it off.
 * Nala: With me!
 * Simba: Oh, yeah?
 * (Simba jumps at Nala; they tussle quickly. Nala ends on top and pins Simba with her forepaws, producing a resounding thump)
 * Nala: Pinned ya.
 * Simba: (annoyed) Hey. Lemme up.
 * (Nala turns away smiling. Simba looks at her, sneakingly smirking, and jumps at her again. They tussle, rolling down a short hill. She pins him again in the same position with another thump)
 * Nala: Pinned ya again.
 * (A geyser makes a loud noise nearby, ejecting steam. The camera pulls back to a view of the surroundings that the cubs have just noticed. Mostly in grays, we see a dark craggy vale filled with skeletons of elephants; eerie music fades in)
 * Simba: This is it…we made it.
 * (They look over the edge of the ledge they are on. A large bull elephant skull is nearby. The camera follows to survey the entire bleak view)
 * Nala: (relishing her naughtiness) It's really creepy. We could get in big trouble.
 * Simba: (enjoying it also) I know!
 * Nala: (looking at the skull) I wonder if its brains are still in there.
 * Simba: (walking towards the skull) There's only one way to know. Come on. Let's go check it out.
 * Zazu: Wrong! (suddenly flaps up in front of Simba, somehow got himself managed from being smashed under the rhino) The only checking out you would do would be to check out of here. We're way beyond the boundary of the Pride Lands!
 * Simba: Hey, look. Banana Beak is scared.
 * Zazu: (pokes Simba's nose) That's Mister Banana Beak to you, fuzzy! And right now, we are all in very real danger.
 * Simba: (moves nearer to the entrance of the skull) Danger? Ha! I walk on the wild side. I laugh in the face of danger.
 * (Simba breaks into voracious laughter. But then more laughing is heard from inside the skull. Simba runs back and hides behind Nala and Zazu. Shenzi, Banzai and Ed emerge from the skull's eyes and mouth)
 * Shenzi: Well, well, well, Banzai. What have we got here?
 * Banzai: I dunno, Shenzi. What do you think, Ed? (Ed cackles in reply) Yeah, just what I was thinkin': a trio of trespassers.
 * Zazu: And quite by accident; let me assure you. A simple navigational error.
 * Shenzi: (Zazu turns to leave, but is stopped by Shenzi) Whoa, whoa, wait, wait, wait. I know you. You're Mufasa's little…"stooge."
 * Zazu: I, madam, am actually the king's majordomo!
 * Banzai: (looking to Simba) And that would make you…?
 * Simba: The future king.
 * Shenzi: Do you know what we do to kings who step out of their kingdom?
 * Simba: You can't do anything me.
 * Zazu: Technically, they can. We are on their land.
 * Simba: But you told me they're nothing but slobbering mangy stupid poachers.
 * Zazu: Ixnay on the upidstay…
 * Banzai: (shouts out) Who ya callin' "upidstay"!?
 * Zazu: (harried) My, my, my. Look at the sun. (starts to try to hasten the cubs away) It's time to go!
 * Shenzi: What's the hurry? We'd love you to stick around for dinner.
 * Banzai: Yeah! We could have whatever's "lion" around!
 * Shenzi: Oh, wait, wait, wait! I got one, I got one! Make mine a "cub" sandwich! Whatcha think?
 * (Ed jumps up and starts gesticulating and jabbering to where Simba, Nala and Zazu were)
 * Shenzi: What? Ed? What is it?
 * Banzai: (looking where Ed is pointing) Hey? Did we order this dinner to go?
 * Shenzi: No. Why?
 * Banzai: 'Cuz THERE IT GOES!!!
 * (They turn to see Simba, Nala and Zazu fleeing. Zazu suddenly gets grabbed in the back feathers by Ed's paw. They have Zazu near a steam vent and Banzai is holding the bird)
 * Banzai: The little majordomo bird hippity-hopped all the way to the birdie boiler. (Banzai walks Zazu to the vent and stuffs him into it, plugging it up)
 * Zazu: Oh no! Not the birdie boiler!
 * (The geyser shoots Zazu off like a rocket in a puff of scream into the sky. The hyenas start laughing hysterically. Simba and Nala are now near them)
 * Simba: Hey! Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?!
 * Shenzi: Like you?
 * Simba: Oops.
 * (The hyenas start chasing the cubs. They dart around behind them and poke their heads through an active methane vent)
 * Hyenas: BOO!!!
 * (The hyenas chase the cubs up and over the skull and the cubs slip away by sliding down the spine. They shoot off the end of the spine and land on a hillside of bones)
 * Nala: SIMBA! (Simba turns around and is horrified to see Nala slipping back down the pile) Aaaaiee!
 * (Simba runs bravely back and claws Shenzi across the cheek, drawing blood and distracting her while Nala escapes. Shenzi becomes enraged. The cubs escape. Camera switch to Timon riding Pumbaa to a new unspecified location, managing themselves from the wreck of their small oasis)
 * Timon: Our dream home's around here somewhere.
 * Pumbaa: You know, Timon, I once came across a place that might be just what you're looking for. (illustrates the descriptions of the predator-free environment) Spectacular waterfalls, set in a lush, tropical, oasis. A scrumptious array of bugs!
 * Timon: Forget it, Pumbaa. I'm a realist, and I'm not gonna go chasing after some fantasy. I'm goin' beyond what I see.
 * Pumbaa: But if you always go beyond what you see, how do you know when you're there?
 * Timon: (impatiently) Oh, I'll tell you how I know. We're there! (gestures stubbornly at the surroundings: The Elephant Graveyard) This is a lovely spot. Lovely. Rustic. Picturesque. Home, sweet home, Pumbaa. Mm-hmm. Home, sweet ho — (a chunk of elephant skull that Timon's leaning against gives way, and he collapses inside) — Whoop! I—I mean, sure it needs a little work. But it's got good bones. After all, this is an elephant graveyard. And…who would ever come to an elephant graveyard?
 * (The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer roar precedes the arrival of Mufasa, leaping over the elephant tusk where Timon and Pumbaa had been, before diving out of the way just in time, screaming. As Mufasa rushes off stage left, Zazu flies after him. The hyenas pursue the cubs quickly and corner them in a cave)
 * Zazu: Sire, the hyenas are after the children!
 * Shenzi: (Simba lets out a medium yowl that bounces off the cave's walls) That was it? Hah. Do it again…come on.
 * (Simba opens his mouth to roar, but the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer roar is heard. Mufasa arrives from the left on-screen and starts to attack the hyenas. Pumbaa and Timon watch wide-eyed from the sinus cavity of the elephant skull, as the shadows cast on them pantomime the scene of Mufasa beating up the hyenas)
 * Timon: (whispering, à la "The Sixth Sense") I see carnivores!
 * (Mufasa continues to hit and knock down the hyenas until they are cringing under him, begging for mercy)
 * Shenzi: Oh, please, please. Uncle. Uncle.
 * Banzai: Ow. Ow. Ow.
 * Mufasa: Silence! If you ever come near my son again…
 * Shenzi: Oh, this is…this is your son!?
 * Banzai: Oh, your son?
 * Shenzi: Did you know that?
 * Banzai: No…me? I-I-I didn't know it. No. Did you?
 * Shenzi: No! Of course not.
 * Banzai: No.
 * Both: Ed?
 * (Ed gives the correct response, nodding "yes", and Mufasa lets out a roar with rage)
 * Banzai: Toodles!
 * (With a gunshot sound, the hyenas disappear. A ticked off Mufasa then turns at the cubs)
 * Mufasa: (sternly) You deliberately disobeyed me.
 * Simba: Dad, I'm…I'm sorry.
 * (Mufasa leads Zazu, Simba and Nala out of the Burial Grounds, the cubs bent down in shame as the sun starts to set. Up above a ledge, Scar has been watching the events unfold from the shadows. Camera switch to out on the savanna. The cubs are still walking in a shamed manner behind Mufasa, who is still stern. Zazu is flying between)
 * Mufasa: Zazu?
 * Zazu: (flying forward and lighting in front of Mufasa, his trepidation showing) Yes, Sire…?
 * Mufasa: Take Nala home. I've got to teach my son a lesson.
 * (The camera views the cubs. Simba crouches lower in the grass as if to hide. Zazu and Nala leave. The camera view is of Simba in the foreground with Mufasa facing away from the camera in the background)
 * Mufasa: Simba!
 * (Simba slowly turns and walks towards his father. Simba steps into a depression. Looking down he sees that his forepaw fits inside just the palmprint of his father's paw. A very tense moment for Simba as he is harshly reminded of how small and young he is compared to his father. He looks up and, quite courageously, continues to come forward)
 * Mufasa: (thinks silently for a moment, then finally turns to his son) Simba, I'm very disappointed in you. You could have been killed. You deliberately disobeyed me! And what's worse; you put Nala in danger!
 * Simba: (conspiratorially) I was just trying to be brave like you.
 * Mufasa: I'm only brave when I have to be. Simba…being brave doesn't mean you go looking for trouble.
 * Simba: But you're not scared of anything.
 * Mufasa: I was today. I thought I might lose you.
 * Simba: (his mood lightens) I guess even kings get scared. But you know what? I think those hyenas were even scareder.
 * Mufasa: Cause nobody messes with your dad! Come here, you.
 * (Mufasa has bent down. He picks Simba up and starts giving him a noogie. The film's score rises as Simba and Mufasa tussle playfully for a brief while)
 * Simba: (they end up with Mufasa laid down and Simba on his head) Dad? We'll always be together, right?
 * Mufasa: Simba, … Let me tell you something that my father told me … Look at the stars. The great kings of the past look down on us from those stars. So whenever you feel alone, just remember that those kings will always be there to guide you…and so will I.
 * (Camera switch from stars to Timon on yet another search for the perfect home, going stir-crazy by now. He and Pumbaa moving through the thermal-vent area where Scar lives)
 * Timon: (nervous, with a tenuous grip on reality) Beyond what you see…beyond what you see…ha ha ha ha ha! Beyond what you see…!
 * Pumbaa: (hopefully) Would this be a bad time to bring up that little place I told you about?
 * Timon: (throws himself down on a steam vent) Hey! This is home, sweet home, baby! (the steam vent erupts, sending Timon into the air before landing back on the ground, who is now on the verge of cracking) Steam is good. Steam i—i—is water. Whoo…gotta have water. You know, for the dream home. Steam home, dream home!
 * (On a different side of the den, Banzai has numerous scratches on his rear, muttering to Ed)
 * Banzai: Man, that lousy Mufasa…I won't be able to sit for a week! (Ed laughs his ass off, but also tries his best to conceal it from time to time) It's not funny, Ed. (Ed cups his paws over his mouth then bursts into hysterical laughter, spitting as his tongue lofts out of his mouth) Hey, shut up! Grrrrrrr…
 * (As Ed continues to laugh, Banzai barks and pounces on Ed, abruptly ending his laughing. The two commence a brief fight. Shenzi rolls her eyes and turns to the two yelping and rolling atop each other aggressively)
 * Shenzi: Will you knock it off!
 * Banzai: (Ed appears to be chewing on Banzai's leg. Banzai sits up and points to Ed) Well, he started it!
 * (It is now obvious that Ed is chewing his own leg repeatedly)
 * Shenzi: Look at you guys. No wonder we're dangling at the bottom of the food chain.
 * Banzai: (drool dangles from his mouth) I hate dangling.
 * Shenzi: You know, if it weren't for those lions, we'd be runnin' the joint.
 * Banzai: (Ed nods idiotically) I hate lions.
 * Shenzi: So pushy.
 * Banzai: And hairy.
 * Shenzi: And stinky.
 * Banzai: And man, are they…
 * Both: (elongated use of the "u") U-gly! (they burst into laughter)
 * Scar: (from his perch we saw in the Elephant Graveyard chase) Oh, surely we lions are not all that bad…
 * Banzai: (relieved from the surprise) Ohh. Oh, Scar, it's just you.
 * Shenzi: We were afraid it was somebody important.
 * Banzai: Yeah, you know, like Mufasa.
 * Scar: (sarcastically) I see.
 * Banzai: Now that's power.
 * Shenzi: Tell me about it. I just hear that name and I shudder.
 * Banzai: Mufasa.
 * Shenzi: (shivering) Ooooh. Do it again.
 * Banzai: Mufasa.
 * Shenzi: Ooooh!
 * Banzai: (gives Shenzi the chills) Mufasa. Mufasa! MUFASAAAAA!!!!
 * Shenzi: (Ed and Shenzi build up hysterical laughter) Oooh! It tingles me!
 * Scar: I'm surrounded by idiots.
 * Banzai: Not you, Scar; I mean, you're one of us. I mean, you're our pal.
 * Shenzi: Ohh, I like that. He's not king, but he's still so proper.
 * Banzai: Yeah. Hey, hey? Did ya bring us anything to eat, Scar, old buddy, old pal? Huh? Did-ya-did-ya-did-ya?
 * Scar: (holds out a plains zebra haunch) I don't think you really deserve this. I practically gift-wrapped those cubs for you, and you couldn't even dispose of them… (drops the leg for the hyenas to chew in)
 * Shenzi: (chewing with full mouth) Well, ya know. It wasn't exactly like they was alone, Scar.
 * Banzai: Yeah. What are we supposed to do? (swallows) Kill Mufasa?
 * Scar: (evilly grins) ''Precisely…

I never thought hyenas essential They're crude and unspeakably plain But, maybe they've a glimmer of potential If allied to my vision and brain'' Are as wet as a warthog's backside But thick as you are, pay attention My words are a matter of pride It's clear from your vacant expressions The lights are not all on upstairs But we're talking kings and successions Even you can't be caught unawares
 * (Three-top flutter to coincide with Scar's leaps down to the hyenas. Scar walks calmly through sheets of flame and gas into the camera over the opening bit of the song. He paces slowly around Ed, who is chewing on the remnants of the zebra leg. Scar angrily swats the bone away. Ed comes to abrupt attention. Waving his paw in front of Ed's blank eyes to make his point. Ed's tongue lolls out. Shenzi and Banzai are laughing on a ledge behind him, but Scar turns and leaps at them, throwing them backward onto a pair of geysers, which then erupt, throwing the two hyenas into the air. In the next verse, Scar is strutting theatrically along a ledge which runs around back to the floor. Scar grabs Shenzi's cheek, which soon turns to be bruised red. Scar leaps up beside Ed, who is again chewing on the bone, and here kicks him off the ledge)
 * Scar: I know that your powers of retention

So prepare for a chance of a lifetime Be prepared for sensational news A shining new era Is tiptoeing nearer
 * Shenzi: And where do we feature?
 * Scar: Just listen to teacher

I know it sounds sordid But you'll be rewarded When at last I am given my dues And injustice deliciously squared Be Prepared With a king who'll be all-time adored To take certain duties on board
 * (The three hyenas land in a pile of bones and are submerged. They reappear, each with a different horned skull on his head)
 * Banzai: Yeah, be prepared. Yeah-heh…we'll be prepared, heh. For what?
 * Scar: For the death of the king.
 * Banzai: Why? Is he sick?
 * Scar: (grabs Banzai by the throat) No, fool, we're going to kill him, Simba too. (drops Banzai back into the bone pile)
 * Shenzi (and then Banzai): (they agree with Scar; in sing-song voices, as Shenzi and Ed dance around Banzai) No king! No king! la-la-la-la-laa-laa!
 * Scar: IDIOTS! There will be a king! I WILL BE KING! (triumphant, toothy grin) Stick with me…and you'll never go hungry again!
 * (The screenshot zooms out, revealing hundreds of more hyenas in the shadows)
 * Hyena clan: Long live the king! Long live the king!
 * (Scar's clan of hyenas assemble into a Nazi-esque quadrangle with Scar standing in place for Hitler. The goose-stepping hyenas march across the area where Timon and Pumbaa are)
 * Timon: Somethin' tells me this ain't the traveling company of "Riverdance".
 * (Timon and Pumbaa start to "Riverdance" out of the boiler room and make their way out of the Elephant Graveyard. Throughout the next verses, the hyenas are in tight, crisp phrasing and diction. Scar motions a slice across the neck, and jumps off his rock throne to single out one hapless hyena. That hyena slips and falls into a fiery crevice. The entire horde of hyenas joins in dancing boisterously, leaping along the tops of rock pillars, shaking animal skeletons in the light, and Ed plays a rib cage/xylophone)
 * Hyenas: It's great that we'll soon be connected
 * Scar: Of course, quid pro quo, you're expected

The future is littered with prizes And though I'm the main addressee The point that I must emphasize is: You won't get a sniff without me!

So prepare for the coup of the century Be prepared for the murkiest scam Meticulous planning Tenacity spanning Decades of denial Is simply why I'll Be king undisputed Respected, saluted And seen for the wonder I am Yes, my teeth and ambitions are bared Be Prepared Be Prepared
 * All: Yes, our teeth and ambitions are bared
 * (Close with a fill-in and a fade-out. Scar and the hyenas laugh evilly against the crescent moon. Drum roll rises to a crash coinciding with the panoramic opening of the next scene)

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