YMS: The Lion King (Part 1) | Zazu 1994 vs 2019

Date: April 24, 2022

[blturn]

1994: British Actor
2019: British man

[zevburrows]

Lines like “THE KING APPROACHES!” and “and today has started!” and “a monarch who ignores tradition?” (or whatever that last line actually is) are proof that people who try to make dialogue sound more “epic” or “important” should be banned from writing screenplays.

[obiwankenobi]

Zazu in the Original: "Good morning Sire!" Zazu says with respect and appreciation for the king who he clearly cares about

Zazu in the Remake: "SiRe!" John Oliver says with no sense of subtlety.

[michaelstrong]

*"Simba, you can't escape your destiny."*

Why even have that line BEFORE "I Just Can't Wait to be King" started to play?

[SamL]

Really makes me appreciate Rowan Atkinson's amazing voice work in the film. It's a real shame you don't realise how good it is until hearing John Oliver's atrocious performance...

[dracocrusher]

94 Zazu: "I love my job and take pride in it"
2019 Zazu: "I am an official and I do my duty as instructed"

[goingunder]

I don’t know how to describe it but in the original Zazu just sounded exactly like how I imagined a bird would sound like if it could speak, cranky and strained as well to immediately indicate what his personality is. In the remake he just sounds like some guy lol

This movie does a really good job of making you appreciate the original more

[JohnnyRico]

If this is where Disney movies are headed, county out!

[jarodlechadores]

Rowan Atkinson: Sounds like the character who can be pompous and is a bit full of himself but has a good heart when it counts.

John Oliver: Yelling

[meggerz]

People forget that Rowen Atkinson is a character actor and was talented in British sitcoms that was loaded with subtle acting. People just saw him as Mr. Bean which was great but he did so much before that too

[TisPopRock]

the original VA always articulated his words and you could hear every single letter he said. In the 2019 one I didn’t even hear him say “genuflect” until like the 5th time I heard it, and I had to really try to hear it so um…plus the articulation is low key satisfying.

[obiwankenobi]

if this is where the lion king is headed, County out!

[comixproviderftw_]

Up until this video I had no idea that Zazu was voiced by Mr. Bean in the ‘94 film.

[damienv.]

I bet when Oliver did the line "County out, " he probably said it as long winded snd exaggerated as "WhAt I sAiD wAaAas-" Like "COUUnt. MmhmE. OoUT." So they probably last minute tried to edit it down because they realized it was stupid, but since he dragged it out, they had to shorten it, and accidentally cut out the "M" sound in "me out"

[diskmort]

0:50
In the original, Zazu actually tried to say something but gets interrupted by Simba & Nala, make it sounds more natural

While in the remake, Zazu sounds like he's "waiting" to be interrupted, as if he knows the "lyrics" to this conversation, it really just sounds too contrived

[lowhp_comic]

I like how in the original they're both pushing and bullying Zazu during the song, while the remake they're just randomly running in a field and the bird isn't even in frame

[TylerMcNamer]

John Oliver is not an actor.

Neither is Steven Colbert. The difference between John and Steven is when Steven played the part in Monsters VS. Aliens, he had help with a voice over director and coach. Plus, he knows how to deliver his lines in a comedic way naturally.

[sebastianbarrios]

Amazing how a character can be flanderized from an original story to its supposed 1 to 1 "live action" recreation.

[TMFriedVO]

It's not just the deliveries of the lines, the dialogues are significantly worse than the original

[nobodyinparticular]

"You dirty old *county!* I'm out!"