Be Prepared - Disney's THE LION KING (Official Lyric Video)

Official lyric video of "Be Prepared" from THE LION KING.

Giraffes strut. Birds swoop. Gazelles leap. The entire Serengeti comes to life as never before. And as the music soars, Pride Rock slowly rises from the mist. This is THE LION KING.

More than 70 million people around the world have experienced the awe-inspiring visual artistry, the unforgettable music and the uniquely theatrical storytelling of this Broadway spectacular - one of the most breathtaking and beloved productions ever to grace the stage.

Winner of 6 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, THE LION KING brings together one of the most imaginative creative teams on Broadway . Tony Award winning director Julie Taymor brings to life a story filled with hope and adventure set against an amazing backdrop of stunning visuals. THE LION KING also features the extraordinary work of Tony Award winning choreographer Garth Fagan and some of Broadway's most recognizable music, crafted by Tony Award winning international singer/songwriters Elton John and Tim Rice.

There is simply nothing else like THE LION KING. Broadyway's Landmark Musical Event plays 8 times a week in the heart of Times Square at the Minskoff Theatre.

[cassidyflowers]

Whoever played Scar in the musical you are an amazing singer and you pull off the role of Scar perfectly. Your character to me is the best part of the story! 

[sherie]

I loved this song so much as a kid that it made me cheer for Scar. I still think he's the best Disney villain   

[WillowVee]

All y'all hating on this guy, why? Maybe you think the original is better, but you can't go on a rant expressing why this guy is untalented! In fact, this guy had to go on a stage in front of thousands nightly!

[avelinozamora]

Villians always get the best songs. >:)

[LchanOtakudom]

This song is so amazing, from movie to musical! Scar, solidly placed in my top 3 favorite Disney villains!

[fanofwark]

I'd rather listen to this and the original song from the movie rather than the one from the remake....

[asdatescosains]

This and circle of life are worth the price of admission alone.

[SaintsBro]

People need to consider that this is a stage play. Jeremy Irons didn't have to worry about the volume of his voice when recording in a studio, but this guy has to be loud enough for the people at the back to hear. Elevating your voice while singing can prove difficult if you're trying to maintain a character's voice, which is why stage plays are a lot more enthusiastic in their approach than movies/tv and audio stories. Comparing this to the original is like comparing tomatoes to brocoli.

[co.reading]

My choir class is taking a trip next year to New York and I am just so excited! Even the slightest mention of Broadway gets me excited because we are going to be taught by one the people from Broadway and see a show! This just gets me so ecstatic.

[bluejet]

This one has got to be by far one of my favorites. It’s not Jeremy Irons man, and that’s fine. The broadway interpretation of scar over exaggerated his character and gave him a more booming presence BECAUSE it’s a stage performance. I personally love what John Vickery does here. They took scar’s sarcastic, posh, snobby, whiny persona and thought it would work. And it did! Sorta I mean.. when I first listened to this I was thrown off guard. It’s way more peppy and zany than the original. The original was dark, it was sinister, we all know this. Even though it’s different, it pays attention to detail. Some renditions of this song completely blow over some of the details. You see a heavy metal cover of this song and people are like “YEEEAAAAH BRO THIS IS SO GOOD FRETSTSTSS YOU SHOULD BE SCAR”

Scar WAS whiny and bratty in the original, but he was much more soft spoken in the 1994 film. Doing a voice recording of a softer more darker voice is precisely the kind of thing you should use in a recording studio. It’s clear, it’s crisp, you have all the material you need to alter it and make it stand out.

In Broadway, you gotta be moving. CONSTANTLY. It’s not just about the voice, it’s about the projection, your gestures, body language, how much emphasis you really put on a cue or a point in a line or a verse of a song.

I also love how the instruments were used here. It’s almost an homage to the original’s instrumentals, an exaggerated caricature of the orchestral arrangement from the original film. But they also add their own little spikes. The African vibes aren’t just there, they play around with them. The drums, the accordions. The horn instruments, the marimba, but my favorite? The Fucking Hyena chorus we got going on here! From the sinister, ominous “Eee’s” in the introduction of the song while scar gives off his little poem, the “Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi’s” the chorus chants at 1:02,
The harmonies in the final verses, the hum’s, etc.
Seriously, whenever they sing “Be Prepared”, the chorus hits extreme notes and harmonies. The sopranos are almost screeching but it isn’t unpleasant, not one bit.. to me at least. It can get a little irritating when you wear headphones but I absolutely love it.

I also would like to comment on John Vickery’s voice, a compliment if you will. See, Jeremy Irons low, crisp vowels and growls are impressive, and I’ve been able to visualize others who could pull off scar.
Keith David, Jim Cummings wouldn’t be too shabby but he’d still be a bit more high pitched than iron’s (and y’all know he sang the final verse in the film since Iron’s voice gave out)
But vickery’s posh and gravel can really hook someone’s attention. It’s humorous, and Scar honestly sounds more King-like and entitled in this version. Hearing this for the first time, my initial thoughts were
“The Hyena Chorus? Golden.”
“The instruments? A little fast paced but it’s so beautifully carried out and well performed”
“Scar’s voice? SUCKS.”
But listening to this version over and over really got me thinking....
the orchestra and instruments in this version compliment and suit how scar’s actor is portraying him.
Listen to the instrumentals here, and then the instrumentals for the original.
The original is darker and more malicious, much like Jeremy Iron’s voice. The orchestra here is more like a mischievous conga Chant, and sticks to the roots of African music and culture (there are some more general instrumentals here like horn instruments and bass guitar)
There’s heavy Djembe use here (I think... it could be another type of drum) along with the military march drums in the middle and near the end. We teach the general “Middle” when we enter the dialogue portion of the song, the hyenas confused on scar’s intentions and unable to see through his code, for his use of bold and high intellect grammar are way over their heads, which gives scar a free pass to insult his potential army because he knows that they’ll only use their full potential and come as useful for him if they’re thrown under his leadership.
He knows they’re starving, only having the bare minimum of food supply. Bones don’t exactly cut it for a fulfilled diet.

This also leads to why I kind of understand why a majority of the verses were cut out in the 2019 version of Be prepared. Scar is under the mercy of the Hyenas, but is slightly above them in position and insight. Thus, he can’t call them stupid because they’ll catch on rather quick and maul him there and be done with it, DESPITE their need for a larger food supply. It’s also more realistic given that Hyenas are far more intelligent in real life then how they are depicted in the film, as well as the broadway performance.

Another point I wanna address is how you could make the comparison that this scar sounds an awful lot like a portrayal of Zazu more than anything else. I understand that, and John Vickery would probably make a good zazu, but some other adjustments would need to be made to the other songs and casting calls if that decision was made. Vickery has a deeper voice so they’d probably need a pitch change in just can’t wait to be king, but that requires the simba actor to use much higher vocals than capable, and it would be very difficult to find someone who has a deep voice and can sing this song AND project... listing out the complications is for lack of a better word... complicated! Besides, this is all theoretical on my end. However, I appreciate this scar voice. I love it. It’s for broadway afterall, and I can understand that certain things just click. There’s probably an actor out there who does sound like the original scar and has sung be prepared much like Iron’s did.
But this is the original cast recording, and we didn’t get that.

That being said, it’s alright! This version has its own potential. It’s The Lion King but that doesn’t mean it can’t bend the rules a little bit. It would be flippin awesome to see the original Be prepared portrayed on stage if done right, but they went for a different approach on the song in this one.

Also this is a personal preference but I’m loving those Hyena designs, like you have no idea. I love how the lions are given a human approach, still having the masks on top of the head but coming down when they’re angered or engage in combat.
The hyenas are savage and act more animal like than the lions of the pride do. Thus, aside from design choices of giving a hunch to the hyenas because of their natural anatomy, (hyenas have longer necks as you know), it could be symbolic that they’re more primal than the Lions.

A lot of things are over exaggerated in this show, and it goes beyond just this song. I’m not a fan of how they did Zazu! I also dislike how Ed was designed and I don’t like the performance Timon’s actor pulled off. Would be cool to see Nathan Lane do Timon on stage, like the one time Whoopi Goldberg was on stage for the lion king. THAT was cool.

I think I’m tired of rambling about this, so if you’ve got your own slice of opinion, throw em at me.

[KeepCalmContemplateYourChoices]

Even the Broadway version is better than the new one.

[imconfused]

Okay so my school did this last year and I've always loved how the Hyena's part sounds in the background starting 2:45

[UdoADHD]

omg so the movie sounds like the carribeans and south africa but this musical live version sounds like we're in LOUISIANA! I LOVE IT!!! sometimes I wish i grew up there!

[LaStriata]

Irony: Hyenas have been proven to have primate-level intelligence. So much for the crudeness and plainness.

[dmitridesgoffe-und-taxis]

This is probably my favourite musical haha, aside from Notre-Dame de Paris. xD

I cried so hard.

[stormspiritwolf]

To me the Lion King musical is the only Lion King remake ever created I have forgotten about the Lion King remake. This musical is amazing I have seen it two times and really love this musical I would love to go again sometime.

[ryleelovesstitch]

They should've kept this song for the remake! This is the best villain song ever!

"The Lion King" truly is the King of Broadway by that I mean it's the highest grossing Broadway show of all time.

[sylvialluis]

my favorite Disney villain and Disney villain song !

[elizabethfrost]

No one beats the original one, but this is so fantastic!