The composer of The Lion King song ‘Circle Of Life’ is suing a comedian for his viral comments about the translation of the song’s lyrics.
South African musician Lebohang Morake, known as Lebo M, has accused comedy performer Learnmore Mwanyenyeka, also known as Learnmore Jonasi, of intentionally mistranslating the chant, which comes at the beginning of the song used in the 1994 animation, as well as its 2019 remake and stage adaptation.
The lawsuit, filed this month (via The Guardian), stems from Jonasi’s comments on the One54 podcast, where he claims that the song’s opening lyrics, written in Zulu, translate to “Look, there’s a lion. Oh my God.” The assertion sparked laughter from his co-hosts, and came as part of a wider discussion from Jonasi about the way African culture is presented in Hollywood.
Disney’s official translation of the opening phrase, “Nants’ingonyama bagithi Baba”, is: “All hail the king, we all bow in the presence of the king.”
Morake’s lawyers acknowledged in the complaint that “ingonyama” can literally translate to “lion” but say the word used in the song as a royal metaphor, claiming that Jonasi had intentionally misrepresented “an African vocal proclamation grounded in South African tradition”.
The lawsuit also alleges Jonasi “received a standing ovation” for a similar joke he made about the song during a 12 March performance in Los Angeles. The viral reception to the statements, it says, are interfering with Morake’s business relationships with Disney as well as his income from royalties, causing more than $20million (£15million) in actual damages. The lawsuit also seeks $7million (£5million) in punitive damages.
Morake’s lawyers argue the comments were not covered by US First Amendment protections for parody or satire, given that they claim Jonasi’s translation was presented “as authoritative fact, not comedy”.
Jonasi did not have a lawyer listed for the filing, and his representatives have not responded to comment on the lawsuit. However, the comedian did post a video of himself on Instagram being served with lawsuit paper while on stage.
The post ‘The Lion King’ composer suing comedian for viral mistranslation of iconic theme appeared first on NME.