"The Lion King": "Colonialism" accused Disney of recording the famous expression "Hakuna Matata"

The wording
BBC World News

December 20, 2018

Image source, Disney Studios Los Angeles / YouTube

explained,

“The Lion King” made the phrase “Hakuna Matata” world famous, which in Swahili means “no problem”.

Hakuna Matata: A Way of Being. Hakuna Matata, don’t be afraid. Without worrying about how you should live. To live like this, I learned here … “hakuuuuna matataaaaa”.

With this chorus, the Latin American version of “The Lion King”, Disney made a world-famous phrase forever meaning in Swahili, an African language spoken in East Africa, ‘No problem’ or ‘no worries’.

Of course, Disney didn’t invent the expression. However, the company first requested that the phrase be recorded in 1994, the year it released its first animated film.

It finally did so in the United States in 2003, according to it Watchman, Including clothing and footwear products in the brand.

Now, when he just released the trailer for his adapted movie – which will be shown in theaters in mid-July – a petition was produced (and went viral) accusing the production company of ‘Colonialism’ and ‘Theft’ And that I could drop the trademark.

Image source, Disney

explained,

Disney released the trailer for the “remake” in a “live action” version at the end of November.

“insult”

The petition read: “Join us and say no to DISNEY or any other company or individual wishing to register languages, terms or phrases that he did not invent.”

“Hakuna matata” is an expression in the Swahili language. “Hakuna” means “nothing” and “matata” means “problem.” The word “Hakuna matata” is used in most Swahili-speaking countries, such as Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique “.

Disney can’t record something it didn’t invent..

Until date, More than 73,000 People signed the petition on the digital platform Change.org.

Image source, Getty Images

explained,

Kiswahili is mostly spoken in Tanzania and Kenya, where it is common to hear this expression.

Campaign Builder Shelton Mbala, An activist originally from Zimbabwe, hopes to persuade the US company of this measure to abandon the trademark.

“Many Swahili speakers are completely shocked [cuando supieron de la petición de registro]. “They had no idea this was happening,” Mpala told the BBC.

“I grew up in Zimbabwe and always understood that Language enriches cultures“he added.

The BBC offered Disney the right to respond, but the company declined to comment.

Profitable business

“The Lion King” in addition to the movie, A recognized privilege Its namesake belongs to the Walt Disney Company.

The company markets many products related to the film, from T-shirts and games, to video games and TV series and even a prestigious Broadway musical, as well as excerpts from books and children’s stories.

Image source, Getty Images

explained,

“The Lion King” is also a lucrative franchise.

Disney has released four movies so far (the fifth is one that opens in July) and more than a dozen video games.

“The Lion King” was one of the highest-grossing films in history, grossing over $ 987 million by the time it was released in theaters around the world.

Mpala says that although he is not a Swahili speaker, he considers the trademark registration for “Hakuna Matata” to be one of the most recent examples of how Africa “is being exploited In all its ways and forms. “

He is not the only one thinking about it.

“theft”

Some newspapers in Kenya accused Disney of appropriating African culture. The same thing happened on social media.

Others see it as an opportunity that African companies could have seized.

Disney saw an opportunity we didn’t see, Zambia-based user confirms on Twitter.

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