Disney And It's Omniscient Monkey

For part of my homework my class was told to write a proposal of a cartoon Disney character to why the character should be the president of Disney. I think we were asked to study a cartoon character as it has been created for a purpose and could be based on some one real, for example If we chose a real person from Disney like Hannah Montana we couldn’t study their origin or why they were drawn and made exactly like that as they are real people.



Rafiki translated= Friend in Swahili


The character I chose was Rafiki, the baboon from The Lion King animation. I chose Rafiki as he portrays a character of goodness, with not even a single bad trait in his spiritual presence. I think Rafiki is esspecially important as is a guider to Simba, and is a dear friend to Mufasa. Rafiki is a friend to everyone and is never involved with the trouble that is central to the narrative, he is always seen either mourning or praying spiritually for good and being a friend for advice and comfort. He almost is like the God of the land and doesn’t talk much and when he does it is meaningful to other characters refers to himself in 3rd person. His Godly presence is created by his shamanistic practices or when he is often seen meditating and giving powerful advice to those in need. Rafiki is almost a shaman as they are intermediaries between the human and spirit world (where they can obtain certain answers) and are healers. Rafiki is also seen as a type of priest, as in The Lion King 2 he acts as the host for Kiara and Kovu’s wedding. Also in a deleted scene it revealed how he was the original narrator.


Rafiki provides a circular narrative in the film as he starts the narrative by presenting Simba to their land and all its inhabitants and ends the film presenting Simba and Nala‘s new born cub. This is significant as he almost brings all the animals together to present this valuable child to everyone, even though these animals don’t usually mingle with each other and stick to their own species. He also is the character who realises Simba is alive as he smells his scent in the air, this brings the narrative further as the animals and us as have hope for Simba. He then acts as a leader and guider to Simba by telling and comforting him how his fathers spirit is in him and will always live there creating him as a solemn being deveopling a calm and easy atmosphere. Rafiki also is the first animal allowed permission to see Simba, this creates him as symbolising someone of importance and significance as mother’s are very protective of their new born children. Although Rafiki is important to all the other characters, he is sometimes portrayed by others reactions to be quite crazy, for example when Simba is trying to work out who he is Rafiki is chanting "Asante sana, squash banana, we we nugu, mi mi apana". This phrase is Swahili for "Thank you very much, squash banana, you are a baboon, and I am not". This is ironic as when the characters are thinking he’s weird and a bit over the top he is a device used to make these scenes more humorous and light hearted and can be seen as very funny at times. This is where we see different sides to Rafiki as he doesn’t talk much or involves himself in any of the drama, but here we see that he can be funny as well which is desirable to the younger audience who are watching. Rafiki overall is the perfect character to represent Disney as he is loving, intelligent and spiritual. His qualities make him easy to love, and connect with as he provides harmony and simple guidelines for when we are in need. I think a lot of people who watch Disney have been through a loved one passing away, so his words to Simba of Mufasa are extremely invaluable and can be easily related by anyone in the audiences. I think someone who watches this film whether they are youthful or not interpret him in the same way as he cannot be seen as a burden to anyone. Even someone who is an atheist or who doesn’t believe in spiritual healing can still relate to his character and see how he is wholesome as he doesn’t push faith or his beliefs on any of the characters. Sorrow is created with this character as he is at solitude and is never seen with family of his own this makes us value him even more as we feel sympathy for this character. Although Rafiki presents morals and love, when Simba is in need he helps him fight the hyena’s, this could be seen as violence, but is done to save Simba’s life showing how much he really cares for him. In The Lion King two he is even referred too as “The omniscient monkey” as he taught Timon the philosophy of “Hukana Matata” meaning no worries in Swahili.


Rafiki’s appearance is the key feature that makes him who he is. He is portrayed as wise and old, with the knowledge he provides and his stick made from wood. He is a good character to be president as he Is at one with nature, and isn’t modernised by a detrimental culture. Rafiki here could show audiences how material goods are insignificant but family, friends and a happy life are. He passes valuable morals and kindness through to the audience and could be seen as human as he is from the monkey family (primate) which is the closest specie to us. Rafiki would provide a calming atmosphere to young children and would teach them knowledgeable entertainment. Rafiki is presented as African which is made clear by his Swahili accent and home in Africa. This is very important as Rafiki would represent a different culture which would be beneficial for Disney as there isn’t a variety of cultures in their films. Although this is true, even the characters in Aladdin and Mulan speak American and don’t have an accent. This isn’t good for a young audience as they are not learning about a different culture, who speaks different languages and this isn’t setting a good example. Rafiki is extremely colourful and would be interesting to present Disney with his bright yellow eyes, red and blue face and wild silvery hair.

I do believe that Rafiki should be the face of Disneyisation (transformation to resemble Disney’s company image) and would improve their image from the former allegations by Michael Moore. Disney allegedly cut all funding for the film Fahrenheit 9/11 because of political reasons and the company wanted to remain impartial during the election. Rafiki would improve the company's image as he is a sign of peace and friendship, but they would still be remaining impartial as he this character excepts everything and doesn’t favour a certain side, promoting free speech and an unbiased perspective.

Overall Rafiki in my view should be president of Disney as he is best character and is loved by everyone.