Zazu is a major character in Disney's 1994 animated feature film, The Lion King. He is an uptight, red-billed hornbill that served as majordomo and royal advisor to the Pride Lands monarchy. Zazu is charged with upholding order within the kingdom, though he is rarely taken seriously due to his diminutive size and fragile temper. He appears in the 1994 film The Lion King and a supporting character in Simba's Pride, and a minor character in The Lion King 1 1/2 and a recurring character in The Lion King's Timon and Pumbaa and The Lion Guard. He is Mufasa's majordomo and later, Simba's.
Zazu is, in a sense, much like Sebastian from The Little Mermaid; serving as the king's majordomo and being obliged to watch their kings children, Simba and Ariel. Also like Sebastian, Zazu doesnt protest until after Simba and Nala provoke him in "Can't Wait to be King." He is also uptight and arrogant. Nevertheless, Zazu is undoubtedly loyal to the king. He also respects Simba to a degree when he was a cub, calling him "Young Master." Zazu is also afraid of the hyenas, trying to shush Simba from calling them stupid mangering poachers after he himself called them that earlier in the film and getting nervous when Scar nonchalantly told the hyena to eat Zazu when they started complaining.
However he is loyal to the royal family no matter what.
Appearance[]
Zazu is a Slender hornbill with blue feathers, white belly, undertail, underwings, and eyes with black pupils and aqua eyelids. He has both orange feet and bill with yellow trimming on both sides around his nostrils. He is described as "Banana Beak" by Simba and Zazu himself. He has indigo feather tips with white linings beneath them, thick black eyebrows, both indigo trimming on his head and feather on the back of it.
Quotes[]
“Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?”
Nathan Lane originally auditioned for the role of Zazu. But after Rob Minkoff, co-director of The Lion King disliked the idea, Lane was instead casted as Timon.
Patrick Stewart, Simon Callow, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin were all considered for the role.
Zazu is voiced by Rowan Atkinson, an already well-established British actor and comedian, in The Lion King.