Mufasa: Is Tahar Rahim really singing in a Disney movie?

In Mufasa: The Lion King Rafik tells the young lioness Kiara – daughter of Simba and Nala – about the legend of Mufasa. Told in flashbacks, Mufasa’s story is that of an orphaned lion cub, alone and tired, who one day meets the friendly Taka, heir to a royal lineage. This chance encounter marks the starting point of an adventurous journey.

If in the 1994 animated film The Lion King and in its 2019 photorealistic remake, it was Jean Reno who voiced Mufasa in the French version of Barry Jenkins’ prequel, it is Tahar Rahim who doubles as the young lion. .

Jean Reno’s deep voice was not suitable for this film, which depicts the life of Simba’s father from his childhood to his arrival in the land of Millais. Therefore, it is the young Timo Bease who gives his voice to the lion Bel Mufasa in French and Tahar Rahim who calls the older hero. The actor also performs songs from the film written and composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Dave Metzger.

Tahar Rahim sings in Mufasa thanks to Mr. Aznauri

To promote the feature film, we spoke to the dubbing actors of the feature film and Tahar Rahim He told us that he had to do the tests: “II wish this was a solid sentence. I had to take the musical auditions because I had already auditioned for a Disney movie a few years ago, I didn’t make it because of the songs. But this time it worked. So you never have to worry.”

And thanks to the great corps Malad and Mehdi Idir’s work for Mr. Aznauri’s film, Tahar Rahim landed the role of Mufasa.

“I learned to sing for Mr. Noble and that’s what made the difference between three years ago and trying this time.” The actor tells us before adding: For the record, I practiced with Mufasa’s music director, we sang, we prepared songs with my voice. And then, at one point, I jokingly sing in the voice of a nobleman. And there I feel it affects him a little bit.

I sing jokingly in the voice of a nobleman. And there I feel it affects him a little bit…

So he asked me to sink into the bass to establish the character and in the noble sense of the word such royalty and wildness. And so we created this singing voice, which is ultimately not my natural voice, then that led us to finding the identity of the speaking voice.

weight support

If each artist recorded their tracks separately, Tahar Rahim had the voice of Gwendal Marimuthu – who doubles Taka – to back him up. He explains: “I was lucky enough to have Gwendal’s records during my recordings. And it blew the wind, we had to complete the task. Also, it’s an interesting experience to have a partner on vocals that is not by our side. We still find a lot of support there.“

Gwendal Marimuthu, candidate for season three voiceVoiced by adult Mufasa’s “brother”. A change for the actor and singer who voiced Simba in the musical the lion king.

The latter also admits to us: “It is inconceivable that Disney would consider me in a role other than the one I played in the theater for two years. That they can project themselves like that and that they agree to go with me on this vocal challenge to embody Taka.” Note that young Sasha Tomasian lends his voice to Taka Lionso.

Who are the other French voices?

Similar to Jon Favreau’s 2019 film, Ryan Bensett once again provides the voice of an adult Simba, and singer Ann Sylla again voices Nala. A young Lois Charpentier lends her voice to Chiara, the daughter of the protagonists of the previous installment.

Singer and actress Aurel Konate – discovered in 2002 thanks to Academy Awards – voices Sarabi, Mufasa’s companion and Simba’s mother.

Daniel Kamwa once again voices the wise-cracking adult Rafiki, while Jean-Michel Vauben – who already voices the crabby Sebastian in the live-action version of The Little Mermaid – voices Mufasa’s future royal advisor when he’s young. Alexis Tomasini is the voice of the talking red-billed Zazu. And since you don’t change the winning team, Jamel Debussy and Alban Ivanov are still ahead of Timon and Pumbaa.

Finally, Cyrus, the big bad guy of this feature film, is voiced by dubbing specialist Daniel Lobe in French. Cyrus is the leader of a pack of wandering white lions who leave behind nothing but sorrow and pain.

Other actors voicing Mufasa’s characters include: Jean-Paul Pitolin, Annie Million, Leovanie Rowdy, Gregory Leribaugh, and Chef Maury Sacco, a huge Lion King fan who voices the living buffalo in Mille.

Mufasa: The Lion King It’s currently in theaters.