Hey, everybody.
Okay, so I can't believe I'm about to say this,
but I am here with Ernie Sabella, the voice of Pumbaa in The Lion King.
Hey, Ernie.
How you doing?
I'm doing great.
I'm so excited to be with you.
I'm trying not to freak out,
but we're here, and we're in this cozy room,
and we have all these amazing snacks,
so I think maybe we should watch a movie.
Oh, that sounds good.
What do you got in mind?
[music]
♪ Nants ingonyama bagithi baba ♪
♪ Sithi uhhmm ingonyama ♪
Look at that sunrise.
♪ Ingonyama ♪
Oh.
♪ Nants ingonyama bagithi baba ♪
So Ernie, how did you find the voice of Pumbaa?
Well, I was watching The Godfather and there's an actor, Michael Gazzo,
who was talking in the scene of the Senate hearings
and he was talking like this, you know.
Mr. Corleone says this, then Mr. Corleone said that.
I don't know what you're talking about, you know.
I thought, well that is an interesting voice.
So by the time I got to the first session,
I thought, "What am I going to say?
How am I going to say it?"
And the first line at the time was,
"Oh, he's so cute and all alone.
Can we keep him?"
So, I did it like that and they started to laugh
and went ok, we're on our way.
[giggle]
Everything the light touches is our kingdom.
Wow.
A king's time as ruler rises and falls like the sun.
Tell me about what your dynamic was like with Nathan Lane.
We’re in a session that was early morning
and none of us were really awake.
We're not being funny right now and I could tell when I looked at the booth,
it's not really happening, you know.
[laughing]
So I tried to get him to laugh or cry or something.
So he would be reading a line and I'd go [noise with mouth].
He was in tears laughing and then I looked up and they're laughing
and boom, the scene took off.
Here comes Pumbaa.
[screaming]
There he is.
[screaming]
Get out! Get out! Get out!
Bowling for buzzards.
Gets them every time. [laughing]
So I know that a lot of voice actors
don't actually get to work together in the film at the same time.
Was that the case with you and Timon?
No, Nathan Lane and I worked together on every scene,
every line, together.
They said we were the first in the history of Disney to do that
and 'cause of our chemistry and our knowing each other for twenty years
before the movie, it was fabulous.
Do you ever do the voice of Pumbaa out in the real world?
Oh, yeah. I saw like a three-year-old,
four-year-old holding Pumbaa and I was behind a couple of shelves
and I said, "Hakuna Matata."
He went like this. [laughing]
That is so awesome. I love that.
Repeat after me, [clears throat] "Hakuna Matata."
What?
Hakuna Matata.
It means no worries.
We're singing now.
♪ Hakuna Matata, ain't no passing craze ♪
♪ It means no worries for the rest of your days ♪
♪ It's our problem-free philosophy ♪
How was the project pitched to you
and what were your initial thoughts when you first got the offer?
Nathan and I read for the hyenas.
We didn't get it.
Whoopi Goldberg got it.
I thought, well, I'm probably not going to make the cut.
There's all these movie stars in the movie.
They called us one day, 'cause that's all we did was read hyenas,
and said, "You're playing Timon.
You're playing Pumbaa."
We go to the first screening after doing a lot of it
and half of it is in color, half of it's in black and white
and I realized we're going to be in this movie.
Ew, what's that?
A grub. What's it look like?
Ew, gross.
[smacking] Tastes like chicken.
Slimy, yet satisfying.
That just made my life.
Oh, oh, this is my favorite scene in the movie.
This is when Simba looks into the pool of water 'cause Rafiki said,
"Remember who you are," but he sees his father
and he's going to accept responsibility and go back to the Pride Lands.
Simba.
Did you have any idea what a legacy it would leave?
No, no. But this week--
This week, I feel for the very first time,
that it's going to be living way past me.
It's that beloved a movie, that great a movie
and I'm very humble to be a part of it.
♪ The circle of life ♪
♪ Circle of life ♪
That is such an amazing film.
One of my all-time favorites.
Thank you so much for watching a movie with me
and thank you guys at home for watching a movie with us.
And thanks to Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge
at Walt Disney World Resort
for letting us hang out in this awesome room.
-Hakuna Matata. -Hakuna Matata.
His was way better!
♪ Can you feel the love tonight? ♪
[crying]