What Is Upendi?

[PrincessKiara]

What are your thoughts on "Upendi?" Not the song itself, but rather the scene/sequence..

Rafiki tells Kiara and Kovu that he is taking them to a "special place in the heart called Upendi," so is the Upendi scene meant to be a metaphor for falling in love?
Is it a fantasy sequence similar to the "I Just Can`t Wait To Be King," in TLK? An actual place in the Pride Lands? What are your thoughts?

[Regulus]

I assume the former, or else it would have been more like CYFTLT. I mean, do you know how strong that leaf would have to be to support the weight of two full-grown lions? There's just no way.

[ScarsLove]

It's a metaphor for falling in love and it's a fantasy sequence.

[AdAstrα]

[quote="Wolf Song"]It's a metaphor for falling in love and it's a fantasy sequence. [/quote]
This

It is also my least favourite scene in the movie, but that's beside the point lol.

[PrincessKiara]

[quote="AdAstra"][quote="Wolf Song"]It's a metaphor for falling in love and it's a fantasy sequence. [/quote]
This

It is also my least favourite scene in the movie, but that's beside the point lol.[/quote]

That`s what I`ve been thinking too.
I know, I always skip that scene when watching the movie, I think it`s awful.

[TheLionPrince]

I believe it's a metaphor for "falling in love". Remember, Kiara asks where is Upendi during the song, and Rafiki replies, "No place you don't take with you". Also, it's clearly not a specific place in the Pride Lands since Rafiki states in the song, "you can find Upendi where-you-are-o", and claims that "your heart will lead you there". So, what I can gather from this is that Upendi is "a special place in your heart" where you fall in love.

[Carl]

At one point Kiara says, "Upendi means love doesn't it?" after which it seems like (it's been a while since I've actually seen the film so I could be a little off) Rafiki says "Welcome to Upendi". That would suggest to me, if the other things that Regulus and TLP pointed out didn't already, that it was a fantasy place. Further evidence on this point is the fact that at the end of the song, all of the animals become stars, and then it pans down to show Kiara and Kovu walking along in the grass, with no trace of the brightly colored "Upendi" anywhere to be seen. To me, that seems like they didn't really physically go to Upendi, merely that it was a place, for lack of a better phrasing, "in their hearts."

Or, you know, Rafiki coulda drugged 'em and it was just a trip.

[Lauren]

Well, I find the sequence to be cheesy, especially with that atrocious Congo line, ugh. Unlike most fans out there, I don't hate it with a burning passion, but when the scene comes, I just watch it for the sake of watching it so it will pass by and then when it's over, I'm like "Okay. It's over. Next scene!" I like the fact that they try to express Kiara and Kovu's love with the Swahili language since its an African language, but I could never sing this song because they lyrics are way too hard. I also find it to be a fantasy sequence.

[PrincessKiara]

I get the impression that the Upendi scene was the writers way of creating a fantasy sequence similar to "I Just Can`t Wait To Be King," in TLK... and ending up with a cheesy result and a bad song.

[jada boyles]

whats so bad about the upendi song its fine to me i mean yea i could be a little cheesy at first but it serves a purpose of the growing love between kovu and kiara and not to mention mufasa wanted rafiki to help them see the love they have for each other.