by MeerkatOnTheMoon » November 25th, 2020, 1:03 pm
Oh yes I remember reading about their plan to reunite Cheech and Chong as the hyenas. Having Whoopi onboard as Shenzi really worked, though. And yes, female hyenas are matriarchs so that makes sense.
Back then, they had a list of actors auditioning for the hyenas from what I saw on IMDb. Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella also originally auditioned for the hyenas from their interviews. It was supposed to be just Nathan but he recommended Ernie as well so both went in together - they were starring on the Broadway revival of "Guys and Dolls" that time.
A couple months later, Disney called that they got the parts of Timon and Pumbaa, and they were confused at first, since they recorded their auditions as the hyenas. Lol. If I'm not mistaken, they were the first two in any Disney film who got to record their voices together in the same booth during production.
Sad that John Candy passed away or he would've been part of the Pocahontas cast. Meeko and Flit were wonderful additions to the movie.
Time, wondrous time, gave me the blues and then purple-pink skies. ♫
~ Psalm 4:7 ~