Lion King

Who doesn't remember the Disney classic The Lion King and the epic songs in it? People growing up watching Disney have no problem recalling Rafiki and his crazy antics or Timon and Pumba singing in the jungle. Even now as a twenty two year old, I childishly watch the movie knowing full well what's going to happen next. The only thing I wish is that there's a way to make the movie with Avatar technology. So, I thought of a list of actors and actresses that could match the roles of dramatic animals.



Who would take the lead role of Simba? Joseph Gordon-Levitt, of course. After watching him dance in (500) Days of Summer and kick ass in Inception, he suitably displays the traits of a king-to-be by simultaneously being awkward and fierce. It should be a no-brainer for this rising star to go from lost youth to confident leader.



The qualities of casting Scar would require finding an actor who manipulates not only his family but the audience as well. Ralph Fiennes is better recognized as Voldemort, the ultimate villain in the Harry Potter series, but should also be considered for his role as Hades, the treacherous god in The Clash of The Titans. Scar is the weaker brother of the mighty Mufasa. I can easily see Fiennes bowing out of a fight and then only to cleverly plot the demise of his mortal enemy.



James Earl Jones has THE defining voice of the great fathers Mufasa and Darth Vader. Unfortunately, his large figure automatically rules him out from being the alpha male in this live-action movie. In my imaginary film, I would have Liam Neeson casted as Mufasa. Neeson heroically saves his daughter in Taken, heroically saves lives in Schindler's List, heroically guides his son in The Clash of the Titans, and heroically tragically dies in Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. [Morgan Freeman is a close second if it wasn't due to his old age.]



The best friends Timon and Pumba should be the models for every black-and-white duo. This one's pretty hard to cast; so I'm just going to give it to Zach Braff and Donald Faison. I've been obsessively watching the series since the semester has been over and I cannot help but laugh at every almost homosexual act they have. Timon and Pumba are best buds without question as are the comical doctors JD and Turk. Both pairs always make me laugh.



Rafiki, the crazy babboon-shaman, has the smallest role with the largest impact. It's hard to say. This one is a tie between Steve Carell and Jim Carrey. Carell, better known as Michael Scott from The Office, is unfortunately the typecast actor who is usually not taken seriously but does a great job of being serious during intense climaxes. Carrey is one of my favorite actor/comedians. He was snubbed from SNL but moved onto greater things in Hollywood. Both of them have the charismatic qualities of a maniac (in a good way) that has the ability to interpret the future.



The roles of Shenzi, Ed, and Banzai have been criticized, but they are important characters as Scar's underlings. Ken Jeong has a unique ability to make people laugh but at the same time I want to strangle him which qualifies him to be Banzai.



Nala - Natalie Portman



Zazu - Chris Tucker



Sarabi - Oprah



the ending

Finale

I'm 6 days away from graduation, which means I'm 7 days away from post-undergrad life. Although it took a long time, I feel like each semester taught me valuable life lessons. One semester I learned about how to balance school, friends, and family. Another semester I learned not to study too hard for something I didn't enjoy. The past summer I realized how much I enjoyed traveling and how much I will in the future. This semester I've learned to truly appreciate everything I have in my life and not take things for granted. I have definitely used my time in the cornfields to grow as a person. Whether life leads me to a chemistry lab or to an office in Hong Kong, I welcome the change and the adversity that awaits. It could be stupidity or it could be courage. I'm not really sure, but I have always desired to do the impossible. Once I graduate, I want to become someone who will positively affect people's lives. I don't want to be indebted to anyone, but the truth is I owe everyone so much because if it weren't for them I wouldn't be who I am today. This definitely sounds cheesy, but looking back I've had great memories with people I may never see again. It isn't a depressing or pessimistic thought. It's a fact. Things change under different circumstances for everyone. We really won't know where all of us are going to be 5 or 10 years from now. Some people are going to be married and some of them are even going to have children. Sadly, others might even be dead. Person A might be an investment banker, Person B might be a professor, Person C might be a teacher. It's an unknown path that we should appreciate every step of the way, because time flies by and every moment counts. I started this blog 2 years ago. Frankly, I don't really care if people read this or not. It was just a way to keep track of thoughts and ideas that I had. One of my life's ambitions is to be a man of integrity. Whatever I want in life, I will work hard for it. I'm not sure how too gauge how much integrity I have now, but I want to be able to look back in my life and say that I lived a life full of integrity and regret nothing because of my character. I'll hopefully blog once more before graduation. But after that, I'm going to start a new blog to document my travels, tastes, and thoughts as a working man. Time to grind out a long study session.