Why does rafiki have a tail

More is revealed about Rafiki's homeland, Grass Walls , in this book. After hearing news that his home is in danger, Rafiki sets out with Simba to save his kin. Upon reaching Grass Walls, he finds it barren and in horrible condition.

He finds out from his friends and cousins that Jelani , the leader of the baboon troop , is slacking off in his job. With the help of Simba, Rafiki gains control of the troop and leads them to a new home.

After they reach a lush jungle, their new home, Jelani admits his mistakes and regains leadership over the troop. The Lion King Wiki Explore. Top content. The Lion King The Lion Guard. Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? View source. History Talk 3. Do you like this video?

Play Sound. Categories Canon articles Species. But what grabs your attention is their bright coloration. They have thick ridges along the nose that are purple and blue, red lips and nose, and a golden beard.

An adult male mandrill that has the brightest and most distinctive colors on his face seems to be most attractive to females. Well, those colors impress the ladies. And, they help mandrills to follow each other in thick forests. Adult females have duller colors and longer muzzles. They are also much smaller, about half the size of the adult males.

Mandrills live in the rainforests of equatorial Africa. They have long arms and can travel long distances on the ground. They do climb trees, though, and even sleep there, selecting a different tree each evening. Mandrills come equipped with their own built-in carryout containers!

They have large cheek pouches inside their mouth that they can stuff full of food to eat at a later time. Sometimes they take their goodies to a safer location before enjoying them.

Male mandrills spend most of their time on the ground, foraging for seeds, nuts, fruits, and small animals. Females and youngsters find their food in the trees. Mandrills live in small social units, but often join up with other small groups to form larger ones called hordes. One of the largest groups documented numbered over 1, mandrills! Mandrill hordes are noisy. They communicate with deep grunts and high-pitched screams while they forage and travel.

Male mandrills do not reach full adult maturity until they are about nine years old. This is a challenging time in their life. A geographical inaccuracy around the character is his very presence. Mandrills aren't endemic to the Sub-Saharan African region in which the film is set and are mostly found in the equatorial rainforests of Africa. Originally titled King of the Beasts , the first Lion King film went through several rewrites that had initially envisioned Rafiki as a cheetah.

One of these versions had also labeled the antagonistic Scar as a baboon! Later, a wise, old baboon called Kwashi was introduced in the story. Kwashi is the one who helps the lion prince Simba run away from the hyenas following his father's murder. When Simba grows up to be a stronger lion, Kwashi mentors him to take back his throne. Kwashi was, of course, replaced by Rafiki in the final cut. Rafiki's original voice actor Robert Guillaume, based Rafiki's voice on what he referred to as "a Jamaican accent.

I was just having fun with it, and I realized later on that it was a really poor attempt at a Jamaican accent. In the same interview, Guillaume also touched upon how he had been playing around with Rafiki's voice at parties, even before his role was finalized. Even though the iconic opening track is in Zulu, many others are in the Swahili language. In one of his interactions with the adult Simba, Rafiki hangs by a branch and merrily sings a Swahili line, " Asante sana, squash banana, we we nugu, mi mi apana.

This roughly translates to, "Thank you very much, squash banana, you are a baboon and I am not. As mentioned before, Robert Guillaume voiced Rafiki in the first film.