hakuna matata

In culture

To many outside the Swahili-speaking world, it would seem that the phrase was first popularized by, and perhaps even invented for, the Disney movie The Lion King. However, there have been previous examples of the saying breaking through to international cultures.

The 1980 song "Jambo Bwana"

In 1980, the Kenyan hotel band Them Mushrooms released the song "Jambo Bwana" ("Hello Mister") which became an international hit. The song, written by band leader Teddy Kalanda Harrison, repeated the phrase "Hakuna Matata" in its refrain. In 1984, German disco-pop outfit Boney M covered the song as "Jambo Hakuna Matata (No Problems)", released on the album Kalimba De Luna (16 Happy Songs With Boney M).

Bamse's introduce to Europe

The saying first appeared in Western cartoons in the Swedish comic book Bamse, created by Rune Andréasson, in the mid 1980s, where Bamse's baby daughter Brumma's first words are Hakuna Matata, which no-one understands except Skalman. He made it his and Brumma's "secret" motto, and the phrase has reappeared several times in the cartoon..

Popularized worldwide in The Lion King

In Disney's 1994 movie, a meerkat and a warthog named Timon and Pumbaa, respectively, teach a lion cub named Simba that he should forget his troubled past and concentrate only on the present. In reference to the two characters, the phrase had the added implication of a complete lack of ambition. Timon and Pumbaa used the song "Hakuna Matata," with music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice, to teach Simba. It was nominated for Best Song at the 1995 Academy Awards, and was later ranked the 99th (out of 100) best song in movie history by the American Film Institute.^[1]

Trivia

• The song can be heard briefly in the 1995 Pixar computer animated film Toy Story, in which it was played on Andy's car while Molly sees Woody and Buzz Lightyear through one of the sideview mirrors.
• In the popular TV series Seinfeld, in the episode entitled The Merv Griffin Show, Elaine says that she was caught in the office singing "Hakuna Matata".
• In the film Mouse Hunt, Ernie Smuntz (Nathan Lane) bows to a sheik who is seeking to bid for his home and greets him with the words 'Hakuna Matata.' This is a self-referential joke relating to the song from The Lion King, in which Nathan Lane played the voice of Timon the meerkat.
• In the 2006 film Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, when Jean Girard escapes a crash, he says "Hakuna Matata, bitches!".
• Bunny Wailer covers the song on Reggae for Kids: Movie Classics.

References

1. ^ AFI's 100 YEARS...100 SONGS. http://www.afi.com/tvevents/100years/songs.aspx. Retrieved on 15 August 2006.