Disney
There aren’t many movies that have a more iconic opening sequence than The Lion King, which comes hot out of the gate with the scene that features the song “Circle of Life.” The opening lyrics are in a language most people aren’t very familiar with, and one comedian who tried to translate the words has started a fundraiser after the man who penned them hit him with a $27 million lawsuit.
In 1994, Disney found itself with yet another hit on its hands after releasing The Lion King, the animated reimagining of Hamlet that raked in close to $1 billion at the box office.
The movie also boasted an Elton John-powered soundtrack with three different tunes that were nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards: “Circle of Life,” Hakuna Matata,” and “Can You Feel The Love Tonight?”
That last one ultimately took home the trophy, but I’d argue the first one ended up standing the test of time more than any other thanks in no small part to its iconic intro.
I don’t think it’s a stretch to suggest the vast majority of people who’ve heard “Circle of Life” don’t actually understand the meaning of the words that are sung at the beginning, which were written and delivered in Zulu and Xhosa by South African composer Lebo M.
It’s unclear how much he made for his contributions, but he’s now angling to extract tens of millions of dollars from a comedian over his lighthearted translation of the lyrics.
Comedian Learnmore Jonsai launched a fundraiser to pay for his legal fees after a joke about the lyrics to “Circle of Life” sparked a $27 million lawsuit
Learnmore Jonsai is a stand-up comedian who was born and raised in Zimbabwe and made a name for himself in Africa. He moved to the United States at the start of the 2020s to try to take his career to the next level, and succeeded in that quest when he finished in the top five on the 19th season of America’s Got Talent in 2024.
Earlier this year, he was a guest on the One54 podcast during an episode where he got the chance to educate the co-hosts who were unaware of the meanings of the opening lyrics to “Circle of Life.”
Jonsai delivered a pretty impression version of the first couple of lines before catching Akbar Gbajabiamila and Godfrey off-guard with the translation he asserted was simply, “There’s a lion. Oh my god.”
If you’re curious, the lines in question are:
Nants’ngwenyama, bakithi, baba
Sithi hu ingonyama
The use of “Ngwenyama” was a purposeful choice due to the fact that it can be translated as both “lion” and “king,” and in English, the lyrics roughly read:
Here comes the lion (king), father
Oh yes it’s a lion
If Disney’s official translation is to be believed, it’s closer to “All hail the king, we all bow in the presence of the king”, so while Jonsai’s interpretation may not be exact, I think most reasonable people would agree he captured the general essence.
However, the man responsible for the lyrics apparently feels differently. Lebo M is listed as the plaintiff in a lawsuit that argues the joke damaged his work to the tune of $27 million, saying the translation “is a fabricated, trivializing distortion, meant as a sick joke for unlawful self-profit and destruction of [his] imaginative and artistic work.”
The composer, who asserted Jonsai has been delivering variations of the joke for close to a decade, asserted it had somehow managed to impact his relationship with Disney and diminish his ability to earn royalties while arguing he should be awarded $20 million in actual damages and another $7 million in punitive damages.
Earlier this week, Jonsai (who was served the lawsuit in the middle of a set) responded to the development in an Instagram video where he put out a call for help in tracking down a lawyer who’d be willing to help him fight the case.
He is also selling t-shirts to supplement the money he’s raised on a GoFundMe for his plight, which has raised over $16,000 as of this writing.
What a world.