The Lion King Reborn: I Just Can't Wait to be King

"I Just Can't Wait to be King" is the second chapter of The Lion King Reborn.

Elephants remember, though just what I can't recall Crocodiles are snapping up fresh offers from the banks Showed interest in my nest egg but I quickly said, "No thanks!" We haven't paid the hornbills and the vultures have a hunch Not everyone invited will be coming back from lunch This is the morning report Gives you the long and the short Every grunt, roar, and snort Not a tale I distort On the morning report About this season's grass In attempts to save their gas Chasing secretary birds Saffron is this season's color Seen in all the herds Moving down the rank and file To near the bottom rung Far too many beetles are Quite frankly in the dung! Awwwwwwk! Gives you the long and the short Every grunt, roar, and snort Not a tale I distort On the morning report So enemies beware With quite so little hair Like no king was before I'm brushing up on looking down. I'm working on my ROAR Free to do it all my way Arranged a heart to heart From little hornbills for a start Count me out! Out of service, out of Africa I wouldn't hang about!
 * (Rise in music — "This Land" track — with theme stated in African flute, it broadens eventually with chorus and full orchestra. We see a rainstorm gently crossing the savannah. Multiplane camera approach to Rafiki's baobab tree. Camera switch to inside the tree. Rafiki is doing hand paintings on the wall. We see he is completing Simba on the day of his birthday)
 * Rafiki: (he completes the ceremonial crown in the painting) Simba.
 * (Fade to black keeping the painting of the cub as a crossover to the fade in of Pride Rock in early morning months later. Simba, now grown as a young cub, is seen coming out on the rock. He runs back into the cave and leaps over several of the lionesses, accidentally jumping on a few)
 * Simba: Dad! Daad! Come on, Dad, we gotta go. Wake up! (to a lioness he stepped on) Sorry! Oomph. (starts to wake up his father) Dad? Daad. Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad —
 * Sarabi: (whispering, to Mufasa) Your son is awake.
 * Mufasa: Before sunrise, he's your son.
 * Simba: Dad? Daad! Come on, Dad! (tugs at Mufasa's ear before he loses his grip) WHOA! (slips and crashes into something off camera. He then comes running back on screen and headbutts Mufasa. Mufasa sleepily eyes his son) You promised!
 * Mufasa: (sees his son's impatience) Okay, okay. I'm up. I'm up.
 * (As Simba scampers out of Pride Rock, Mufasa yawns a well-recorded lion yawn, then gets up. He and Sarabi follow Simba up to the top of Pride Rock. Simba rubs up against Sarabi. She nudges him ahead and stays behind. Departing shot of her, with a loving expression. The sun rise illuminates the top of Pride Rock impressively. Both Simba and Mufasa are on the point)
 * Mufasa: Look Simba. Everything the light touches is our kingdom. A king's time as ruler rises and falls like the sun. One day, Simba, the sun will set on my time here — and will rise with you as the new king.
 * Simba: This will all be mine?
 * Mufasa: Everything.
 * Simba: Wow. (recognizes a dark spot on the north rip-rap canyon) What about that shadowy place?
 * Mufasa: That's beyond our borders. You must never go there, Simba.
 * Simba: But I thought a king can do whatever he wants.
 * Mufasa: Oh, there's more to being king than…getting your way all the time.
 * Simba: (awed) There's more?
 * (Scene switch to Mufasa taking out Simba walking in the savannah deeper into the grasslands)
 * Mufasa: Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance. As king, you need to understand that balance, and respect all the creatures: from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope.
 * Simba: But don't we eat the antelope?
 * Mufasa: Yes, Simba, but let me explain. When we die, our bodies become the grass. And the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connected in the great Circle of Life.
 * Zazu: (lights on a nearby rock) Good morning, sire!
 * Mufasa: Good morning, Zazu.
 * Zazu: Checking in with the morning report.
 * Mufasa: Fire away.
 * (Cue into the musical number of "The Morning Report")
 * Zazu: Chimps are going ape, giraffes remain above it all
 * (As Zazu sings, Simba tries to pounce at Zazu's assistant, who is a marmot, then hits his head on a boulder)
 * Mufasa: What are you doing, son?
 * Simba: Pouncing…
 * Mufasa: Let an old pro show you how it's done.
 * Zazu: (still singing) The buffalo have got a beef
 * Mufasa: (whispers to Simba) Stay low to the ground.
 * Zazu: Warthogs have been thwarted
 * Simba: Okay, stay low to the ground. Right, yeah.
 * Mufasa: Try not to make a sound…take it slow…
 * Zazu: Flamingos in the pink and
 * (Simba pounces Zazu mid-song, and Mufasa bursts into laughter. Simba begins to take pride in his successful pounce and begins blocking Zazu at every turn)
 * Simba: This is the morning report
 * (Right where Zazu is pounced and stunned, Mufasa continues to laugh)
 * Mufasa: (to Simba) That's very good.
 * (The marmot pops up next to Zazu)
 * Marmot: (saluting) Zazu! Sir. News from the underground…
 * Mufasa: (to Simba) Now, this time…
 * (Interrupting and with urgency, Zazu shouts the underground news)
 * Zazu: Sire! Hyenas!! In the Pride Lands!
 * Mufasa: Zazu, take Simba home.
 * Simba: Oh, Dad, can't I come?
 * Mufasa: (curtly) No, son. (heads off at a full gallop)
 * Simba: (sadly muttering to himself) I never get to go anywhere.
 * Marmot: Oh, young master. One day, you will be king. Then you can chase those slobbering, mangy, stupid poachers from dawn until dusk.
 * (Camera change to Scar on his overhanging rock ledge. We see him pace once and kick an old bone off the edge before Simba walks in on-screen)
 * Simba: Hey, Uncle Scar, guess what?
 * Scar: I despise guessing games.
 * Simba: I'm going to be king of Pride Rock.
 * Scar: (sarcastically) Goodie.
 * Simba: My dad just showed me the whole kingdom; and I'm going to rule it all.
 * Scar: Well, forgive me for not leaping for joy. Bad back, you know…
 * (Scar falls to the ground with a twump. Simba goes over and leans on his shoulder)
 * Simba: When I'm king, what will that make you?
 * Scar: A monkey's uncle.
 * Simba: (he tumbles off Scar's shoulder and laughs) You're so weird!
 * Scar: You have no idea. So, your father showed you the whole kingdom, did he? (Simba nods) He didn't show you what's beyond that rise at the northern border?
 * Simba: (disappointed) No…he said I couldn't go there.
 * Scar: And he's absolutely right. It's far too dangerous. Only the bravest lions go there.
 * Simba: Well, I'm brave!
 * Scar: No, I'm sorry Simba; I just can't tell you. I'm only looking out for the well-being of my favorite nephew.
 * Simba: (Scar starts patting Simba's head) I'm your only nephew.
 * Scar: All the more reason for me to be protective. An elephant graveyard is no place for a young prince. (fakes surprise) Oops…! Oh dear, I've said too much…well, I suppose you'd have found sooner or later, you being so clever and all…promise me you'll never visit that dreadful place.
 * Simba: (thinks, then agrees) No problem.
 * Scar: There's a good lad. You run along now and have fun. And remember…it's our little secret!
 * (Simba scampers off from the den while Scar walks away with an evil grin; menace music is heard. Cut to Simba where he is running down the slope of the bottom part of Pride Rock; several lionesses are resting from their morning hunt. He runs down towards two lionesses (Sarabi and Sarafina). Sarafina is giving her daughter Nala a bath)
 * Simba: Hey, Nala.
 * Nala: Hi, Simba.
 * Simba: Come on. I just heard about this great place.
 * Nala: (through clenched teeth) I'm kind of in the middle of a bath.
 * Sarabi: And it's time for yours.
 * (Simba tries to escape. Sarabi bends down and grabs her son. She proceeds to give the struggling cub a bath)
 * Simba: MOM! Mom, you're messing up my mane! (Sarabi smiles) Okay, okay. I'm clean. Can we go now?
 * Nala: So, where are we going? It better not be anyplace dumb.
 * Simba: It's really cool.
 * Sarabi: So, where is this really cool place?
 * Simba: Uh…around the waterhole.
 * Nala: The waterhole? What's so great about the waterhole?
 * Simba: (muttering angrily) I'll show you when we get there.
 * Nala: (to her mother) Mom, can I go with Simba?
 * Sarafina: Hmm…what do you think, Sarabi?
 * Cubs: (through their big broad, forced grins)  PLEASE!? 
 * Sarabi: It's alright with me, as long as Zazu goes with you.
 * (Cut to Zazu flying in the sky overhead with Simba and Nala walking to the waterhole)
 * Zazu: Step lively. The sooner we get to the waterhole, the sooner we can leave.
 * Nala: So where are we really going?
 * Simba: An elephant graveyard.
 * Nala: Wow!!
 * Simba: Shh!
 * Nala: So how are we going to ditch the dodo?
 * (Hearing the cubs below back and forth, Zazu flies back down in front of them)
 * Zazu: Oh, just look at you two. Little seeds of romance, blossoming in the savanna. Your parents will be thrilled, what with your being betrothed and all.
 * Nala: … Meaning?
 * Zazu: One day, you two are going to be married!
 * Simba: I can't marry her. She's my friend!
 * Zazu: Well, sorry to bust the old bubble, but you two turtle doves have no choice. It's a tradition going back generations…
 * Simba: Well, when I'm king, that'll be the first thing to go.
 * Zazu: Not so long as I'm around.
 * Simba: In that case, you're fired.
 * Zazu: Nice try, but only the king can do that.
 * Nala: Well, he's the future king.
 * Simba: So you have to do what I tell you.
 * Zazu: Not yet I don't. And with an attitude like that, I'm afraid you're shaping up to be a pretty pathetic king indeed.
 * Simba: Hmph. Not the way I see it…
 * (Cue into "I Just Can't Wait To Be King". Colors change to wild pop-African. Background abruptly becomes surreal, brightly-colored cartoon style. Zazu plucks Simba's hair where mane would be. Simba gets a mane of leaves before he climbs on a log. Simba shouts at Zazu, startling him backwards into a puddle. The hornbill dries on what appears to be a hanging towel. It reveals the "towel" as the ear of a red elephant, which whacks Zazu with its trunk as a golf club, sending him skipping like a stone across a shallow pool of water. The cubs follow immediately)
 * Simba: I'm gonna be a mighty king
 * Zazu: Well, I've never seen a king of beasts
 * Simba: I'm gonna be the mane event
 * Zazu: Thus far, a rather uninspiring thing
 * Simba: Oh, I Just Can't Wait to be King
 * Zazu: (speaking) You've rather a long way to go, young master, if you think…
 * (For the next verse, Simba and Nala are on each side of Zazu each of them make faces at him)
 * Simba: No-one saying do this
 * Nala: No-one saying be there
 * Simba: No-one saying "Stop that"
 * Both: No-one saying see here
 * (Simba and Nala are now riding on ostriches, passing by Zazu though the pool, soaking him)
 * Simba: Free to run around all day
 * (Zazu flies ahead of the cubs, looking back to speak to them, and so not paying attention ahead. He bumps into a backside of a black rhinoceros, who is eating grass. As the cubs riding on the ostriches pass by, the hornbill lights on a branch, which is being washed towards a waterfall, but Zazu quickly reappears flying after them)
 * Zazu: I think it's time that you and I
 * Simba: Kings don't need advice
 * Zazu: If this is where the monarchy is headed:

This child is getting wildly out of wing! Everybody look right Everywhere you look I'm Standing in the spotlight! Let's hear it in the herd and on the wing It's gonna be King Simba's finest fling Oh, I Just Can't Wait to be King Oh, I Just Can't Wait to be King Oh, I Just Can't Wait to be King
 * Simba: Oh, I Just Can't Wait to be King
 * (The cubs trot up a corridor of plains zebras with blue stripes standing at attention. When Zazu follows, they all turn and raise their tails. Zazu covers himself for protection. Meanwhile, at the small den, Pumbaa and Timon, still resting in their beds, are awakened gradually by the muffled sound of the Broadway musical number pounding in from above. Timon steps out of his sleeping nest, gets a branch out, and starts banging the ceiling)
 * Timon: Hey, keep it down up there!
 * Pumbaa: (waking up) We have neighbors? We should go say hello.
 * Timon: Noisy neighbors. There go the property values.
 * (Nala and Simba dance about under a moving herd of red elephants while the African flute leads a short instrumental sequence. Zazu squawks in a panic as the herd tramples him from left to right. Simba slides down an orange giraffe's neck into Broadway pose)
 * Simba: Everybody look left
 * Zazu: (speaking, but in strict time) Not yet!
 * (The chorus of animals (including elephants, hippos, anteaters, anteaters, antelopes, and giraffes) forms a pyramid with the cubs on top of an ostrich. Timon and Pumbaa emerge from the cave, they find themselves in the middle of an ostentatious finale of the song)
 * Timon: Oh, perfect. We moved to the theater district! Get a load of these guys.
 * Chorus: Let every creature go for broke and sing
 * Timon: Knock it off!
 * (Timon thwacks a red elephant's foot with his stick. His eyes pop wide open and loses balance. One by one, all the rest of the animals in the pyramid, and the red elephant seal Timon and Pumbaa inside their den, squishing them underneath. Zazu, who is seen holding onto a black rhino, gets squashed under it)
 * Zazu: I beg your pardon, madam, but…GET OFF! Simba? Nala?
 * Timon: Oy. Showpeople.