Be Prepared (song)
| "Be Prepared" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Jeremy Irons with Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin and Jim Cummings from the album The Lion King | |
| Released | 1994 |
| Recorded | 1992 |
| Label | Walt Disney |
| Writer(s) | Tim Rice, Elton John |
"Be Prepared" is a song from the 1994 Disney animated film and 1997 Broadway musical The Lion King. The song was composed by Tim Rice (lyrics) and Elton John (music) and originally performed by Jeremy Irons, Cheech Marin, Jim Cummings (who took over after Irons's voice gave out), and Whoopi Goldberg in the film and by John Vickery, Kevin Cahoon, Stanley Wayne Mathis, and Tracy Nicole Chapman in the original Broadway cast for the musical.
The song is performed as a musical number by Scar. Lusting for the position as king of the Pride Lands, a title held by his envied older brother Mufasa, he constantly spends time devising evil schemes that could potentially earn the throne for him with the assistance of his hyena minions, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed. In it, Scar is inspired to develop a plot in which he will arrange for both Mufasa and his nephew Simba to be murdered and notifies his spotted hyenas about it through song, earning a large army of minions for himself through his pledge to spare the hungry animals from starvation if they provide him with assistance.
Originally, the song (first called "Thanks to Me") was about Scar introducing the hyenas to the lionesses after he pronounced himself king and when the lionesses opposed him. This idea was scrapped in favor of the song in the film, later called "Be Prepared". A reprise of the song after Mufasa's death was also cut from the film, but is featured in the musical version.
In the beginning of the second verse, an army of hyenas is shown goose-stepping in front of Scar, who is perched on an overlooking cliff in resemblance of Adolf Hitler with upwards of 22 beams of light pointing straight-up (resembling the Cathedral of light featured in many of the Nuremberg Rallies). Shadows cast onto the cliff evoke for a brief second monumental columns. This is modeled after footage from the Nazi propaganda movie Triumph of the Will.
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