Hakuna Matata - in Popular Culture

In Popular Culture

In 1994 the Walt Disney Animation Studios animated movie The Lion King brought the phrase international recognition, featuring it prominently in the plot and devoting a song to it. A meerkat and a warthog, named Timon and Pumbaa respectively, teach the main character, a lion cub named Simba, that he should forget his troubled past and live in the present. The song was written by Elton John (music) and Tim Rice (lyrics), who found the term in a Swahili phrase book. It was nominated for Best Original Song at the 1995 Academy Awards, and was later ranked the 99th best song in movie history by the American Film Institute on a list of 100.

• In the 2006 South Korean comedy 200 Pounds Beauty, Kang Han-na (Kim Ah-jung) often draws a sign supposedly symbolizing hakuna matata for good luck in love.
• In the July 25, 2007 episode of Jeopardy!, "What is hakuna matata?" was the Final Jeopardy question."
• The PlayStation 3 game Afrika was renamed Hakuna Matata in its Asian release.
• In the first season of Benidorm the quiz at the Solana featured the question: "What is Swahili for no worries?"
• Debby Ryan covered the original song for "Disneymania 7" in 2011.
• On the premiere episode of The Real World: St. Thomas, Marie and Robb learn they both have a tattoo that reads "hakuna matata".
• In episode 4 of Citizen Khan, Mr Khan mentions the Hakuna Matata.