Zazu

**Zazu** is a major character in *The Lion King*. He is an uptight, red-billed hornbill that served as King Mufasa's (and later Simba's) majordomo and royal advisor, and the begrudged caretaker of Simba and later his children.

Zazu is charged with upholding order within the Pride Lands, giving a daily Morning Report to the king, though he is rarely taken by others seriously due to his diminutive size and fragile temper.

### Personality

As the king's majordomo, Zazu is knowledgeable, diplomatic, and stern. He takes his position as a royal advisor very seriously, and carries himself in a no-nonsense—and oftentimes, pompous—manner. Unfortunately, the demanding, and sometimes dangerous nature of his job has left Zazu with a considerable amount of anxiety and emotional instability; he is prone to falling into a panic when things go wrong, and he can be rather irritable and snappish.

Because of his fragile temper and high opinion of himself, Zazu is not taken very seriously by the other characters, specifically Simba and Nala, who would often tease the majordomo as children. Similarly, Scar saw Zazu as nothing more than a pest and repeatedly sought to torment the hornbill when given the chance. Even Mufasa has had his share of fun in teasing Zazu. Nevertheless, Zazu is undoubtedly loyal to the king and has proven his usefulness on numerous occasions. As the king's "eyes and ears", Zazu knows all and tells all, especially when trouble arises. If not for Zazu, Simba and Nala would have very well met their demise at the jaws of the hyenas, as it was he who had informed Mufasa of the danger before things could take a turn for the worse.

Zazu is also shown to have a sense of humor, as he was able to make a joke about turning Scar into a throw rug (to which he adds that Mufasa can "take him out and beat him whenever he gets dirty"). He also has a quirky habit of sliding blatant puns into his morning reports.

Zazu also shows shines of bravery, such as when a young Kion and Bunga escaped his clutches and came across Pua's Float, and are nearly eaten, Zazu coming to the rescue, and because he knew the crorocdile way, he gave his place, placing himself in Makuu's mouth, with his bravery saving the three alongside also saving Fuli from hyenas, nearly costing it his life.

In the 2019 film, he is shown to enter Pride Rock to give Sarabi and Nala the morning report, though he was banished by Scar, with the penalty being, eaten by the hyenas. Also in the film, he intervenes Scar finding Nala and saves her so she can escape Pride Rock, with Scar trying to run him off, giving the young lioness a chance.

## The Lion King

As King Mufasa's majordomo and close friend (he is one of the few who calls Mufasa by his name), he is very serious and always sticks to the rules.

He is first seen in the film during the opening sequence in which Simba is presented. He later confronts Scar on his absence from the ceremony and is almost eaten by him until Mufasa arrives. When Scar leaves, Zazu humorously suggests to Mufasa that Scar would make an excellent rug.

When Simba has grown into a cub, Zazu is often ridiculed by him, being the target in Simba's pouncing lessons. He is ordered to watch over Simba and Nalaby Sarabi when Simba claims he wants to go to the waterhole with Nala. In fact, Simba has earlier been lured by Scar to go to the Elephant Graveyard, and after the song "I Just Can't Wait to Be King", Simba and Nala successfully lose Zazu and go to the graveyard. Zazu later catches up with them, but they encounter the three hyenas Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed. Zazu is inserted into the hyenas' "birdie boiler" geyser which rockets him up to the sky. He manages to find Mufasa and lead him to the cubs, just in time to save them from the hyenas, although it is also implied shortly after the hyenas flee that Mufasa, in addition to being upset with Simba for deliberately disobeying him by going to the Elephant Graveyard, is also upset at Zazu for failing to keep watch on the cubs. Zazu is then ordered to take Nala home while Mufasa has a word with Simba.

During the wildebeest stampede engineered by Scar and his minions to kill both his brother and nephew, it is Zazu who leads Mufasa to Simba. As he watches the stampede, he wants to go back for help but is struck by Scar into a wall and rendered unconscious. After Simba runs away, Zazu is seen comforting Sarabi when Scar informs the pride that both Mufasa and Simba have been killed in the stampede (unaware that Simba actually survived). He and the pride are then seen watching in horror as Scar allows the hyenas into the Pride Lands.

Zazu also briefly appears years later, in a scene after Scar has assumed the kingship of the Pride Lands. In this scene, Zazu is imprisoned and is being forced to entertain Scar by singing songs like "Nobody Knows the Troubles I've Seen" and "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts" (but not before briefly singing the lyrics of "It's a Small World"). When the hyenas come in to complain about the lack of food and water, Scar casually tells them to eat Zazu (although Scar also likely suggested to the Hyenas that they eat Zazu specifically as revenge for Zazu earlier mentioning Scar's brother in a favorable light compared to Scar under his breath), and he frantically insists that he'd be "so tough and gamey and eyugh!" although the Hyenas ultimately decide not to eat him, unknowingly agreeing with Zazu about Mufasa being better.

Later on, Simba returns to reclaim his throne. The lionesses, Timon, Pumbaa, and Rafiki battle the hyenas while Simba battles his uncle. Zazu pleads Timon to let him out of the ribcage he is imprisoned in, but Timon goes inside the ribcage instead as he is pursued by the hyenas. Pumbaa comes to the rescue and chases away the hyenas after Banzai inadvertently insults him. Zazu is freed along with Timon and joins the two in chasing them away and doing a victory yell. Later, Zazu is seen at Simba's ascension to the throne and during the presentation of Simba and Nala's newborn cub.

## The Lion King II: Simba's Pride

Zazu plays a minor role in the film, functioning mostly as a messenger. He is first seen at Kiara's presentation, signaling that everyone has gathered. He is next seen when Simba is lecturing Kiara before she goes out to play, and Zazu mentions the dangers of the Outsiders, calling them backstabbing and murderous. Years later on Kiara's 1st solo hunt, Zazu assured a pacing Simba not to worry, that his daughter will be fine, and asked what could happen; but when a wildfire starts, he is sent ahead to find her.

When Zazu finds that Kiara is being rescued by Kovu, he reports the information back to Simba. After Kovu asks a skeptical Simba to join the pride, an equally skeptical Zazu notes that royal protocol demands that debts (such as the one Simba owes Kovu for rescuing Kiara) must be repaid, though Zazu would be quite happy to make an exception and even suggests that Simba should do so, making it clear he didn't trust Kovu any more than Simba did. Later, after Simba returned injured from an ambush by Kovu's mother Zira and the Outsiders, he is sent by Kiara to find help. Finally, near the end of the film, he appears in a panic, reporting to Simba that the Outsiders are preparing to attack.

In the end, Zazu is seen standing next to Timon and Pumbaa at the presentation of Kiara and Kovu's wedding to which Timon and Pumbaa start crying with happiness and Zazu covers himself from the wetness of their tears.

## The Lion King 1 1/2

Zazu's appearances are extremely brief in The Lion King 1½. He is first seen at the presentation of Simba, talking to Mufasa. He is then seen going to rescue Simba from the hyenas with Mufasa. In the credits for this film, he is incorrectly listed as "Zasu"

## Trivia

* Zazu meets Thomas, Twilight Sparkle and their friends in *Thomas and Twilight Sparkle's Adventures of The Lion King.*
* Zazu guest star in Thomas and Twilight Sparkle's Adventures Series. He is revealed to be Iago's cousin.
* Zazu is known to tell when two people are in love. This is revealed in
* Zazu has shown the ability to hover in mid-air, a very difficult flying ability. The only real life birds capable of this are the hummingbird and certain birds-of-prey like the kestrel, the latter doing so to pinpoint prey; birds-of-prey also cannot do so indefinitely.

## Gallery

Zazu in The Lion GuardZazu with MufasaZazu comforting Sarabi after Mufasa's deathZazu with SimbaZazu with NalaZazu with KiaraZazu with KionZazu with BupuZazu with The Lion GuardZazu with ScarZazu with Shenzi, Banzai and EdLionking2019-animationscreencaps.com-663.jpgZazu as he appears in the 2019 live action remake of the Lion King