Lion King in te reo

Auditions for the reo Ma¯ori version of Disney’s The Lion King have opened, and producers have confirmed which dialects they want for each character. The hyenas would speak the Nga¯ti Kahungunu reo, the lions were from Tainui, and Timon and Pumbaa were from up in Te Tai Tokerau. Matewa Media was developing Lion King in te reo Ma¯ori, after launching Moana Reo Ma¯ori in 2018. They were also working on Frozen, set for release late next year. Director Tweedie Waititi said developing the scripts in te reo wasn’t as simple as just creating literal rewrites. ‘‘It’s not just translating words, we are translating the world. We have put a lot of thinking and wa¯nanga into this kaupapa,’’ she said. To choose which iwi should voice different characters, the producers had looked at the stories and background of each film. Te Waipounamu iwi Nga¯i Tahu was noticeably absent from The Lion King casting call, but Waititi said she was talking to the southern iwi already about