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Lion King Reo Māori cast give performance of 'Circle of Life' in Te Reo at premiere

The team absolutely killed it!!

The Lion King Reo Māori is hitting the cinemas tomorrow!

The Lion King Reo Māori has officially hit cinemas. 

The cast and crew performed an acapella version of 'Circle of Life' in te reo Māori at their world premiere, and it was absolutely beautiful. 

Watch the spine-tingling performance of the waiata. 

We are super excited to see the Te Reo version of the legendary film and hear all the classic songs in the beautiful te reo Māori.

It's set to come out on Disney+ later in September. 

Directors of performance and music Rachel House and Rob Ruha had their work cut out choosing the actors. 

Check out the cast of the Lion King Reo Māori :

Lion King Reo Māori cast give performance of 'Circle of Life' in Te Reo at premiere

The team began casting the Māori versions of the characters back in 2021, hunting up and down Aotearoa to find the perfect performers.

The filmmakers wanted to celebrate a variety of dialects in the film. The Lions will be speaking the Tainui dialect, drawing a parallel between the lions of pride rock and Kīngitanga, Rafiki will speak, Tūhoe, and Timon and Pumba in Te Tai Tokerau.

Producer Tweedie Waititi backed the project by calling the film a “massive kaupapa”, adding, “I’m so stoked with how all the mita is sitting within one film. I can’t wait for the motu to see it”.

“One of our biggest goals we set out to achieve is Kotahitanga (unity), and I believe this film is a celebration of that.”