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Why Rowan Atkinson originally didn't want to be the voice of Zazu in The Lion King

The Lion King type Stage

Watch the full episode of Couch Surfing streaming now on PeopleTV.com, or download the PeopleTV app on your favorite device.

Despite recent theatrical renditions and upcoming remakes, Disney’s 1994 animated classic The Lion King is iconic. For adults who grew up with the film — and kids still watching the perennial hit — it would be incomplete without Rowan Atkinson’s voice as Zazu, Mufasa’s right-hand hornbill.

When the project first came across Atkinson’s desk, however, he wasn’t immediately on board.

“I didn’t want to do it, really, because voiceovers, voice work is something I generally had never done and never liked,” Atkinson reveals on the latest episode of PeopleTV’s Couch Surfing. “I’m a visual artist, if I’m anything, and it seemed to be a pointless thing to do.”

RELATED VIDEO: Watch rare Lion King recording booth footage

Luckily, Mr. Bean co-writer and actor, Robin Driscoll, convinced Atkinson to give voice acting a shot, and it sure paid off.

“I didn’t realize it would turn into a really, very special film, which it did,” Atkinson says, adding how proud he now is to be a part of such an enduring film.

Watch the full clip, including Atkinson’s advice for fellow Brit John Oliver, who will voice Zazu in the 2019 remake, above.

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