The zebras show narrow-mindedness towards Khumba (Jake T. Austin) because they think “no stripes [means] no rain”. How could it possibly be his fault the rains do not come? “How could one zebra make all the water go away?”
The isolation of this herd has made them skeptical of other creatures. When the gemsboks go inside of the fence, the zebras reject them immediately. The healer (Sindiew Magona) says, “They have been in here so long, they have forgotten that.” She means, by being in the fence away from other creatures, they do not realize how long they have been isolated.
The creatures in Yin’s Animal Sanctuary are also slightly off. They categorize animals based on how people will react to them. They also pose for pictures instead of scurry away. Because they live in a safe haven, they give-in to the safety instead of keeping up with their natural instincts.
The Dassie rats are obsessed with “the wings of doom” and show tremendous fear of “the mighty black eagle”. Their isolation on top of the mountain has made them overly reactive to outsiders wandering into their mist.
Then when our heroes reach Nora (Catherine Tate), they lone sheep on “the farm”, we see she is completely “crazy”. She talks to herself and dresses up as a ram to scare people off.
On a side note: The Mantis represents balance, awareness, and reflection. He brings these aspects to the different animal communities. Without the Mantis coming in and showing Khumba the way, nothing would have changed and all the cliques of animals would have remained alone.
Inspiration for this movie comes from a real-life breed of zebra: Quagga.
Thanks for reading! See you next week!