Nathan Lane Says Elton John Was “Mortified” By The Idea Of “The Warthog And The Meerkat” Singing His ‘Lion King’ Hit “Can You Feel The Love Tonight”

The Lion King‘s “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” nearly sounded a whole lot different, according to Nathan Lane.

The actor, who voiced the meerkat Timon alongside Ernie Sabella‘s warthog Pumbaa, revealed to Entertainment Weekly that he and Sabella originally “sang the whole thing,” much to the dismay of the ballad’s composer, Elton John.

“Elton John was mortified that the warthog and the meerkat were singing it,” Lane told EW. “He said, ‘The reason I wrote the score was because I wanted to have a Disney love song. I didn’t want it to be sung by the rat and the pig.'”

Lane noted that they did record “a version” that featured solely his and Sabella’s “character voices.”

“It wasn’t like we were going to do our legit Broadway version,” the three-time Tony award winner said. “We were doing two very character-type voices. It’s hard to do that and be romantic. Elton was right.”

As fans of the classic Disney picture are well aware of, and as noted by EW, Timon and Pumbaa croon the first verse and also close out the song with their memorable voices.

John teamed up with lyricist Tim Rice on the entire soundtrack, which still ranks as one of the most beloved among Disney films. “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” earned John both an Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Original Song.

As for whether the song would have done as well if John had not stepped in, Lane teased to EW, “Thankfully, everyone came to their senses.”

The Lion King received the remake treatment in 2019, and once again featured top-notch talent, including Beyoncé, Donald Glover and James Earl Jones, who reprised his role of Mufasa. John and Rice also crafted “Never Too Late,” a new song for the remake which played during the end credits. However, John lamented to British GQ in 2019, “The new version of The Lion King was a huge disappointment to me, because I believe they messed the music up,” per Variety.

“Music was so much a part of the original and the music in the current film didn’t have the same impact,” he said at the time. “The magic and joy were lost.”

The Lion King is streaming on Disney+.