Rafiki appears briefly in The Lion King 1½, and is referred to by Timon as "The Omniscient Monkey". However, a mandrill is a type of baboon. Any help would be great! Rafiki's Ancient Tree, is home to Rafiki. Rafiki is a featured article, which means it has been identified as one of the best articles produced by the Disney Wiki community. Rafiki has the power to communicate with the Kings of the Prides past and also has the ability to read omens. In the musical, the character of Rafiki was significantly modified. So, I was watching the Lion King again the other day and during the circle of life song I noticed the fruit that Rafiki splits over Simbas head. Rafiki is a baboon character who appears in The Lion King films and its spin-off series. He is a friend and Royal Mjuzi of the royal family of the Pride Lands . Rafiki is a mandrill baboon. However, a mandrill is a type of baboon. Beautiful but can be very dangerous. Because TV and films like to portray characters so that the watcher IMMEDIATELY knows what the movemaker is going for. Disney makes it a point to be extremely accurate on all animals in their movies. Rafiki is a mandrill. He was once called a "creepy little monkey" by Simba but he is always held at high regards by the inhabitants of Pride Rock and the Savannah. That why "bad people" in those media often have goatees (and in cartoons often are drawn with slanted eyebrows), "good" people live in old houses with stained glass doors, and "typical" people live in identical houses built in the 1970s with no trees. In the musical, the character of Rafiki was significantly modified. He performs activities similar to that of a shaman, such as presenting young cubs atop Pride Rock to the animals, counseling the royal family and keeping in touch with the Great Kings of the Past . The tree, which appears to be a large baobab tree, appears in every movie, as well as most merchandise inspired by The Lion King, gaining the Tree of Life name on the 2003 DVD release of the film. The images you can find of this particular type of baboon are quite amazing. It is revealed that it was Rafiki who taught Timon the philosophy of Hakuna Matata. Rafiki is a supporting character in The Lion King franchise. Question: What kind of monkey is Rafiki from the Lion King? Rafiki appears briefly in The Lion King 1½, teaching Timon the philosophy of "Hakuna Matata", talking to Timon's mother about her son, and later convincing Timon to follow Simba to Pride Rock to confront Scar. Rafiki is a mandrill, although in the film, he mentions he is a baboon. Rafiki and The Lion King: One of the most colorful characters (literally) in Disney's 1994 The Lion King is Rafiki. Rafiki appears briefly in The Lion King 1½, teaching Timon the philosophy of "Hakuna Matata", talking to Timon's mother about her son, and later convincing Timon to follow Simba to Pride Rock to confront Scar. If you see a way this page can be updated or improved without compromising previous work, please feel free to contribute. The mandrill baboons here at our zoo have quite long tails. Its bugged me ever since I was a kid, does anybody know what the name of the fruit is/ does it even exist? The tree appears in all Lion King media. They are beautifully colored. Some have long tails, while others don't have much of one at all. What kind of animal is rafiki from the movie Lion King? These monkeys have baboon like snouts and were once considered in the same genus as baboons, but mandrills are now classed under a separate genus Mandrills are known for their brilliant sky blue-red coloration of their snouts- both males and females have these colours but the coloration is more pronounced in the male. Rafiki is a mandrill, although in the film, he mentions he is a baboon.