Dear AC,
I just got off the phone with my good friend Hans Zimmer, composer of Disney's The Lion King. After a pleasant talk about nothing in particular, you know, about that time with the guy in the predicament at that place--and I'll never forget it, hilarious--HZ's tone suddenly changed.
"You know what, Appleton? Sometimes I feel under-appreciated as a composer. Sure I've done alright--four Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, one Academy Award, and all. Gladiator was okay, Pirates of the Carribbean was likeable enough, Dark Knight had some catchy chords, and Inception was...well, let's just say our minds were all blown on more than one count. But I have one great wish."
"What's that?" I asked.
"I want to be hailed as a true German genius. I went to a lot of effort to cleverly and beautifully insert a theme from Mozart's 'Ave Verum Corpus' into the piece 'To Die' in The Lion King, but nobody seems to have noticed. Uncultured swine," he moaned.
"Sorry, what? I didn't catch that last part. Wait, Mozart in The Lion King? I didn't notice any Mozart. Maybe my hearing was shot after having to listen to Jonathon Taylor Thomas sing at the very beginning. Where's the Mozart at?" I queried.
Zimmer pulled out a score of "Ave Verum Corpus."
"For some reason, my only recording of 'To Die' is in this Finnish release of the movie. At 0:40 on the clock, follow along with the Mozart score, picking up at 'praegustatum' at bar 33 in the tenor and bass parts."
I did what he asked, and, sure enough, there it was, nearly note for note.
"HEAR THAT? HEAR THAT?" Zimmer shouted excitedly.
"Loud and clear Hans," I replied.
"If only more people would hear. I should have kept it in the original key instead of transposing it two half-steps up. Then the masses would've picked up on it for sure."
"Oh, right. That'd do it," I thought to myself.
Bam. Question answered. Except that none of that exchange is actually true. I'm not actually close friends with Mr. Zimmer. Nor do I know anyone who is. A little unfair a question, to ask about the mind of a musical celebrity. How should I know? I could ask him, but somehow I think it would take a while to get a personal audience with the Hans Zimmer. While internet theories abound, there is no report of Zimmer ever saying that the similarity between the two pieces was intentional. However, it may very well have been, as it fits the scene rather well, with the entrance of death and the like.The hymn is about the death of Christ.
--Appleton
Thanks: 
