Disney's The Lion King Remake: Casting All 10 Major Roles
5. Pumbaa (John C. Reilly)
Pumbaa's childish, jokey persona - despite him seemingly being a fully-grown, adult warthog - was a juxtaposition that worked really well in the original Lion King. And if there's one actor out there that thrives when it comes to bringing a juvenile, oblivious brand of humour to adult characters, it's John C. Reilly.
The evidence is in his filmography. Step Brothers, where he played a forty-something man-child with a severe case of arrested development; Talladega Nights, with his role as a grown man who wears pink underwear and likes to play with G.I. Joe toys; even Wreck-It-Ralph, a character whose size (and name) are in direct contrast with his lovable heart of gold.
And that's Pumbaa in a nutshell. He looks tough, with his sharp tusks and his sheer bulk, but inside, he's friendly, caring and downright endearing.
Chances Of It Happening
Reilly is consistently reliable whether he's doing comedy, drama, sci-fi or animation, so making the jump to a motion capture/voicework hybrid shouldn't prove to be an issue.
That being said, he does have Wreck-It-Ralph 2 on the cards, another Disney movie that will probably shoot around the same time as The Lion King. The two projects may be too similar - and too close together - for Reilly to undertake both.