The ‘Lion King’ became one of the top selling and most iconic movies of all-time after its release in June 1994, with memorable characters like Simba, Scar, Mufasa, Nala and Zazu among the cast of favorites.
The movie includes several memorable scenes and chapters, with few capturing the attention of the audience quite like young lion Simba’s voyage into the outskirts of his territory, where he befriends Timon the meerkat and Pumba the warthog.
During his time with the dynamic duo, Simba learns the classic song ‘Hakuna Matata’ (“It means no worries for the rest of your days…”), and is introduced to one of the delicacies of the forest: grubs, which are eaten after being taken from logs that have been flipped over.
The sight is a slimy one to say the least, but Simba posits the crew’s motto, holds his nose and goes in for the kill, chomping down on the creature and enjoying the first meal as part of his new life.
22-Year-Old TikTok Star Eats Grubs, Educates on Indigenous Amazon Communities
In the middle of the Amazon Rainforest, 22-year-old TikTok influencer Cunhaporanga Tatuyo releases new videos and photos to her TikTok audience of over six million people weekly.
Wearing face paint, she began her social media career dancing to songs, dubbing videos, and wildly distorting her appearance on camera, according to the Washington Post, which profiled her in a recent article.
It all began when she was “bored,” according to the Post article, and escalated quickly as she decided to show off a provocative custom in her culture.
Holding up a thick, wriggling beetle larva to the camera, she addressed her audience.
“People ask, ‘Cunhaporanga, is it true that you really eat larva?’
“Of course we eat them! Do you want to see?”
As the bug was devoured and Cunhaporanga let out an audible “Mmmhhh” sound, a new viral star was born.
Cunhaporanga is a member of the Tatuyo tribe, which paint their faces in bright red, wear feathered headdresses and live with macaws and other brightly colored wildlife.
They survive off of whatever they can grow or catch, which sometimes includes the slimy insects.
Her success is a testament to social media’s power for educating and connecting people, from the tallest buildings in New York City to some of the most remote and private places on Earth.
Some of her most popular videos include showing off a tool used to make cassava flour, which received over 16 million views, offering her family a bowl of larvae to eat, with over 6.7 million views, and a video of her dancing to a viral pop song with over four million views.
Internet costs about $65 in her village, which used to be a huge problem but is now quite easy to pay.
The trend was described as a positive by a member of another indigenous community in the country.
“This is an important opportunity,” said Beto Marubo, a member of the Marubo people, whose village just got the Internet and is gaining tons of followers already.
“The Brazilian people don’t know Indigenous people, and from this lack of information has come all sorts of terrible stereotypes like Indigenous people are lazy or indolent or unhappy.”
Check out video of Cunhaporanga’s family grub feast below, and follow her on TikTok by clicking here.