(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)
(THEME MUSIC CONCLUDES)
NARRATOR: Our story begins as night descends
on the African Pride Lands,
where we find a young tour guide who is... What are you doing, exactly?
(GASPS) Oh, my goodness! You scared me. I'm practicing for my first day
-of giving tours. I'm a little nervous. -NARRATOR: You're gonna be great.
-And you seem to be prepared. -Oh, you have no idea.
From aardvark to zebra, I've read about everything.
It's just when I get in front of people, I freeze up like a warthog in an ice bath.
NARRATOR: I see. Calm yourself. Look at the stars.
The great tour guides of the past look down on us from those stars.
-You just need to remember who you are. -Right.
-Who am I? -NARRATOR: I'm sorry, hang on.
-(CLEARING THROAT) You just need to... -(THUNDER RUMBLING)
-MUFASA: Remember who you are. -I...
NARRATOR: You're the queen of the tour guides.
-Now, let's see what you've got. -Right, okay.
So, the sun crests on the horizon, right? And all the animals are looking up
with grass stuffed in their mouths. (CHOMPS)
NARRATOR: Maybe less mimicry of the animals.
See? I can't do this.
Maybe I need some kind of visual aid to help tell the story?
NARRATOR: Now, that's an idea. And I think I've got just the people
-to help you out. -Oh, yes!
NARRATOR: Introducing three exceptional teams
of some of the world's best food artists.
Award winning professional carvers, the Lucky Charms.
The Storytellers,
seasoned culinary instructors and their protégé.
And prize-winning cake competitors, Ladies and the Champ.
Which of these teams can best help the tour guide tell the story of Simba
and take home the coveted Disney Foodtastic pin?
A prize so rare, it's only fit for a king.
From the first time we saw Rafiki holding up the newborn Simba
for all to see. It was instantly carved into our minds as a symbol of power,
royalty, and cuteness.
We've all held up a puppy or kitten and done this in our homes. Don't lie.
This is Foodtastic!
(ALL CHEER)
Today, you'll be helping the tour guide we just met tell the story of Simba
from The Lion King.
Which brings us to our very own Timon and Pumbaa around this watering hole.
Food art geniuses, Benny Rivera, and Amirah Kassem.
-What? -(CONTESTANTS CHEERING)
-KEKE: Hey, you guys. -BENNY: Hi.
(CONTESTANTS APPLAUDING)
Today, your task is to recreate one of the most iconic moments from the film.
Simba and one of his companions crossing the waterfall together on the log.
Now, on these stone slabs are three different stages of Simba's journey.
Young Simba, adolescent Simba, and adult Simba. You'll each take one
to determine which Simba you're building. And to complete our circle of life,
your three finished creations will fit together as one large diorama
depicting the entirety of Simba's journey. (CHUCKLES EXCITEDLY)
Benny and Amirah, what's gonna impress you guys today?
Technical ability. We want to see how you recreate that iconic look
of the characters. Remember, it's all about the details
and the magic of Disney lives through them.
And of course, I'll be looking for creativity.
I wanna feel the story as I walk up.
I mean, you're working with such an iconic film.
KEKE: And please know, here on Foodtastic, whatever food items you don't use
in your builds will be donated to a food bank.
Now, we'd love to give you all the time in the world,
but like Mufasa said, "A king's time as ruler rises and falls with the sun."
And when the sun finally sets over our horizon...
your foodscapes must be done.
Trust me, you do not wanna be caught in the Pride Lands alone after dark.
(CONTESTANTS CHUCKLE)
Now, grab your stone slabs and get to work!
(CONTESTANTS CHEER)
Go, go, go!
-LONDON: Okay, what we got? -So, we got adolescent Simba.
-Adolescent Simba? Cool. -Awesome.
-Hey, y'all, we got young Simba. -Oh, baby.
-We got young Simba. -Oh, man.
-We got adult Simba. -Ooh, yes!
DYLAN: Oh, that's gonna be fun. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
-Let's get to it, guys. -Okay. So, I'll do the log.
And then adult Simba, of course.
TAMMY: We're gonna help the tour guide tell the story of adult Simba and Zazu.
DYLAN: And then, the desert over here, like, the elephant graveyard.
-MICHELLE: Do a pond element. -TAMMY: Yeah.
We're gonna use broccoli and chocolate for the trees.
TAMMY: We all met through a South Florida cake fair,
very close to Disney. To me, it's magical.
My parents grew up watching Disney being built
and going to Disney when it was first built in Orlando.
So, we'll start up here,
-and then kind of work our way around. -TAMMY: Yeah.
This is the biggest thing I've ever created.
-MICHELLE: This is the biggest film... -TAMMY: This is a lot to do.
We're really gonna have to maximize our time. I'm gonna start on Simba
'cause that's gonna take the longest, but it's gonna be a lot,
-and we gotta work fast, very fast. -Fast and efficiently.
-Yes. Perfect. Yeah. -TAMMY: Absolutely.
LONDON: So, we really need to help the tour guide,
-like, that's our main focus. -Absolutely.
-LONDON: So, we're putting our... -SCHELLIE: Adolescent Simba.
LONDON: Yeah.
-And then, we're going to have... -Timon.
And they're gonna be, like, on a nice walk, singing "Hakuna Matata."
And they're gonna be made out of rice cereal treats, cake,
chocolate ganache and modeling chocolate,
and we can make the tree out of micro sponge.
London, I think you should definitely take the lead on Simba and Timon...
-I agree. -...just because you're, like,
-the best sculptor out of the group... -Yeah, absolutely.
-...and you have that... -Okay.
...awesome, artistic mind. Just make them look Disney.
How are we gonna make a circle of life?
We're helpin' the tour guide tell the story of young Simba and Pumbaa.
Let's make Simba chewin' on Pumbaa's tail or something,
-like playing around. Yeah! -Chewing on his tail? Playing around?
-That's great. Let's do that. -TREY: That's what kids do.
TATOR: Simba and Pumbaa's gonna be made out of, like, bread...
-CHRIS: And pasta. -TATOR: ...and pasta.
We're gonna be doing some daikon tusks.
-Well, hello there, Lucky Charms. -(CHEERS)
How's it going?
KEKE: Tell me a little bit about you guys. What do you usually do back at home?
I'm a wood sculptor, you know? I travel a lot, compete a lot.
-That's where I met this guy. -Competin' in ice.
I met Chris at the World Ice Art Championships.
I was like, "That's a rock star right there. That dude is cool."
-And this is my son, Trey. -Okay.
All right, I'm excited to get into you guys' build.
What is the story that your foodscape is telling?
This is the circle of life. That's what we got.
In The Lion King, Simba gets separated from his dad, right?
And in my life, I've had my own, family stuff,
but it brought him into my life. So, we have young Simba right here,
which is kind of representing me in this story.
Biting the tail of Pumbaa, representing Chris right here.
That's kinda that playful essence right there, that's kinda how we are.
Trey is my son that came into my life at seven.
He means so much to our family. I know he thinks that we help him,
but he really helps us.
-I... I... I... can't. -This is... I know.
-I know. -I know. I know.
That's the type of story that Disney is all about.
Trey's got to travel with me in wood sculpting.
He helps me out, he's learning a bit about it, and then doing, like,
touch-up, paint, colors.
-Right. -And teaching him now, like, as an artist,
rather than just as a father and son, you know?
It's really a cool experience,
and that's one of the really specials things
about this experience that we're getting to do.
I'm really excited to see how your foodscape turns out.
-I'm wishing y'all the best of luck, okay? -Thank you.
-Let's go. Get to the pantry. -LONDON: Awesome, all right.
TREY: (CHUCKLES) This is awesome.
-It's like a magical jungle in here. -CHRIS: My gosh.
DYLAN: So, we know we need a lot of broccoli.
Oh, the wheatgrass is great. This would be beautiful
for our leafy green area.
TAMMY: I'm gonna grab more corn. I'm gonna grab it all.
-I need this white rice flour. -London, you think we can use a coconut
-for anything? -LONDON: Yeah,
-we could probably use some coconuts. -Okay.
CHRIS: I gotta start making pasta, like, immediately.
-There's the bread you need for Pumbaa. -TATOR: Awesome. Awesome. Yes!
Look at these mushrooms.
-This is amazing. -I'm just gonna take all these cakes.
-TAMMY: Got a handful. (CHUCKLES) -AUSTIN: No cakes for you. I'm kidding.
-DYLAN: That's a lot of corn. -I need a lot more.
TATOR: Looking good. It's exciting.
I thought the coral red...
-Yeah. Yeah. Nice. -...would be perfect.
Right now, I'm taking this gum paste and I'm mixin' it here with some color,
and I'm gonna give us some river rocks right here.
And just giving them random shapes, tryina make ‘em nice and flat.
These are gonna be the base of my river.
Those rocks are looking really good. Different sizes, different shapes,
-make them flat. -CHRIS: The definition of random.
MICHELLE: Okay, Zazu, it's go time, boy.
I am working on Zazu, and he is made from rice cereal treats
and covering chocolate. He is gonna be taking flight,
and that is very challenging to have his wings spread out.
I'm not used to having to deal with structure in that way.
So I'm excited to see if I can make it happen.
They're flyin'.
I'm usin' the corn silk for the mane on Simba.
All right.
When it's dried out and colored, it looks like real hair.
It's just very difficult and very time-consuming,
but it's worth it.
Here we go.
I'm very happy with the way they're turning out so far,
so I think it's gonna work out great.
LONDON: My main focus is Simba and Timon.
All right, that's a big boy of fondant right there.
That's my job. Make sure that they look accurate
and that they are just fun Disney characters.
For Simba, I'm making his colors right now in fondant. I really wanna make sure
they're true to the color palette.
(AUSTIN GRUNTING)
LONDON: I'm... I'm feeling a little stressed, but I think
that if I can just stay focused, I can knock out the two characters.
A little stress is always good, but don't doubt yourself
'cause you're amazing and you're talented.
The great thing about our team is we all have just the utmost respect
for each other. We all met at a culinary school in Charlotte, North Carolina.
-SCHELLIE: I'm a chef instructor. -AUSTIN: And I was her teaching assistant.
And then, London is one of our students.
Why are you leaning? Stop leaning. (SIGHS)
You okay? Really, tell me the truth. What do you need?
I'm building it up 'cause I don't want it to be too small on that body.
SCHELLIE: London is an amazing cake decorator.
She would test recipes for me. That's how good she was.
-I don't feel confident in this at all. -SCHELLIE: You've got it, London.
(LONDON SIGHING)
I noticed London on day two of class.
She's super talented.
Your other classmates, literally, I would hear 'em all the time,
"London's so talented."
And any of your previous instructors, 'cause we do talk.
-Yeah, I learned... I learned that. -Oh, yeah, all of us talk.
-It's like the big gossips. -Recently, I learned that.
BENNY: Hi, Storytellers.
-Hello. How's it going? -Hi. How are you?
How are you guys feeling so far?
-Good. -Are you stressed out?
LONDON: I'm just worried about his head being proportionate, so...
Yes, that... It's extremely important.
Aka, make the head bigger, London. (CHUCKLES)
LONDON: Oh, yeah, I'm tryna go for accuracy.
I know what you're going through. I know how stressful that can be.
-AUSTIN: Absolutely. -But just take a step back
and then look at the proportions. Just keep that in mind.
-LONDON: (CHUCKLES) Thank you. -AUSTIN: Thank you.
See you later.
AUSTIN: I think he is referring to the head.
-He just... he wants it bigger. -LONDON: Yeah, it looks...
That's what my biggest concern is, but I'm like, how am I gonna build it out?
Benny is looking for everything to be right. I feel like it means a lot.
It's people like him that I look up to and that I learn from.
AUSTIN: You should cover the whole head in cereal treats
and then we can make it larger. (CHUCKLES)
LONDON: Or I could just build it out of modelling chocolate 'cause...
-SCHELLIE: Yeah. -Okay. This ear needs to be bigger.
TAMMY: Currently, right now, on Simba. I have to finish carving him.
Once I'm happy with his shape, we're gonna cover him with chocolate
and then we'll add all our details.
MICHELLE: Are any of the paws game... free game, or... to cover, coat?
You can cover, but I've gotta carve 'em down.
So, nothing's ready to coat yet?
-No. No. -Okay.
MICHELLE: All right, I guess we can wait on that. (SIGHING)
TAMMY: The challenging part is the size of him. He's very huge
and you have to get all the angles right and the muscle structures right.
I feel like his shape is good, you don't think?
Yes, but when you add the stuff, it's gonna bulk him up...
-MICHELLE: I know. -...then he'll be too big.
So, finish doin' all the stuff you guys need to do.
Let me finish this and then we'll be good.
DYLAN: I would honestly leave it, Tammy. It looks... it looks great.
It... it's too thick though, Dylan.
DYLAN: It's a little challenging when some people have certain ideas
on how to do things. It can slow some other teammates down.
-There's a lot to do. -Yes.
DYLAN: Maybe you should tell her the leg is okay.
I've tried.
The Lion King, for me, is childhood, really.
It was one of the first Disney movies that I ever watched.
CHRIS: That looks good. Starting to come together.
TREY: A little bit.
I can relate to Simba in a lot of ways.
Just kind of that lost soul, but then he's able to find his own family.
And that's how I kind of have to view myself every day.
-TATOR: How's it comin' over there? -Not too bad.
I'm gonna start settin' these pieces up on top. That way the royal icing
-doesn't slide down. -TATOR: Okay.
It's getting kinda hot in here, so I'm tryna do that
to control the temperature.
CHRIS: It is a little warm. I mean, we are right next to the setting sun here.
-(CHUCKLES) -TATOR: I liked the sun before,
I don't like it so much now.
Why you gotta put the scary sun
-next to us? -(CHRIS CHUCKLING)
TATOR: So, I'm making Pumbaa and young Simba
completely out of sourdough bread bowls.
CHRIS: Tator, you look like you're out sellin' bread right now.
TATOR: I've never actually carved with bread before,
but one of the things that I like about the bread so far,
from a structural standpoint, it's very strong.
You want me to carve more? Cut it down to that.
CHRIS: I would think just a little more. Yeah.
The overall muscle structure has to be carved into this
so that when we put the pasta over it, I get the right shape.
-TREY: It's starting to look like Pumbaa. -TATOR: Right? Slowly, but surely.
-How are you guys comin'? You good? -CHRIS: I'm gonna start wrappin'
-your legs, do the pasta. -TATOR: Okay.
CHRIS: We're making the skin for these animals
and we're trying to veer away from, cakes and sweets.
We really wanted to go savory, especially with the animals.
So, I need something to replicate fondant. I have to use fresh pasta,
because I need a sheet to be able to drape over this.
-Put this on. -Yeah.
Just touch the bread, the lip bread. God, that sounds so weird.
I've got three types of pasta. Number one is a chocolate pasta.
We've gotta have that color for Pumbaa.
Then I gotta make a semolina egg pasta, that hopefully really matches the color
of Simba, and last, squid ink 'cause I need that nice black
to go onto, like, the hooves. We're trying to use natural colors.
Hopefully, it comes across.
Lucky Charms.
-Hey, hey! -BENNY: How are you guys doing here?
-CHRIS: What's going on? -TREY: Fabulous. How are you?
I see, a few bumps in the body.
-I see seams all over the place. -CHRIS: Yes.
-BENNY: I'm a little worried. -CHRIS: Yep.
What's the plan?
With all the hairs and furs we have, once it starts flowin' together,
-it's gonna look great. -Just make sure that no seam is exposed.
-Okay. You got it. -Okay?
-Thank you. -TREY: Thank you, Benny.
SCHELLIE: I started some vegetation.
And I'm gonna make a few more of these onion lotus flowers.
We're gonna make a few more mushrooms,
and then we're gonna make stargazer flowers out of this.
I cut them on a slicer and trim them up with my crimper.
And then I think we should be good.
And right now, we have an umbrella tree in the fall.
Gonna start mixing this micro sponge for it, Schellie.
Are you? Okay, cool.
That's gonna be really cool for our umbrella tree.
In order to cover the whole umbrella tree. We need a ton of micro sponge
that we're gonna use for the leaves on the tree.
This is the batter we're gonna use for the leaves.
I'm charging it twice with NO2 cartridges, which is helping to aerate the batter.
And I'm microwaving 'em for one minute. And it creates this really nice,
fluffy cake texture that we can just pull apart
and really create nice detail,
and we'll stick that up there into our tree.
Schellie, this is what you would do, right? (CHUCKLING)
-SCHELLIE: Absolutely. -AUSTIN: Okay.
Let's talk about our Storytellers.
I know his neck is a little too small, I'm gonna build that up
-with more modelling chocolate, but... -SCHELLIE: Yeah. Yeah.
-AUSTIN: Yeah. But no he looks good. -LONDON: His ear's good? Okay.
London is a student, and she was so scared about the Simba.
And I feel like she made a lot of adjustments
that actually helped.
LONDON: I... I'm sculpting his face as I'm adding more.
She is nervous as all get out, because that face,
-is just really important... -BENNY: I mean,
I was just worried with the proportion of the head originally,
but I believe that she's gonna start layering chocolate...
-AMIRAH: On the back. -...so I hope that it makes sense more
-with the proportions of the actual body. -KEKE: Yeah.
The team that I'm worried of is just Ladies and the Champ.
TAMMY: (SIGHING) I cut more off than I should have.
They're the only ones that haven't covered Simba at all.
DYLAN: That looks great. We just need to get chocolate on it.
TAMMY: I still have to carve this down though, Dylan.
I have to carve it, 'cause it's too chunky.
I just hope that the three of them can really prove
-that they can work together. -KEKE: Let's talk about our Lucky Charms.
BENNY: I'm still trying to understand their idea of the pasta layers...
-KEKE: Yes. -...on top of the characters,
because what I'm seeing right now is just multiple layers placed
-in different areas. -AMIRAH: But it is artistic and I think
that the artistic choice that they're doing
is sort of giving me skin vibes, right?
If you look right at the knee, those folds, I feel like he's moving.
I get it. But it looks a little bit like patches.
You would like it to be a little bit smoother and a little bit more...
-Correct. -...seamless, but as you're saying,
it's kind of cool that it's not seamless,
it's kind of cool that it's a little bit more avant-garde.
-AMIRAH: Totally. -BENNY: It's all about
how they're gonna place the hair now, because I want to see Simba's fur.
I'm glad I'm not in your position.
(ALL CHUCKLING)
NARRATOR: While all the teams struggle with Simba's likeness,
let's check in with our tour guide.
I have an update. Your visual aids are coming along well.
Wow. What can I say?
You're giving me a problem-free philosophy.
You're the Timon to my Pumbaa.
-Or is it the Pumbaa to my Timon? -NARRATOR: Either way.
And what a perfect segue into the next part of your story.
Yes, the next part where I talk about what, exactly?
NARRATOR: Where you tell us how Simba grew big and strong.
Right. Oh, this is the part, I remember, where Simba and his new friends
were living their life with no worries.
-NARRATOR: Yeah. Go on. -And well, I remember there was grass
and a log and something.
NARRATOR: I'll help you out. They ate grubs.
(GASPS) Right. Grubs.
Wait, what is a grub?
NARRATOR: Oh, boy. Looks like we need another visual aid.
Hello, artists!
We have all tried a lot of crazy diets in our time, but nothing compares
to the diet Simba lived on when he was feeling "hakuna matata"
with Timon and Pumbaa.
You guys remember what it was, right?
-Oh, yeah. Grubs. -Grubs.
-You are correct! -DYLAN: Oh, man. This is exciting.
(CONTESTANTS CHUCKLING)
TATOR: Is that for us or... Wow.
Slimy and satisfying.
(CONTESTANTS CHUCKLING)
Artists, the plot has thickened.
You now need to add the two most important things
from the Pride Lands to your foodscapes.
Grass and grubs.
The team to most creatively include these items in their foodscapes
will have a much better chance at reigning over us all.
Now, the sun is still on the move, so get to work.
That tour guide needs us now, more than ever. Back to the pantry!
-AUSTIN: I gotta get some. -CHRIS: I'll hang out here.
-(LAUGHS) -(LAUGHS)
MICHELLE: Oh, yes! All right. So cool.
Oh, my gosh. That's perfect.
-Hey! You ever try these? -TAMMY: What do you think you are?
-Timon or Pumbaa? -You want some?
You got a little something in your beard. Like a little... Yeah.
It's actually delicious. That was amazing.
-TAMMY: Okay. -DYLAN: Okay.
MICHELLE: This we... I mean, we could incorporate on the log.
We can use the grubs as cake moss. We'll color 'em green.
And then for the African grass, we can use it in the mane for Simba.
-(GASPS) In the mane. -MICHELLE: And corn silk in the mane.
TAMMY: We may need some of that for his mane actually...
-Boom. Done. -Maybe to... Because it's long,
-we can roll it up underneath. Okay. -DYLAN: Yeah.
-This is exactly what we needed... -SCHELLIE: Yeah!
-LONDON: Okay. -...'cause this is perfect for the tail.
-SCHELLIE: Yeah. -LONDON: And then for Simba,
I'm actually gonna put mealworms in his mouth, so he's enjoying
the mealworms as he's walking along.
-Yeah. Okay. -LONDON: That's actually that scene.
I think I got it. We take a little pasta and we roll it in royal icing,
and then we mix in some grubs,
-drippin' out of his mouth. -TATOR: Yes.
CHRIS: The grass out of the log would look great.
-You know what I mean? -TATOR: Oh, yeah.
I'm still eating the grubs, by the way. They're still in my mouth.
Currently, I am trying to get the body covered in chocolate.
All right, you wanna coconut this or fiber this?
-I'm waiting. -MICHELLE: Oh.
-DYLAN: It does take it a second. -MICHELLE: Okay.
DYLAN: I'm working with coconut husk and it comes compacted in a giant...
brick. And so, we add a little bit of water
and I'm tryna fluff it up. I plan to mix some chocolate into it
and use it for the texture on our rock.
My goal is to have all of our characters done
and then put everything together.
MICHELLE: I keep sayin' "I'll do the body if she does the face."
I don't understand.
DYLAN: Are you working on the face? You working on the face?
I'm going to work on the face.
DYLAN: That needs to be your only focus right now.
-TAMMY: Okay. -DYLAN: It's your piece.
TAMMY: No, I know. That's why I'm trying to get it done.
DYLAN: I know, but Michelle can do the body.
MICHELLE: Yes, I think, we're pushing the clock.
-Like, if you do the face, we do the body. -DYLAN: Yeah.
I'm feeling some stress but I know they know what to do.
We can get this done but we definitely all have to work together as a team.
TAMMY: That's all right, just go ahead...
-DYLAN: All right. Perfect. -...so we can get this thing done.
-Yeah, I'll start working on that. -DYLAN: Sounds good.
TAMMY: Thank you.
TAMMY: At this point right now, because we're runnin' a little short
on time, all of us can work on Simba and get him done 'cause he's actually
the most important thing to do at this point.
DYLAN: I think it's gonna take way too long
to do the modelling chocolate.
What if we just coat that in the curry powder on the body?
MICHELLE: It's very possible.
So we decided to use the spices to just really try a new technique.
I'm using a steamer to make the chocolate slightly tacky and that way,
when I rub it on, it sticks.
I think it adds a really cool element
and it was a little bit of a time saver for us.
DYLAN: Tammy, not gonna lie, he looks super majestic.
-You say congested? -No, majestic.
-(CHUCKLES) -(MICHELLE CHUCKLES)
-Like, he looks like the king lion. -"He looks congested."
DYLAN: He does.
TREY: Something I can help with right here?
Oh, you can grab some fur.
-Start doin' the same thing I'm doin'. -TREY: Okay.
TATOR: What I'm doin' is I'm getting really close,
get a nice coat, and then you're just gonna take fur and do this.
-TREY: Pat it in there. -TATOR: Yeah.
Benny mentioned that he could see the seam in the pasta.
So we wanna cover that seam up
but we wanna make it look as natural as possible
and what an actual warthog would look like.
-Maybe leave a little bit of pasta show. -It's more organic that way, right?
TATOR: Warthogs aren't covered in fur everywhere. They have patches.
And I've got some tusks that are both daikon.
Then I've got my isomalt eyes that I made, and then, you know,
Pumbaa is wrapped up and done.
CHRIS: I gotta be honest, I did not think it would look that good.
-Sweet. I'm excited, bro. -Yeah. It's awesome.
-TATOR: Now that's teamwork right there. -It is coming together.
You know, I appreciate you guys bringing me with you.
Like, this has been a super good learning experience for me.
-TREY: Honestly. -This is great.
Getting the opportunity to work with Trey on Disney is basically a dream come true.
-Easy. Just... yeah. -Dab and brush.
Dab and brush. That's it.
It's absolutely awesome. I wouldn't trade it for the world.
TATOR: I'm really excited to see
the judges' expression when they see this finished.
TREY: If they're not excited, they're lion.
-TATOR: (CHUCKLING) They're lion. -(CHRIS CHUCKLING)
All right, I'm doing the last pastas real quick.
So I'm working out, like, the best way to cover the seams a little bit for Simba.
What I was thinking was a meringue
with the semolina in it to get the tone and then go ahead and blot it in.
Look at that.
So, now, I've gotten these little patches of, like, fluff to kinda hide the seams.
It's a pretty big one.
It's giving me a little bit of trouble just trying to pull it off
in the medium that I'm not used to. But nothing is more important
in this whole storyline than Simba. And trying to replicate what we see
in those images of Disney.
SCHELLIE: All right, I'm gonna start on this side of the log.
We're using chocolate buttercream to create this beautiful rustic log.
-I love that, Schellie. -Yeah.
Then I'm gonna do that notches and sap but I just wanna get a fair amount.
LONDON: He looks awful.
Are you feeling okay?
-LONDON: No. -AUSTIN: What looks awful?
LONDON: Simba.
He does not look awful, he looks phenomenal...
-SCHELLIE: Yeah. -...it looks great, London.
I'm not too sure about this.
-It's looking good, London. -LONDON: It's the biggest thing
-I've ever made. -It really is.
Schellie, just think how far we've come since I was your TA.
Well, yeah. London's come quite far since she was a sophomore.
-LONDON: I've come really far today. -Yes, you have.
KEKE: Let's look at our Storytellers.
Did you notice that their second character, Timon...
-KEKE: Yes. They haven't started on... -...he hasn't even began.
AMIRAH: When you're working with such a small character next to a big character,
you really have to come in so strong with the details,
otherwise, just gonna look like another shrub
-or a bug on there. -Yeah.
Come on, buddy. You got to get rollin'.
I'm nervous about finishing Simba. I just want his details
and his features to be correct. But also I have to move on to Timon.
'Cause the sun's going down, and we don't have a lot of time.
AUSTIN: Do you need to start working on his mane?
-Yeah. -AUSTIN: I'll help finish Simba
-and London, you do Timon. -LONDON: Yeah.
-Here you go. -LONDON: Okay.
-So, does this matter if it overlaps? -No, it doesn't.
-AUSTIN: Okay, I'll get this done. -LONDON: Okay. Oh, my gosh.
DYLAN: The main thing is just finishing up Simba.
-TAMMY: I'm done on the back. -DYLAN: All right, I can do all this.
Let's get to the mane.
Hang on. I would like to start doing the corn silk right now
and do the eyes and the nose and stuff here in a minute.
Well, I have to start finishing the tree and the mountain,
-so I'm gonna air... -Do the broccoli?
DYLAN: Tammy's still working on the lion, so I need to put this tree up now.
-We just gotta get Simba done. -TAMMY: Yeah.
-Simba. Simba, Simba, Simba. -TAMMY: Of course.
-I know this. -DYLAN: Just make sure Simba gets done.
It doesn't look right. Does it?
MICHELLE: I think, actually, it's pretty cool.
-Do you? -MICHELLE: Yeah.
TAMMY: We're using this African grass for the mane.
It's not very flimsy. I guess we could just do it.
-See, how it goes. -DYLAN: I like that idea. Just do it.
There are some issues with weight and structure.
So we do have to make sure that the top is stable enough
to be able to get the details that we want.
It's crazy how green that mane is, but I know we're gonna airbrush it.
No, I'm not airbrushing it.
-DYLAN: You're gonna leave it green? -Yeah.
'Cause the grass had the green in it, I thought it was kinda neat.
Hey guys, the sun's going down. We need to start tying it all together
and getting it finished. We can do it.
CHRIS: Work faster. Check.
-(CHUCKLES) -(CHUCKLES)
TATOR: I'm gettin' ready for the pour on the river.
I think, in the front edge,
-I'm ready to pour some clear isomalt. -Yeah.
TATOR: Isomalt is a sugar substitute that's pulled out of beets.
It's a lot more versatile than sugar.
Here goes nothing.
That looks perfect. All right.
I'm experimenting with the colors. What it'll do is it'll make it swirl
and bubble, so it's gonna give it a good effect.
Dude, what do you think about the way that clear looks in the middle
-with the dark blue on the edges? -CHRIS: I like that. That's cool, dude.
-TATOR: Well, that looks cool too. -CHRIS: Yeah.
Just swirl that color in a little bit.
I don't see how it couldn't really, really do well.
Okay, food artists, just one hour left.
Our tour guide needs you like the Sahara Desert needs the rain.
-Move, move, move! -Hey guys, we gotta get goin', come on.
-MICHELLE: It's speed mode. -Okay
LONDON: Oh, my gosh. Okay.
My main focus is Timon now because he's another key character
on our foodscape.
(CHUCKLES) We gotta run.
So, what I'm gonna do is just build up his body with cake pops,
then cover it in modeling chocolate. I'm just gonna sculpt him
the same way I did Simba. But in, like, a quarter of the time.
AUSTIN: London, it's just kind of a wild hairdo, right?
Yeah. Move that one. Just because it looks kind of awkward.
That one, right there, yeah.
And we can kind of put one, like, maybe down...
LONDON: Don't give him a curl.
TREY: All right, so right here I got some coconut fiber.
We put some dye in here.
And then we're gonna drape it over our tree to kind of bring it to life.
Creating vines with some moss.
CHRIS: The plot thickens with these bugs.
I just pour an isomalt on this piece of pasta, add in the bugs.
It's gonna make it this drool coming out of his mouth.
It's crazy cool, dude.
TAMMY: Whoo!
I get to throw out grub worms into the desert.
MICHELLE: We took grubs, colored 'em green,
and used that as like cake moss.
-That's all I could do. -DYLAN: Yeah. All right, that looks great.
-Tammy, we need to finish out Simba... -It's not done. I have another eye to do.
I know that I will get it done, it just may not be done
to what I would expect of myself.
Time is almost up! Just one minute before the sun sets.
-CHRIS: Sixty seconds, guys. -TREY: Come on. We got this.
-TAMMY: Dump it on. Dump it on. -LONDON: We got one minute.
AUSTIN: London, how much longer?
LONDON: I thought this part would be done already. So...
-AUSTIN: We need to hurry up and... -LONDON: Yeah.
-...if it's not done... -Oh, my gosh, I didn't finish his feet.
CHRIS: We can do this guys.
Flowers.
AUSTIN: We got this guys. So, let's rally.
DYLAN: We really need you to be done with this.
-TAMMY: I just got done. Whoo! -DYLAN: I love it.
-This is it! -AUSTIN: Oh, my God.
-KEKE: Three. Two... -LONDON: Come on.
-...one! -LONDON: Timon is done. (SIGHING)
Food artists, the sun is down and time is up!
(CONTESTANTS CHEER)
All right.
-Good work. Nice work. -You too. That is awesome.
This task was enough to make kings and vagabonds shake in their boots,
but you all somehow finished before the sun went down.
And now, it’s time to see how well you did.
-Oh, man. Look at that! -It looks great.
(UPLIFTING MUSIC PLAYING)
(MUSIC FADES)
Whoa! How is it goin', Ladies and the Champ?
You guys had adult Simba. So I wanna know, how're you feeling?
-Relieved. -Yeah.
I think we knew that what we were shooting for was ambitious,
but we figured we'll go all out. So we're happy with it.
I wanna get into the foodscape. Please, walk me through your story.
MICHELLE: To help the tour guide tell the story
of the adult Simba and Zazu.
TAMMY: As young Simba, he had to go through the elephant graveyard
and we did the image of Mufasa in the water.
MICHELLE: And then, his trusty sidekick, Zazu...
-KEKE: Yes! -...giving a little sass, saying,
"Get back to Pride Rock and be the future king."
I love the fact that Zazu is looking up like, "You got this."
-(CHUCKLES) -(CHUCKLES)
MICHELLE: So, the reflection I painted on fondant and then Zazu,
he's made out of rice cereal treats and modeling chocolate.
We have lots of fruits and vegetables surrounding in the green area.
-TAMMY: We have leeks. -DYLAN: And pineapple tops.
TAMMY: We have corn husk for grass around our lake.
MICHELLE: And we have some neat little grubs in there
with onion skins as their wings.
DYLAN: The whole elephant skull is made out of rice cereal treats
and modelling chocolate.
TAMMY: We did broccoli for the trees, because broccoli looks like little trees.
-DYLAN: Yes. -We love that.
For Simba's body, we actually ended up covering it with white chocolate
and went back with a serrated knife to give the texture
and then the coloring was a mixture of curry powder and cinnamon.
-BENNY: I really like that. -MICHELLE: We used the corn silk.
-We also used our plot thickens, grass. -TAMMY: All up in his mane.
MICHELLE: The way we used the grubs, we colored them in green powder
and some gold luster dust
-and used that as cake moss on the log. -Oh!
-Oh, really? -(DYLAN CHUCKLING)
-MICHELLE: We also have it spilling out... -See.
...of the stump and then also, some mixed into the sand in the deserts.
BENNY: You took the grubs. You didn't just place it there.
You crumble it and add color, and then you used it as a moss.
-That's really smart. -That's that creativity, Amirah.
-Correct. -AMIRAH: Overall, I think that the story
is beautifully tied together.
BENNY: I love the graveyard on the left side of the display. I mean,
it's giving us a different scene
-within the main scene... -AMIRAH: Yeah.
which is awesome. The way that you guys place the piping gel,
it was giving us the illusion that the water
is running in this direction.
-KEKE: And the light coming through. -BENNY: Correct.
KEKE: It's nice.
BENNY: I think Simba's fur is the best one that we have here.
AMIRAH: I love that you chose to use the grass and incorporate it into the mane
because it is giving me two very different textures
and I think that that's part of what a lion would naturally have.
Yeah.
The issue that I have with him is, I see green hair.
AMIRAH: I would have dyed the hair. I mean, that is the thing
that is defining it as an adult Simba.
When you're working with a Disney character,
make sure that those recognizable details are on.
-Yeah. Yep. -But... I mean, it's a beautiful piece.
-Thank you very much. -Thank you.
Storytellers. You had adolescent Simba. Before we get into all of this,
I got to ask you guys, how are you feeling?
Relieved, probably.
-(CHUCKLES) -(CHUCKLES)
It was such an honor for me to work with both of them.
-Aw. -Aw.
I love that you getting a little bit emotional. Why?
Sorry. (SOBS)
Just because I have taught for quite a long time,
and it's always very heartwarming when I get to work
with really amazing students that I learn from as well.
So, this has been really an honor for me.
I just hope I did them justice because like,
they trusted me and I just wanted to make sure
that I did the best I could do.
I could put everything out there for them so...
You know, my mom always says, no matter what happens,
if you've given it your best, you have done all that you could do.
-Exactly. -And that's enough.
-Absolutely. -KEKE: Okay.
Well, walk me through this amazing foodscape.
LONDON: To help our tour guide, we made Simba and Timon
having a grand, old time singing "Hakuna Matata."
And they happen to stumble upon a trail of mealworms. So they're like,
"Why not just walk and dine at the same time?"
-(CHUCKLES) -(CHUCKLES)
LONDON: So, for Simba, his body is actually carved cake
and then we covered him in fondant and modeling chocolate.
For the log, we covered it in buttercream. Then we put a little bit coffee grounds
on that for texture as well.
SCHELLIE: We topped it with some radish and dead dough mushrooms.
LONDON: And then Timon is a mixture of cake pop and modelling chocolate.
SCHELLIE: We have many sprays of flowers utilizing using carrots, and onions
and radishes.
AUSTIN: The umbrella tree is made out of chocolate ganache and micro sponge.
-KEKE: Oh, I love it. -AUSTIN: Coming down into our waterfall.
We have nice rushing water made from buttercream and piping gel.
For grass, we actually infused it into Simba's tail...
so it has like a nice little furry plume over there.
And then for the grubs, we kind of littered them across the log.
AUSTIN: We also, you know, have some in Timon's hand,
like he's just tossin' them back up into Simba's mouth.
And you can see, we have some of them hanging out of Simba's mouth.
And then we have London take the lead on our Simba and our Timon.
Looking at adolescent Simba, question for you guys.
-How old are you? -Twenty.
-BENNY: Twenty? -Yeah.
-Girl, you are full of talent. -(SIGHS) Oh.
-That face is the most well-executed. -Thank you.
BENNY: He's definitely adolescent Simba.
AMIRAH: The expression in their faces, they are representative of that moment
of his adolescent life. Simba is giving us this teenage vibe
and when you look at Timon, he's really looking at him like,
"Boy, you got a lot to learn." So...
-(LAUGHS) -(LAUGHS)
Please, explore the talent because you're great.
Okay.
BENNY: The body is a little bit in disproportion.
Just make sure that the proportions are correct.
I love the vegetation, the colors that were used,
the beautiful tricks and carving vegetables and fruits.
Now, the grass, I like the fact that you used them on the tail.
It's giving you a clean and fluffy texture.
I would love to dive into how they created the water.
BENNY: The decision to add the layers of piping gel on top of the buttercream
is great because it gives you that shiny look of the water.
If you had just the buttercream, it will be a little be flat in it.
KEKE: Yeah, and not see as much motion.
AMIRAH: Let's talk about the tree, 'cause I think that the micro sponging,
it's really exciting, because it's a different technique
that is sort of twisting and leaning.
The umbrella tree is just so iconic to the film, and creatively,
-you guys did a fantastic job. -Yeah!
-(CHUCKLES) -(CHUCKLES)
Thank you.
Lucky Charms. Hey, guys. Okay, you had young Simba.
-How do you feel? -I feel pretty awesome.
This is our first big competition together. One of the cool things
for me is even though Tator and I are the experienced artists,
Trey actually, he put in literally a third of the work.
He's growning up pretty fast, and seeing what he's capable of doing now,
it's just an eye-opening experience.
In the beginning of this, I had no idea where it was gonna go.
And every step of it, I was learning. And so, I'm just genuinely happy.
Well, all right. Walk us through your foodscape.
CHRIS: Our foodscape, we're helping the tour guide tell the story
of young Simba and Pumbaa, who actually is a father figure to him.
For us, like, the key piece of that was super playful.
Simba's kinda, like, nippin' at the tail saying, "Hey, let's stop
"and play for a minute." So, for Simba, I made a semolina egg pasta.
For Simba's fur, we have a layering of pasta sheets and then a texture
with meringue and it's sprinkling on semolina.
TATOR: The tails are coconut fiber, and then we also have the isomalt eyes
with the edible wafer paper inside. With Pumbaa, the main structure
is bread baguettes all throughout the body
to build up the muscle structure underneath.
And then the chocolate pasta, of course, on the outside.
We have the black squid ink pasta that's wrapped around the hooves.
The tusks are both daikon. The tongue itself is gum paste and pasta.
The whiskers are the grass dipped in isomalt
and then we also have the grass in the logs.
CHRIS: And then we did bring in the sweet with the river.
Tator poured out this isomalt river for us, you know, and Trey made the rocks
to go around that. The grubs were a great addition to Pumbaa.
You know, we made this big, drooling grub slime
coming out of his mouth. It's really cool.
You had young Simba. To me, that's my favorite.
Because he's so playful, and this is just such a great story.
I have never in my life seen
complete art created from freshly made pasta,
colored with other foods. This is avant-garde.
-Thank you. -This is a beautiful display, guys.
I love the log. I love the way that you guys used the bread
to create texture. Now, I know you guys were working with pasta
and I love the technique.
Well, I have to say that Pumbaa's fur... it's really looking awesome.
I really love the actual techniques. Simba seems a little off.
Some areas is still not blended completely,
so I see the seams.
So, if I take Simba out of this log,
would people recognize that he's actually Simba?
-Got ya. -BENNY: When working with Disney,
we have to stay as close as possible to the original character.
Amirah, I know you feel differently. So I wanna hear
-what you have to say on that. -This is an art show. This is art.
You know, you explored a material in a way that I've never seen used before.
It definitely inspired me
-so, so much. -Inspired me too.
I mean, literally, blown away by some of the things and the choices
that you guys have done creatively here.
-It's a fun piece. -It's very fun.
-Thank you. -Thank you.
This is hard, right? 'Cause all of them did
-such beautiful jobs in their own way. -AMIRAH: Yes.
I love the fur that they did on Pumbaa.
BENNY: The only issue that I have is just the texture of the actual Simba body.
KEKE: I love Simba's face from Storytellers.
-London is talented as all get out. -BENNY: Yeah.
-AMIRAH: She is so good at faces. -KEKE: She is... That face...
AMIRAH: It's Simba.
BENNY: The Ladies and the Champs, they didn't color the hair, you know,
but they had the best fur and Simba.
-Are we clear on what we want? -Yes.
Let's go.
-Here we go. -Look at the castle. Aw!
This is cool.
It's gonna be all right no matter what.
As you can tell, we love your creations. But only one can win.
Oh, that is awesome.
It's pretty cool.
The team that created the most Foodtastic Simba and friend is…
Oh, my God.
-(LAUGHING) That's awesome! -TREY: Now this is... this is in slow-mo.
What?
Storytellers!
-(CHEER) -(CHEER)
Please come up and receive your Foodtastic pins.
-That is awesome. -Oh, my God.
-SCHELLIE: Thank you. -Please, please, put them on. Please.
My hands are shaking too much.
-How do you guys feel? -SCHELLIE: Ah!
-Awesome... -Such a relief.
...and amazing.
AUSTIN: I couldn't be more proud of what we created.
I think we did a fantastic job.
SCHELLIE: I just wanna say thank you for saying, "Yes."
I could not have asked for two more amazing students.
Schellie, I think we wanna say,
-"thank you" for bringing us. -Thank you. Yeah, for bringing us.
Well, you guys, please come up here and join us because we loved
your foodscapes too.
To have Benny just compliment me so much on the faces really means a lot.
I'm still having class with you.
LONDON: It's like my dream. So, this has put me over the moon.
-Good job, Schellie. Congratulations. -Thank you, Tator. Aw.
I'm so proud of you.
Remember, never stop playing with your food.
NARRATOR: As celebrations continue, let's check in with our tour guide.
And so, Simba found his place atop Pride Rock,
the rightful King of the Pride Land.
NARRATOR: There you go. And you found your place as a master tour guide.
I did it. Though I have to admit, I would have never been able to do it
-without your help. -NARRATOR: Nah! We're all better
-because we've got each other. -Oh! It's like, I'm there for my friends
and my friends are there for me, like a circle.
-NARRATOR: Exactly. -That's a great lesson.
They should have put that in The Lion King.
NARRATOR: That's literally what the movie is about.
(CHUCKLES) Oh, you're right. Man, you're really smart...
The circle of life. (GASPS) Wow. Oh, wait, like the song. I get it now.
NARRATOR: (CHUCKLING) Hakuna matata.