Lupita Nyong'o Recalls Impact of Seeing “The Lion King” as a Kid: 'Swahili in a Disney Movie … Blew My Mind' (Exclusive)

"I mean, that movie was like, 'This is mine,' " the actress, who is from Kenya, told PEOPLE at the Toronto International Film Festival

The Lion King was a huge — and personal — moment in pop culture for Lupita Nyong'o.

In a conversation with PEOPLE surrounding her new film The Wild Robot at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday, Sept. 8, the actress said she "watched The Lion King very many times" as a child, when asked if she had go-to animated film.

"The Lion King featured some Swahili in it and I'm from Kenya, so hearing Swahili in a Disney movie blew my mind away," said Nyong'o, 41. "And yeah, it was set in Africa. I mean, that movie was like, this is mine. So I loved it."

Nyongo's comments came shortly before the news that James Earl Jones, the voice of Mufasa in the classic 1994 Disney animated film, had died. He was 93 years old.

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Related: How James Earl Jones 'Paved the Way' on Stage, as Told by the Actor's Contemporary from the '60s (Exclusive)

Following the news of Jones' death on Monday, Sept. 9, several members of his Lion King family paid tribute to the late acting legend.

As Matthew Broderick, the voice of adult Simba, told PEOPLE in an exclusive statement, in part, "I’m so lucky to have had a chance to work with James Earl Jones. To have had him play my father, my king! And to get to know him a little bit."

"One of the very best of his or any generation," added Broderick, 62. "A great American actor.”

Ernie Sabella, who voiced the lovable warthog Pumbaa, also told PEOPLE in part that Jones "was as gracious as he was talented," adding, "He treated me as though we were equal stars in this movie and spent a few minutes with me talking about the future of animation and how far-reaching the impact Lion King will have because of the music by Elton John and Tim Rice, and that there are no humans in the movie, only animals that will teach us how to be better humans."

"His heart was as big as his laugh, and nobody could laugh like James," said Sabella, 74. "I am truly sad and miss him, but so very glad we had him for nearly a century."

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Related: Remembering James Earl Jones' Life in Photos, from Star Wars to The Lion King

The Wild Robot is an "epic adventure" directed by Chris Sanders (Lilo & Stitch) that "follows the journey of a robot — ROZZUM unit 7134, 'Roz' for short — that is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must learn to adapt to the harsh surroundings, gradually building relationships with the animals on the island and becoming the adoptive parent of an orphaned gosling."

The Wild Robot is in theaters Sept. 27.

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