Simba

Simba (from the Swahili word for lion) is a fictional character who appears in The Lion King franchise. Introduced in Walt Disney Animation's 32nd animated feature film The Lion King (1994), the character subsequently appears in its sequels The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998) and The Lion King 1½ (2004). Simba was created by screenwriters Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts and Linda Woolverton. While Mark Henn served as Simba's supervising animator as a cub, Ruben A. Aquino animated the character as he appears as an adult. Although considered an original character, Simba was inspired by the character Bambi from Disney's Bambi (1942), as well as the stories of Moses and Joseph from the Bible. Additionally, several similarities have been drawn between Simba and Prince Hamlet from William Shakespeare's tragedy of the same name. In , The Lion King was adapted into Broadway musical, with actors Scott Irby-Ranniar and Jason Raize originating the roles of the cub and adult Simbas, respectively. 2Development 3Conception The idea for The Lion King originated from Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg in 1989 and was originally conceived under the title King of the Jungle. The story, which has been compared to Bambi (1942), was jokingly referred to as "Bambi in Africa" because of the similarities between the two films and their respective main characters. Co-director Rob Minkoff said that both films are "more true-life adventure than mythical epic." Though considered an original coming-of-age story that follows the life of Simba as he grows up and "tak[es] on the responsibility of adulthood," co-directors Roger Allers and Minkoff drew inspiration from other source