Simba

For other uses, see Simba (disambiguation).

Simba
File:YoungSimbaSmilestlk.png Simba as a cub asking Timon for food.
First appearance	The Lion King
Created by	Jonathan Roberts
Voiced by	see below

Simba is a lion character and the protagonist of one of Disney's most famous animated feature films, The Lion King. He is the son of Mufasa and Sarabi, nephew of Scar, mate of Nala and father of Kiara. His name is Swahili for lion. He has golden fur and when he grows into an adult, he has a red mane.

Portrayers of Simba

Media	Actor
The Lion King (1994) (film)	Jonathan Taylor Thomas (cub voice) Matthew Broderick (adult voice) Jason Weaver (cub singing voice) Joseph Williams (adult singing voice) Evan Saucedo (The Morning Report sequence cub singing voice) (2003 Special Edition) Frank Welker (adult roaring vocals)
The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa (1995) (TV series)	Cam Clarke (adult voice)
The Lion King (1997) (Broadway musical)	Scott Irby-Ranniar (cub) (original actor) Jason Raize (adult) (original actor)
The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998) (film)	Matthew Broderick (adult voice) Cam Clarke (adult singing voice)
The Lion King 1½ (2004) (film)	Matt Weinberg (cub voice) Matthew Broderick (teenager and adult voice)
Kingdom Hearts II (2006) (video game)	Jonathan Taylor Thomas (cub voice) (archive recording) Cam Clarke (adult voice)

The Lion King

In the opening sequence of The Lion King, Simba is the newborn son of King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi. After being anointed he is held up by the mandrill Rafiki atop Pride Rock for all the animals in the Pride Lands to see. Elsewhere, Simba's uncle Scar is upset as Simba's birth means that Scar will never be king.

When Simba is older his father Mufasa takes him to the top of Pride Rock to show Simba the kingdom. Simba takes interest in a dark, shadow-y area but Mufasa explains that Simba must never go there. After descending into the Pridelands Mufasa has to leave to chase away some hyenas, so Simba goes to visit his uncle Scar. Scar tells Simba that the forbidden area is an Elephant Graveyard and that only the brave lions go there. Scar deliberately arouses Simba's curiousity so that the cub will visit the Elephant Graveyard, and Simba does so, taking his friend Nala with him. Simba lies to his mother Sarabi and says that he is going to the water hole. Sarabi tells Zazu to go with the two cubs, but they plot to lose Zazu during the song "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" and manage to do so, allowing them to head to the Elephant Graveyard.

At the Elephant Graveyard Simba and Nala are attacked by the three hyenas Shenzi, Banzai and Ed. Mufasa arrives and rescues Simba and Nala. On the way home, Mufasa takes Simba aside and explains that he is only brave when he needs to be. He also teaches Simba about the great kings of the past that look down from the stars.

Back at the Elephant Graveyard Scar is angry that Shenzi, Banzai and Ed didn't manage to kill the two cubs. Scar gains the trust of many other hyenas and makes a new plan. The next day Scar takes Simba down into a gorge and tells the cub to wait, stating that Mufasa has a "marvelous surprise" waiting. While Simba is in the gorge Scar and the hyenas start a wildebeest stampede. Mufasa comes to rescue Simba and manages to do so, only to be thrown to his death back into the stampede by Scar. Simba sees his father fall to his death and Scar tells Simba that it was the cub's fault and that he should run away. Simba runs and Scar tells the three hyenas to give chase and kill him, but Simba escapes into the desert. Scar takes the throne, assuming the Simba is dead.

Simba is rescued in the desert by Timon and Pumbaa (a meerkat and warthog respectively). They raise Simba in the jungle until he is an adult. One day, a lioness arrives in the jungle and tries to kill Pumbaa. Simba fights the lioness and finds that it is his childhood friend Nala. The two fall in love, but argue because Simba won't return to the Pridelands as he still believes that he killed his father. Rafiki finds Simba and explains that Mufasa is still alive. Rafiki leads Simba to a grassy meadow where Mufasa's spirit appears in the clouds. Mufasa explains that Simba must return home and reclaim the throne. Simba runs back to the Pridelands and is joined by Nala, Timon and Pumbaa. Simba finds that the Pridelands have become barren and dry.

At Pride Rock Simba confronts Scar. Scar forces Simba to confess his guilt about his father's death and backs Simba off a cliff. Scar grabs Simba and whispers that it was he who actually killed Mufasa. Enraged, Simba pins Scar and forces him to confess, causing a battle to ensue. While the fighting is happening lightning strikes the dry ground and starts a fire. Simba chases Scar onto the top of Pride Rock and Scar pleads for his life, implying that the hyenas were behind the usurping. The two lions fight until Simba manages to throw Scar over the edge. Scar does not die from the fall but is killed by the hyenas who he betrayed.

With Scar dead, Simba ascends Pride Rock as rain falls and extinguishes the fire. Simba roars out across the Pridelands. Much later, with the Pridelands restored, Rafiki lifts Simba and Nala's newborn cub high into the air atop Pride Rock for the animals below to see.

The Lion King II: Simba's Pride

File:Tlkiisp-simba.png

Adult Simba from The Lion King II: Simba's Pride

In The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, Simba was the also the protagonist. He has fathered a daughter named Kiara. One day Simba lets his daughter out to play with Timon and Pumbaa to watch her. Unknown to Simba, Timon and Pumbaa begin to argue about bugs and Kiara slips away from them unnoticed.

Kiara ends up crossing over into the Outlands where she meets Kovu, an Outlander cub whose pride was exiled by Simba because of their loyalty to Scar. The two play tag until Simba leaps in to confront Zira, Kovu’s mother, who was watching the two cubs play. After the confrontation, Simba talks with Kiara and explains to her that they "are one."

When Kiara is grown she heads out into the Pride Lands alone for her first hunt. Simba is worried for her safety and sends Timon and Pumbaa out to watch her again, against Nala's advice. After Kiara discovers Timon and Pumbaa spying on her, she runs away only to be trapped in a fire that the Outlanders have set. Vitani and Nuka, brother and sister of Kovu, make some fires. Kiara tries to run out, but chokes and loses senses. Kovu rescues her, and Simba at first tries to send him away, but Nala convinces him to accept Kovu into the pride.

Simba later has a nightmare of him trying to save his father Mufasa from death, but is prevented from doing so by Scar who morphs into Kovu. Unknown to Simba, Zira has secretly trained Kovu to infiltrate Simba's pride and kill Simba.

Simba gradually begins to trust Kovu, and Kiara and Kovu begin to fall in love. Soon Kovu begins to question his loyalty to the Outlanders.

After a few days Simba takes Kovu out for a walk and tells him the real story about Scar. Zira and the other Outlanders ambush Kovu and Simba while they are walking, reigniting Simba's distrust in Kovu. Kovu tries to convince Simba that he had nothing to do with the attack, and even tries to protect Simba, but is knocked down by Vitani. Simba is injured but leaps up a log dam to safety, causing a few logs to fall and crush Nuka, Zira's son and Kovu's brother. Kovu is blamed for the death and he flees to the Pride Lands in shame.

Simba, realizing Kovu had dark motives when he saved Kiara, exiles the lion, refusing to accept his apologies. Kiara is distraught at this, and after informing her father that he will never be Mufasa, runs away to find Kovu. The two reunite in the desert later that night. As Simba enters the cave to find his daughter gone, Zazu arrives and announces that the Outlanders have initiated a war. Simba heads out to fight with his lionesses and Timon and Pumbaa.

After a lengthy battle, Simba and Zira confront each other directly. Kiara and Kovu leap into the middle of this confrontation and end the war, convincing both sides that they "are one." The Outlanders, after learning of their leader's true nature, abandon Zira entirely and join Simba's pride. Zira, enraged, tries to leap at Simba only to be knocked aside by Kiara. The two lionesses tumble into the gorge, which is now full of raging water from the damaged log dam. Zira, despite Kiara's offers of aid, slips and falls to her death in the swollen river below.

After Simba and Kiara climb back up to safety, Simba realizes his mistake and accepts Kovu and the other Outlanders into his pride. The two united prides head back to Pride Rock where Kiara and Kovu are married. In celebration, Kovu, Kiara, Simba and Nala walk up to the promontory of Pride Rock and roar out across the kingdom.

The Lion King 1½

In the 2000 direct-to-video interquel The Lion King 1½, more is revealed about Simba's life in the jungle with Timon and Pumbaa after his exile.

Simba proves to be a handful, as he scales tall and dangerous trees and swims over waterfalls, not caring about the danger he's in and Timon's frantic efforts to discipline him. As a teenager, he has beaten Timon in every kind of bug eating contest, along with a snail slurping contest that is shown.

In one scene it is revealed that he had been having quite a lot of nightmares, presumably about Mufasa's death.

Beyond the films

Simba's story has been widely expanded beyond the films to numerous children's books, most notably a set of books titled The Lion King: Six New Adventures, where he has a son called Kopa.

Simba makes occasional brief appearances in the Timon and Pumbaa TV animated series. This includes one episode in which Timon drags him out to try to revive Pumbaa's lost memory. The episode "Congo On Like This" Timon and Pumbaa suspect that Simba has reverted back to his carnivorous nature, The Episode "Shake Your Djibouti" features Simba again where Timon and Pumbaa are forced to train Simba to protect them from a laboratory monster. Another episode entitled Rome Alone sees Simba being captured by Romans, and forced into gladiatorial battle with another lion called Claudius. Simba also appears in a music video of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" starring Timon and Pumbaa, which was shown theatrically in front of the film Tom and Huck in 1995.

Simba was featured as one of the guests in House of Mouse where he tends to alternate between child and adult versions.

Live versions of Simba also appear in the Lion King musical and in the parades and shows at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.

Simba was also the main character in Legend of the Lion King, a former Fantasyland attraction in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, which retold the story of the film using fully-articulated puppets. Other Disney attractions that have featured Simba include the Mickey's PhilharMagic 3D show and the Hong Kong Disneyland version of It's a Small World.

The Kingdom Hearts series

File:Simba Char.jpg

Concept art for Simba from Kingdom Hearts II

Kingdom Hearts

In Kingdom Hearts, adult Simba appears as a summon spirit whose world has been destroyed.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, he appears as a summon card.

Kingdom Hearts II

Simba plays a much more active role in Kingdom Hearts II as a full-fledged partner rather than a summon. When the main protagonists (Sora, Donald and Goofy) explore the jungle in the Pride Lands world, Simba is being attacked by Heartless (which he easily defeats), and then almost attacks them, not recognizing them at first as they were turned into jungle animals due to Sora's enchanted clothes; however, when he realizes who they are, he is overjoyed to see them, but surprised as to how their appearances had changed. Initially, Simba refuses to go back to the Pride Lands, stating he was "not who he used to be." His father, Mufasa, comes to him and tells him to go back; afterwards, he accompanies Sora, Donald, and Goofy to Pride Rock for a climactic battle with both the hyenas Shenzi, Banzai, Ed and Scar, who had been turned into a Heartless because of his anger and jealousy.

Sora left after the successful coronation of Simba. When Sora returned, Simba had been driven into doubt by rumors of Scar's ghost. He later gained confidence and stood up to Scar's ghost, which was a manifestation of Simba's uncertainty and fear, with help from Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Simba then has to prove himself as leader in a fight with a huge Heartless.

In contrast to the actual storyline of Simba's coronation in the first Kingdom Hearts (Jiminy's Journal in the first game actually states that he IS king of the Pride Lands), this journal entry is incorrect, because without the aid of Sora and co, Simba would not have reclaimed his throne, and so, in the first Kingdom Hearts, he could not have been king because he was a Summon for the trio.

Cam Clarke (Simba's speaking voice in Timon and Pumbaa and singing voice in The Lion King II) voices Simba in the above two appearances, with an archival recording of Jonathan Taylor Thomas used for Young Simba in a flashback sequence in Kingdom Hearts II.