Simba is a fictional character in Disney's The Lion King franchise. He first appears as the main protagonist in The Lion King (1994), starting as a cub where he flees the Pride Lands after his father, Mufasa, is murdered by his uncle, Scar, who deceives Simba into believing he is responsible for the death. Years later, Simba returns as an adult to confront Scar and reclaim his rightful place as king of the Pride Lands. He subsequently appears in the sequels The Lion King II: Simba's Pride and The Lion King 1½.
Created by The Lion King's screenwriters, Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton, Simba underwent several changes as the film's story developed, including making him a more sympathetic character and establishing his familial relation to Scar. Although conceived as an original character, Simba was inspired by Moses and Joseph from the Bible, as well as the title character from William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Despite sharing similarities with the character from the anime television series Kimba the White Lion, Disney has refuted claims that Simba was inspired by Kimba. Mark Henn and Ruben A. Aquino were supervising animators for the cub and adult Simba, respectively, with both animators researching live lions and drawing inspiration from the character's voice actors. Simba was originally voiced by actors Jonathan Taylor Thomas as a cub and an adult by Matthew Broderick, respectively; various actors have voiced the character in sequels, spin-offs, and related media.
Simba has received a mixed reception from film critics, some of whom praised his design but found him uninteresting as a main character. However, several publications have ranked Simba among Disney's most iconic characters, and consider him to be one of the most famous lions in popular culture. The character's likeness has been used in several tie-in products, including merchandise, television series, and video games. In 1997, The Lion King actors Scott Irby-Ranniar and Jason Raize originated the role on Broadway. In 2019, Donald Glover and JD McCrary voiced the character in a photorealistic remake of the film.
