Name: Simba

First Appeared: 1994

Fun Fact: While recording the scene where Simba gets pinned down by Nala, Jonathan Taylor Thomas was hit on his back to make it sound like he had just gotten the wind knocked out of him. 

Name: Scar

First Appeared: 1994

Fun Fact: Originally the film was going to be about a conflict between lions and baboons, and Scar was going to be the baboon leader. Rafiki, the only baboon in the film, was instead going to be a cheetah. 

Name: Mufasa

First Appeared: 1994

Fun Fact: Mufasa was to sing a song titled To Be King, but it didn’t suit James Earl Jones’ singing voice. 

Name: Nala

First Appeared: 1994

Fun Fact: Originally, Scar was going to send adult Nala away from Pride Rock because she ignored his romantic approaches, after which she finds Simba alive and well with Timon and Pumbaa. This idea was ultimately abandoned, as sexual harassment was considered improper in a family movie. However, the stage musical adaptation includes this plot development as part of director Julie Taymor’s efforts to expand the female characters’ presence in the story. 

Name: Pumbaa

First Appeared: 1994

Fun Fact: Pumbaa the Warthog was the first character in Disney films to exhibit flatulence. 

Name: Timon

First Appeared: 1994

Fun Fact: The line, “What do you want me to do, dress in drag and do the hula?” was improvised by Nathan Lane. 

Name: Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed

First Appeared: 1994

Fun Fact: Originally, the hyenas Banzai and Shenzi were supposed to be voiced by Tommy Chongand Cheech Marin. But the directors couldn’t get hold of Chong, so they cast Whoopi Goldberg as Shenzi instead. 

Name: Zazu

First Appeared: 1994

Fun Fact: The original script included several characters which were cut. There was another lion cub named Mee-Too, a bat-eared fox, and a rhino with a tickbird on his back. In fact the tickbird was kept and evolved into Zazu. 

Name: Rafiki

First Appeared: 1994

Fun Fact: The song that Rafiki sings, ‘Asante sana Squash banana, Wewe nugu mimi hapana’ is Swahili for “Thank you very much, Squash banana, You’re a baboon and I’m not.” Simba asks, “What does that mean?” and Rafiki says, “It means you’re a baboon and I’m not.” This is a popular children’s song similar to “Cinderella, dressed in yella” for example. 

Name: Sarabi

First Appeared: 1994

Fun Fact: Sarabi means “Mirage” in Swahili