Two Friends of the King
On June 24th, 1994, Walt Disney Animation Studios released The Lion King. The film was a critical and commercial success, winning the Oscars and Golden Globes for Best Original Score and Best Original Song “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.” In the 22 years since the film’s release, it remains a classic, but it also marked the beginning of a special friendship between two of the film’s voice cast members…
Nathan Lane, who was cast as the voice of Timon the meerkat, originally auditioned for the role of Banzai the hyena during rehearsal breaks for his Tony-nominated run in the 1992 Broadway Revival of Guys and Dolls. (The studio told him that they did not want him for the role of Banzai, and offered him Timon instead). At the summer premier of “Lion King,” Lane met Mathew Broderick, who had provided the voice for Adult Simba for the first time.
Lane and Broderick got reacquainted as the two leads in the Mel Brooks’ 2001 musical, The Producers. As they rehearsed for the show, they became good friends. Both received Tony Award Nominations for their performances as Max Bialystock (Lane) and Leo Bloom (Broderick). Lane wound up winning the trophy, but at the award ceremony, when he won, he asked Broderick to come up to the stage to accept the award with him. The friendship was sealed.
Prior to The Producers, both Lane and Broderick reunited with “Lion King,” co-star/friend Ernie Sabella, who provided the voice of Pumbaa the Warthog, for the Walt Disney World Attraction, Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable (1995). (Sabella also starred with Lane in the 1992 “Guys and Dolls,” revival.) All three reprised their characters for the direct-to-video sequels, The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride (1998) and The Lion King 1 1/2 (2004). Lane also reunited with Sabella for The Lion King’s Timon & Pumbaa the TV Series (1995-1998).
In 2005, Lane and Broderick reprised their roles from The Producers for the film version where they appeared under the direction of Susan Stroman who had directed them on Broadway. (Nathan Lane received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance in the movie) That same year, they reunited again on Broadway for a revival of Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple with Lane as Oscar Madison and Broderick as Felix Ungar. They reunited again on Broadway in 2014 for the play, It’s Only a Play.
Both did other roles for Disney. Nathan Lane starred in the Touchstone Pictures film, Life with Mikey (1993) and voiced Spot Helperman in the Disney Channel Original Series, Teacher’s Pet (2000-2005) reprising the character for the 2004 film of the same name. He also voiced the animatronic Tom Morrow for the Disneyland attraction, Innoventions. Matthew Broderick starred in Disney’s Inspector Gadget (1999) and played Professor Harold Hill in ABC’s 2003 television adaptation of Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man.
Lane and Broderick’s friendship continues. In addition to their Disney gigs, both are two-time Tony Winning Broadway Stars (Lane for “The Producers,” and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Broderick for Brighton Beach Memoirs and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying). Their voices played a significant role in helping make “The Lion King,” a classic but whether they are lending their voices to Disney or are appearing together on a Broadway stage, it’s easy to see their friendship is a lasting one.
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