Meet the Real-Life Simba Who Inspired Favreau’s ‘The Lion King’

The lion is a current resident of the Dallas Zoo.

Behati, a lion cub at the Dallas Zoo, inspired the CGI version of Simba in the 2019 remake of The Lion King.

(Photo Courtesy: Dallas Zoo; Walt Disney Pictures)

Jon Favreau’s live action remake The Lion King uses vivid CGI renderings to bring to life the beloved animated characters of the 1994 Disney classic. From Mufasa and Simba to Zazu, Timon and Pumba, the animals of Pride Rock have been captured in stunning, photorealistic detail.

The Dallas Zoo in Texas recently revealed that the CGI version of Simba in the film was inspired by one of its residents – Behati the lion cub. When she was a month old, the zoo shared videos of her with Disney to use as references for the movement and behaviour of Simba.

Bahati Moja, whose name means ‘lucky one’ in Swahili, was born in March 2017 to a lioness who had previously delivered only stillborn cubs. She is now two years old and still lives at the Dallas Zoo with her mother and aunt.

The Lion King features an ensemble cast with Donald Glover as Simba, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Scar, Beyonce as Nala and John Oliver as Zazu. Film trade analyst Taran Adarsh noted that the film did double digit business at the Indian box office on its opening day, having collected Rs 11.06 crore. The film has continued to do steady business since hitting theatres on 19 July and earned Rs 69.67 in its first week.