Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Meet the 3 Jews Who Made ‘The Lion King’ Possible

Ready to feel old? “The Lion King” turns 20 (almost legal!) today.

On June 24, 1994, one of the most successful animated features ever entered theaters. In honor of the much-loved Disney classic, we recognize the Jews who made “The Lion King” possible.

1) Matthew Broderick: Voice of Adult Simba

Probably most well known for his teenaged antics in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” Matthew is now 52 and has been married to Sarah Jessica Parker for 17 years.

2) Rob Minkoff: Director

By the time Rob started directing “The Lion King,” he had already worked on “The Little Mermaid,” and “The Brave Little Toaster.” After, he moved on to direct “The Haunted” Mansion and “Stuart Little.”

3) Jeffrey Katzenberg: Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios

Later that year, Jeffery left Disney and founded DreamWorks with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen. Since then, he’s been involved in the production of such masterpieces as “Shrek,” “Kung Fu Panda,” and “How to Train Your Dragon.”

Honorable mention: Whoopi Goldberg — Voice of Shenzi

Although not Jewish, Whoopi deserves a nod. She changed her surname to Goldberg because her mother told her that only Jews could make it in Hollywood. Most recently, you can find Whoopi as a guest character on Glee.

Happy birthday “Lion King”! Here’s to many more happy childhoods.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.