<P> Screenwriter Jonathan Roberts said that, in a musical, songs are used to convey a character's emotions and "I wants ." Composer Elton John and lyricist Tim Rice wrote the song "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" in order to give Simba a medium through which he can express his desire to become King of the Pride Lands . Roberts said, "It's a way for storytellers to move the story and deliver the direction of the character ." </P> <P> Matthew Broderick provided the speaking voice of Adult Simba . The first actor to be assigned to The Lion King, Broderick learned of the role while he was on vacation in Ireland, where he received a telephone call from his agent informing him that the directors were interested in casting him as Simba . At the time, Broderick was well known for portraying the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986). The directors decided to cast him as Simba because they felt that he was "perfect" for the role; according to producer Don Hahn, Broderick's voice resembled "the kind of character who could be irresponsible and likeable, but you also felt that he could come back in a very heroic way ." Jonathan Taylor Thomas, who was starring as Randy Taylor on the television sitcom Home Improvement at the time, was cast as the speaking voice of Young Simba . His appearance and personality would later serve as creative inspiration for supervising animator Mark Henn . </P> <P> Though Broderick is a trained Broadway singer, he was not up to the task, and neither was non-singer Thomas, so Toto lead singer Joseph Williams and actor Jason Weaver were hired to dub their respective singing voices . Williams' voice is heard on the song "Can You Feel the Love Tonight". Impressed by Weaver's performance as a young Michael Jackson in the miniseries The Jacksons: An American Dream, songwriters Elton John and Tim Rice recruited him to record "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" and "Hakuna Matata" while the film was still in its early stages of production . As directors, Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff worked closely with the actors in order to ensure credible performances . As is frequently done in animated films, the filmmakers videotaped the actors while they recorded their dialogue, allowing the animators to incorporate their specific mannerisms into the designs of their characters . </P> <P> When The Lion King was green - lit, its concept and story were not well received by studio employees . To guarantee the release of at least one successful film, Disney CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg divided the studio into two separate projects: The Lion King and Pocahontas (1995), with Pocahontas expected to be the more successful of the two . Because of this assumption, the majority of the studio's more seasoned animators gravitated towards Pocahontas because The Lion King was deemed a "risk", while less experienced animators were assigned to work on The Lion King . Co-director Rob Minkoff received this positively, saying that this decision "gave a lot of newer animators a chance to step up to leadership roles ." </P>

Who was the singing voice of young simba