<P> Because The Lion King was originally conceived as a much more mature and adult - oriented film, Nala was supposed to have been banished from the Pride Lands as punishment for rejecting Scar's romantic advances . This idea was to have been further explored in Scar's song "Be Prepared (Reprise)", during which Scar demands that Nala become his queen, but the musical number was ultimately cut from the final film because the scene was considered too "creepy ." Matthew Roulette of TheFW believes that the scene was abandoned because of the characters' significant age difference . </P> <P> Nala means "gift" in Swahili . The character has a mother, whose name is never mentioned in the film; however, she is credited as Sarafina during the film's end credits . Candice Russel of the Sun - Sentinel believes that Nala contributes to the film's love story--"an indispensable factor in Disney cartoon features"--in addition to convincing Simba to return to Pride Rock . It has been observed that, unlike Disney's three previous animated efforts (The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Aladdin (1992), the romantic relationship between Nala and Simba is not main plot of the film . Ella Ceron of Thought Catalog observed that "At (Simba's) return, she's not exactly the friendliest little kitten, either...but is willing to overlook her own hurt ego in the spirit of their friendship . She believes in Simba, and doesn't understand why he wouldn't want to fight for his right to rule ." </P> <P> The speaking voice of adult Nala is provided by American actress Moira Kelly . Kelly was first informed that Disney was scheduling auditions for the role of Nala by her agent . Despite not having been the directors' first choice for the role initially, Kelly was allowed to audition nonetheless because the filmmakers had been longing to hear different voices . Kelly believes that the directors were searching for a specific "quality of voice...a sort of authoritative voice but with a lot of warmth" to compliment Nala's sensible yet nurturing personality . After a series of callbacks, during which Kelly returned to Disney several times to read the character's lines, the final decision eventually came down to be between Kelly and one other actress . It was not until several months after her audition that Kelly would finally be contacted and offered the part; Disney's initial first choice for the role remains undisclosed . Actor Matthew Broderick, voice of Simba, had already begun recording alongside another actress who had been cast as Nala before that actress was eventually replaced with Kelly . Broderick was not informed about his original co-star being recast, and only learned that Nala was actually voiced by Kelly at the film's premiere . </P> <P> The film's entire recording process took approximately three years to complete, during which Kelly's sessions were held in both the United States and Canada, while her co-stars Broderick and Jeremy Irons, voice of Scar, were recording in the United States and England, respectively . Each main cast member recorded their dialogue separately, which took Kelly some time to get used to because she had grown accustomed to working with several other actors at a time on the sets of live - action films . For The Lion King, a director would often take the place of another actor for Kelly to act opposite of . Vocally, Kelly decided to approach the role as though she were reading to a child, explaining, "it's kind of fun to play with different voices and try to color the lines for the child so they can imagine it more fully", which she admitted is different than how the actress would approach a live - action role . Because Nala is a "very straight character", determining what kind of voice she would use for her was not a particularly challenging task . Additionally, the filmmakers would also film Kelly's performances in order to incorporate her own facial expressions into her character's design, the process of which impressed the actress . In her film debut, actress Niketa Calame voices young Nala . According to Calame's official website, Nala remains the actress' "biggest role to date". A classically trained pianist and chorister, Laura Williams provides the singing voice of young Nala, which can be heard in the song "I Just Can't Wait to Be King"; the singer was 15 years old at the time . Meanwhile, singer - songwriter Sally Dworsky provides the singing voice of adult Nala, which is heard during the song "Can You Feel the Love Tonight". The film's love theme, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" 's lyrics were re-written approximately 15 times, according to lyricist Tim Rice, who wrote the song alongside composer Elton John . At one point, the producers wanted the song to be a comical duet performed by supporting characters Timon and Pumbaa, despite the fact that John had originally composed the song with Nala and Simba in mind . However, John lobbied in favor of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" being a love song performed as a duet by Nala and Simba, with which the filmmakers ultimately agreed . </P>

Who played simba and nala in the lion king