Scar (The Lion King) is not a lion to be trifled with." A film that features the voices of several well-known A-list actors, namely Irons as Scar, Matthew Broderick as Simba, James Earl Jones as Mufasa and Whoopi Goldberg as Shenzi, "The Lion King "has since gone on to be acclaimed as "one of the most impressive arrays of voice talents ever utilized in an animated film." Critics have repeatedly singled out Irons's performance, praising it extensively: Cindy White of IGN called Irons's performance "deliciously smarmy," while Andy Patrizio of IGN wrote that Irons voices Scar "in perfect Shakespearean villain mode." "Rolling Stone"s Peter
Simba of inspiration. Before "The Lion King", Henn's experience as a supervising animator was limited to predominantly female characters; he had just recently completed work on Ariel from "The Little Mermaid" (1989), Belle from "Beauty and the Beast" (1991) and Jasmine from "Aladdin" (1992). When he became involved with "The Lion King", Henn initially expressed interest in animating the film's villain, Scar, because he wanted to do "something different." However, producer Don Hahn felt that he was better suited for animating Simba. Henn approaches animating new characters by "put[ting himself] into the character’s situation." Simba proved to be a challenge because