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
Nala (The Lion King) felt that "Nala is really the agent of change in "The Lion King"", dismissing Simba as a "rich, lazy boyfriend." Leab observed that "The Lion King"'s male characters tend to "take the center stage" while "female characters take a backseat to the action." Lenka Křivánková of Masaryk University wrote in her thesis "1990s Hollywood Break-Away Hits: A Feminist Perspective" that she was not particularly surprised by the film's lack of strong roles for women because of its Shakespearean source material, dubbing the film "an old traditional fairy tale with all its traditional features", including patriarchy and monarchism. Writing for the