Mum of actor who voiced Simba in Lion King made comment before he turned down $2 million offer and took royalties instead
When it comes to absolutely classic Disney movies, The Lion King has to be up there at the top, right?
It’s been over 30 years since the film landed and it just doesn’t get old.
But one person who certainly has grown up since then is the guy who voiced Simba. Well, he was the singing voice of the young lion anyway.
With such a big film, you’d imagine Jason Weaver was in for a whopper pay package afterwards.
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Except, his mum made a certain comment before the now 45-year-old star turned down Disney's offer of $2 million ($1.48 million). Instead, he ended up just taking the royalties.
Having had a decent child acting career, Weaver went on to appear in Drumline and Smart Guy as well as working in music.
How did Jason Weaver get approached by Disney?
When the Simba opportunity first arose, Weaver was appearing as preteen Michael Jackson in the 1992 miniseries, The Jacksons: An American Dream.
He explained that Elton John had been to visit the set while they were shooting Who’s Lovin’ You, but Weaver had somewhat brushed it off as plenty of celebs had been visiting.
But of course, John wrote a number of the original songs for The Lion King with Tim Rice.
And Weaver told Comedy Hype: “I was getting the opportunity, unbeknownst to me, to audition for him.”
John put the chance for a proper audition to his mum and he was soon getting seen by the team at Disney.
Why he didn’t voice for Simba for entire movie
Aged 13 at the time, Weaver remembers ‘getting an overwhelmingly positive response from the directors and the producers’ for his singing.
But when they discussed the ‘possibility of offering me the speaking role’, it wasn’t quite available.
“Disney had just closed their deal with Jonathan Taylor Thomas literally two or three days before I went in and did my recording session,” he explained. “So that deal was already done.”
There was ‘already a pre-existing agreement in contract that was set in stone’, it wasn’t because ‘Disney didn’t want’ him to have the speaking role, Weaver claimed.
“I was just appreciative of the opportunity,” he added.
What was he offered by Disney?
To this day, Weaver still says it’s a ‘blessing; and a ‘gift that just keeps on giving’, that he was able to sing as Simba for ‘I Just Can’t Wait to be King’ and ‘Hakuna Matata’.
“They compensated me well, the deal that I worked out with Disney is f**king awesome,” he said.
Weaver went on to say that in the industry, it ‘all depends on how you negotiate your deal’.
During an interview with Vlad TV, he spoke about Disney’s initial offer: "I remember it was like $2 million. Just to sing. That amount of money to an average middle-class family in Chicago in the early 90s - I mean, that's something.
"You gotta remember, they're coming off of Beauty and the Beast. They're coming off of Aladdin. Disney had bread. That was the thing that struck my mom."
Why his mum turned it down and what she said
While the young teen was ready to sign the line and become a millionaire, Marilyn ‘Kitty’ Haywood wasn’t going to let that happen quite so quickly.
Weaver told Comedy Hype that due to his mum being involved in the industry, she ‘knew how to comprehend and break down contracts’.
He told Vlad TV: “Immediately my mom goes, 'Wait a minute, OK, if they're willing to do that... that's it, that's all he'll ever get, for the remainder of his life?
"They were like, 'That's it, he takes the money, that's it', and she was like, 'No, let's negotiate royalties'."
So, instead of getting a one-off flat fee, it was negotiated for him to get the recurring payment which you receive in exchange for your continued permission to use your property or copyrighted works - which in this case, was the star’s voice.
And of course, The Lion King was a huge success, winning an Oscar for the soundtrack and becoming the second-highest grossing film of all time.
With an initial worldwide gross of $763 million, Weaver had received an initial payment of $100,000 upfront and will have easily dwarfed that $2 million in royalties to this day.
Topics: Disney, TV and Film, Music
Jess Battison