Ladbible X Whatsapp
  • iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Man who voiced Simba turned down $2 million dollar payday and went for royalties instead

Home> News

Updated 14:55 9 Dec 2022 GMTPublished 14:46 9 Dec 2022 GMT

Man who voiced Simba turned down $2 million dollar payday and went for royalties instead

He had to be brave to hold out, but he said his courage was rewarded

Jake Massey

Jake Massey

The singer who performed as young Simba in The Lion King showed the courage of a lion to turn down an offer of $2 million in favour of picking up royalties.

Jason Weaver sang Disney bangers such as 'Hakuna Matata' and 'I Just Can't Wait to be King' and was offered a flat rate of $2 million (£1.63 million) - which is a lot now, but was much more back in 1994.

However, he trusted the sage advice of his mother and decided to turn it down and negotiate a royalties deal.

He turned down a lot of cash upfront.
AJ Pics / Alamy Stock Photo

Advert

"I remember it was like $2 million," he told Vlad TV in 2019.

"You gotta remember, they're coming off of Beauty and the Beast. They're coming off of Aladdin. Disney had bread."

He added: "That amount of money to an average middle class family in Chicago in the early nineties, that's something.

"But 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,' she was like, 'No, let's negotiate royalties.'"

Advert

Weaver, now 42, said they knew Disney had forecasted they'd make a 's**t tonne' of money from the movie franchise, and that the two mil offered was a drop in the ocean.

But it was a big gamble to turn down the offer, as he said he ended up being paid just $100,000 (£81,460) upfront.

He added: "Disney had a reputation for re-releasing stuff. I think at that time they had put out Sleeping Beauty and some of their old catalogue from when Walt Disney was alive.

"They were releasing that stuff when they were releasing the new Disney stuff, so she [his mum] was able to see the playing field and go, 'Wait a minute, this is going to make a lot of money over time, so what happens when my son turns 40? Is he going to be able to get a cheque for this when they eventually re-release this.'"

Advert

The gamble proved to be a smart move for Weaver, who revealed that the royalties have more than made up for turning down the initial offer - although he didn't say exactly how much he'd earned from the songs.

Just goes to show, you can always rely on your mum to work out what's best for you, eh?

Featured Image Credit: Vlad TV

Topics: TV and Film, Disney

Jake Massey
Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

X

@jakesmassey

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

2 mins ago
an hour ago
2 hours ago
3 hours ago
  • 2 mins ago

    Dad issues grave warning as partner fighting for her life after horror mosquito bite infection

    She fainted due to the bites and fell down a flight of stairs

    News
  • an hour ago

    Everything we know about China's Ozempic and Wegovy rival to help people with weight loss

    Several other weight loss jabs are being developed in China

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    Top adult star reveals 'really tough' impact new UK porn laws will have on industry

    UK adult content creator, Jess West, said new porn laws and social media are hurting the industry

    News
  • 3 hours ago

    'Ghost children' siblings aged 6 and 9 rescued from isolated farm with no contact from outside world

    Police came to warn them about a flood and found two children who had never been registered

    News
  • Man took his £7 million car collection to WeBuyAnyCar to see what they would offer and it went horribly wrong
  • Man who had penis cut off by wife went into porn after it was reattached
  • Man posed as a flight attendant for over 100 free flights in case compared to Catch Me If You Can
  • Denzel Washington turned down huge role in Se7en that could have changed entire movie