In the 2019 remake, who voices the young Simba?

JD McCrary voices the young Simba in the 2019 remake of The Lion King. He performs Simba’s dialogue and songs during the cub portion of the story, before the character grows into the adult lion voiced by Donald Glover.

The remake follows the broad plot of the 1994 animated film but presents its animals in a photorealistically animated style. McCrary’s young Simba is still Mufasa’s adventurous son, whose disobedience and manipulation by Scar lead to the wildebeest stampede and his exile from the Pride Lands.

Donald Glover voices adult Simba, creating a deliberate vocal distinction between Simba as a child and as a grown lion. That division mirrors the original film, in which Jonathan Taylor Thomas voiced young Simba’s dialogue and Matthew Broderick voiced the adult character. Jason Weaver and Joseph Williams provided singing voices for the younger and adult versions in selected musical material in the original.

JD McCrary was announced alongside Shahadi Wright Joseph, who voices young Nala in the remake. The film also brought back James Earl Jones as Mufasa, reprising his role from the 1994 movie.