Feel the Love

Jasmine, Ariel, Belle...choosing the foxiest Disney babe is a never ending debate. Agreeing on the most attractive animated female lion, however, is easy: Nala, Simba’s irresistible and sassy childhood playmate and later romantic counterpart in the Lion King.

And the inspiration for Hollywood’s hottest lion lives in Currier House.

When she was eight years old, Disney cast Chelsey Forbess ’07 as the voice of young Nala. But after she had recorded her lines, movie’s producers decided that Forbess’ voice sounded too much like that of co-star Jonathan Taylor Thomas ’01, who played young Simba, and they subsequently recast the role.

Although her voice didn’t make it into the Oscar-winning, $320-million-grossing blockbuster, Forbess still appeared in the film indirectly. The day she was recording, animator Aaron Blaise was in the studio to meet with the producers. After catching a glimpse of Forbess in the sound booth, Blaise found his inspiration. Then and there, he began sketching young Nala for the first time. When Forbess finished her recording, Blaise handed her the finished product: a sketch of a female lion cub with a decided resemblance to Forbess.

There are striking similarities between Forbess and the animated lion she inspired.

“I’ve been told that you can still see it in my face,” Forbess says.

Afterwards, Forbess took on small roles in a couple of movies and appeared in a German candy bar commercial, but a role like Nala never came again.

“It was a good experience because I learned not to take rejection too much to heart,” Forbess said, “and it always makes a great story.”