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The 25 best animated movies of all time – readers' picks

What's the best animated film ever made? We asked Monitor readers to vote for their favorite. Which took the top spot?

3. 'The Lion King'

  • By Molly Driscoll Staff Writer

The 1994 movie directed by Rob Minkoff and Roger Allers is the story of a young lion, Simba, who is the son of wise ruler Mufasa and must learn to face his responsibilities so as to be a worthy successor to his father.

Actors Nathan Lane, who voiced meerkat Timon, and Ernie Sabella, who voiced the part of warthog Pumbaa, were starring together in a Broadway production of "Guys and Dolls" at the time of their audition. The two auditioned for the parts of the hyenas but were cast as the duo who befriend Simba. "Hearing them together, they were hilarious," Minkoff said of Lane and Sabella's audition in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. "We hadn't figured out who Timon and Pumbaa were going to be character-wise, but having heard Nathan and Ernie, we said, it has to be them."

Animator Mark Henn, who worked on the younger version of Simba, recalled the animal research done by the production, which included having birds and lions come in for the animators to see. "The little, little lions were much more friendly [than the older lions] and we got to get up close to pet them and tussle with them a bit," Henn told the LA Times.

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

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