Jessica Rabbit’s Voice was to be in Lion King 2, Cut Song Revealed

Disney voice roles are routinely recast, partway through production. One of the biggest recasts in recent years was Cassie Steele being sidelined from Raya and the Last Dragon, more than a year after she took the stage at D23 Expo.

But as a newly posted clip from The Rosie O’Donnell Show proves, even Academy Award nominees can be sidelined.

Romancing the Stone star Kathleen Turner, best known to Disney fans as the voice of Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, was cast as Zira in The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride. Zira led the Outlanders after Scar’s betrayal and death.

In the March 10, 1998 clip, Turner is unaware of the cut, just months before the October 27 release of the VHS. She sings a portion of her character’s song, which was later was cut from the movie:

It’s also my singing debut… I have a lullaby, it’s terrible. “Sleep my little Kovu, let your heart take wing. One day when you’re big and strong, you will be a King… I’ve been exiled, persecuted, left alone without defense. When I think of what that brute did, I get a little tense.”

The late Suzanne Pleshette (The Birds, The Bob Newhart Show, Spirited Away) was later cast in the role. Given the amount of time required to do hand-drawn animation and to produce millions of VHS copies, the recast may have come just days after this appearance. The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride sold 3.5 million VHS in its first three days of release, and 15 million copies of VHS or DVD by September 2001.