The Lion King remake has proved to be a box-office smash, having amassed over £482million worldwide and now a Texas Zoo is claiming one of their lion cubs had a paw in its success.
The official Facebook page for Dallas Zoo revealed that Bahati, a female lion, was used as a real-life reference for baby Simba by Disney animators for the classic.
The Disney team observed Bahati's movements and behaviours to make their infant version of Simba as realistic as possible in the Beyoncé-starring flick.
Taking to social media to publicise their help in the remake, the zoo shared a clip of a then one-month-old Bahati, who is now a two-year-old lioness, moving her head and paws.
Captioning the video, they excitedly wrote: "The world's most famous lion cub may have gotten some of his moves from our very own Bahati!
"When Bahati was just a month old, we provided Disney with video of her movements for their animation team to use for motion and behaviour reference when designing Simba in The Lion King.
Adding: "From walking on wobbly new legs, to licking milk droplets off of her face, we captured every moment, no matter how small. So now you MUST go see Disney's The Lion King, and let us know if you see any bit of baby Bahati in Simba" (sic).
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This is totally paw-some, we swear we aren't lion!
Bahati Moja was born to parents Lina and Kamau on 17th March, 2017 and was the first lion cub to be born at the Dallas Zoo in 43 years.
The majestic creature's name means 'Lucky One' in Swahili and pays tribute to the day of her birth, which fell on St. Patrick's Day.
As well as the adorable baby videos, the zoo has given fans a look at her now as a fully formed lioness.
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Topics: TV News, Real, TV Entertainment, The Lion King