In November 1992, millions of families sat down in front of the TV for a two-part story about the most famous musical family in the world. It was called “The Jacksons: An American Dream,” and it aired on ABC over two nights.
The show followed the family from their early days in Gary, Indiana, all the way to superstardom. And at the heart of it was a young boy with a big smile and an even bigger voice, playing Michael Jackson before he became the King of Pop.
He wasn’t a star yet. Just a kid from Chicago.
Here’s the promo that ABC ran to get people watching. See if you can spot the boy playing young Michael.
The original 1992 ABC promo for “The Jacksons: An American Dream”
That boy was Jason Weaver. He was only 13 when the miniseries came out, and he carried the younger years of Michael’s story, roughly from age 9 to 14. The show was made with the Jackson family’s cooperation, and Michael himself was reportedly involved behind the scenes, so the pressure on a young actor must have been enormous. Weaver pulled it off.
But the part most people don’t know comes next.
Two years later, Weaver was back in front of a microphone for one of the biggest movies Disney has ever made. He didn’t appear on screen this time. He sang. His voice became the singing voice of young Simba, the little lion cub in “The Lion King” from 1994.
Yes, that one.
So when you hear young Simba belting out “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King,” bouncing through the jungle full of confidence, that’s Jason Weaver. The same boy who played young Michael on your TV just two years earlier.
There’s one thing that trips people up, so let’s clear it up. Simba’s speaking voice in that movie was done by a different child actor, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, who was a huge name back then from the show “Home Improvement.” Weaver handled the singing. Two different kids, one cub.
Weaver has looked back on it with real pride. Years later he told Blavity that it was the music that stuck with folks, “and especially ‘I Just Can’t Wait To Be King.'” Even now, that song follows him everywhere. People hear it and they have no idea the voice belongs to the kid who once played Michael Jackson.
Here’s the number itself, so you can hear exactly what we mean.
Young Simba sings “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” in the 1994 film
Weaver didn’t disappear after that. He went on to star as Marcus Henderson on the TV comedy “Smart Guy” from 1997 to 1999, a role a whole generation grew up on, and he’s still acting and singing today.
Two of the most recognizable pieces of pop culture from the 1990s, young Michael and young Simba, and the same young voice was behind both of them. Go back and listen. You’ll never un-hear it.