Why Pepper’s voice on the modern family sounds so familiar

As some Modern Family fans may already know, Nathan Lane’s career extends well beyond his 10 episodes on the long-running sitcom, including numerous voice acting roles in animated projects.

In that regard, Modern Family viewers will recognize Lane’s distinctive vocal skills from his work on animated series like Teacher’s Pet, where he voiced Spot Helperman as well as Scott Leadready and Snowbell in the 1999 feature film Stuart Little. and its continuation. But Lane is best known for providing the voice of plucky little meerkat Timon in Disney’s 1994 blockbuster animated hit The Lion King, along with its direct-to-video sequels, spin-offs and specials.

As it turns out, however, the duo of Lane’s Timon and Ernie Sabella’s warthog Pumbaa almost had much smaller roles in The Lion King. In Lane’s interview with the American Film Institute, the actor explained that Disney’s then-Chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg initially thought the film was too dark and needed something funny. “I think Mr. Katzenberg had a lot to do with it [adding more Timon and Pumbaa to the movie]Lane told AFI, adding that at this early stage Katzenberg found the film to be “a little bit heavy, it’s a little bit serious,” which led to more scene-stealing work from Lane and Sabella.

Aside from his resume as a voice actor, Lane is also known for starring in films such as The Producers (2005) and The Bird Cage (1996), and recently appeared in a recurring role on Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building , where he frequently played comedy legend Martin Short.