Last week I talked about how the Care Bears were derived from greeting cards. This week I want to focus on, not where animation originated from, but what it can lead to. Disney’s The Lion King was released in 1994 and continued to be the highest grossing animated film until Disney and Pixar teamed up to create Finding Nemo. According to Wikipedia, “The Lion King still holds the record as the highest grossing traditionally animated film in history.” The Lion King has continued to be very popular because of both its storyline and soundtrack. The film’s popularity and success led it to crossover and become a major success on Broadway.
In 1997, actors took to the stage in the musical rendition of The Lion King. The musical version of The Lion King, like the animated film, got rave reviews. I thought it was very interesting to hear that the first act of the Broadway version is longer than the original animated film. In order to turn The Lion King into a Broadway production they had to expand the storyline. The animated film portrayed the Savannah through images. The musical version still had to make the Savannah come to life but they had to do things differently. In order to make this production a success the actors had to spark the imagination of their audience.
The actors did a wonderful job and got rave reviews. According to Newsweek, the musical is considered a “landmark event in entertainment.” Recently, The Lion King celebrated a milestone of 5,000 live performances. Disney’s Broadway site says that over 45 million people have watched the musical rendition of the beloved film. In 1998, the musical won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical. In this interview, one guest who watched the musical said “it’s unbelievable that human beings could create such beauty.” The Broadway production has been translated into many different languages and shown in several countries. Currently, you can watch the musical in New York City, Las Vegas, or catch the cast when they are on an international tour.
You can watch a sneak peak of the musical here. To find out more about when you can catch The Lion King on Broadway click here.
This week I commented on Taylor & DeMarco.
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March 21, 2010 at 8:46 pm
Myca Taylor
I have never seen the Lion King on Broadway but I have seen stills and heard some of the soundtrack and I was always mystified by the idea. Lion King was a favorite from my youth and I never quite could figure out how the design team could so accurately replace characters without the over-use of anthropomorphic costumes.
March 21, 2010 at 9:32 pm
cfdemarco
It is amazing what they decide to put on Broadway these days, I mean, they did make Green Day’s “American Idiot” into a show. Lion King was an interesting idea to make into a Broadway show. Although I have yet to see it on Broadway, it apparently is very good from what I’ve heard. The movie version was excellent, so it would be hard to believe that Disney would allow the show to be held to any less of a standard. It is something I’d definitely consider.
March 22, 2010 at 12:52 pm
smickert
I saw The Lion King on Broadway and it was a very incredible event. The costumes are what impressed me the most. Every person was dressed to look like an African animal. Some people were transformed into 12 foot tall girafes, and multiple people were turned into huge elephants. All the animals walked down the isles and blew away the audience. I love that it is now a Broadway staple.
March 24, 2010 at 8:45 pm
kyluna
I have seen the Lion King on Broadway and it was fascinating but I honestly prefered the animated film, however I have seen there theatrical version of Beauty and the Beast on Broadway and I feel in love with it. Disney seems to hold a high standard no matter what they do and they seem to use singers and actors from recognizable TV programs as cast memebers on Broadway so it is a good way for their cast members to get big experiences. When we saw Beauty and the Beast Belle was played by the girl who was from the “even stevens” show.