Since premiering in June 1994, the legacy of Disney’s The Lion King has left a remarkable legacy that has spawned sequels, global theatre productions and multiple renditions.
Since premiering in June 1994, the legacy of Disney’s The Lion King has left a remarkable legacy that has spawned sequels, global theatre productions and multiple renditions.
But what is it about The Lion King story that thrills audiences? The story of a young lion destined to be the king of the African Pride Lands has made its way out of Africa and into the hearts of everyone who views it.
The story takes references from Hamlet, Shakespeare’s play where the king of Denmark tells his son Hamlet to avenge is murder by killing the current king, Hamlet’s uncle. But The Lion King is a coming of age story, making it a unique medium for telling such a cathartic tale.
‘The Lion King’ (1994)
The 1994 animated film tells the tale of birth, childhood and eventual manhood of Simba the lion, (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), son of Mufasa, the noble patriarch (James Earl Jones). The film is firmly set in Africa with Zulu chants sprinkled throughout, yet The Lion King powerfully builds on the story of all of us.
The award-winning music of the film does more than set the mood and gets audiences to tap their toes, but enhances the themes of the film like a second set of storytellers.
The Lion King has one of, if not the most goosebump-inducing opening scenes in cinema. With a mighty opening call to the Circle of Life, sung by Lebo M, paired with a bold African sunrise, the opening is so powerful that it is Disney’s official trailer for the film.
The Circle of Life scene is an unforgettable moment where zebras, giraffes, springboks, monkeys and wildebeests come together to show respect by bowing to not only the future king of the Pride Land, but the circle of life. It is a graceful acknowledgement of each animal’s role in maintaining a delicate balance in the natural world.
The film is also chock-full of clever jokes and puns from the likes of Zazu, the major domo hornbill, who says “cheetahs never prosper”; or Shenzi the hyena (Whoopi Goldberg) asking to make Simba “a cub sandwich”. Each voice actor carries their character with charisma and depth, even Scar (Jeremy Irons), the campy and antisocial uncle of Simba.
The film brought the East African notion of hakuna matata (no worries) to the world in a truly toe-tapping flare.
‘The Lion King’ on Broadway (1997)
On 13 November 1997, The Lion King opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway. As of 2022 – 25 years later – the production has broken box office records, won six Tony Awards, and expanded to nine more productions of the story on three continents.
Directed by Julie Taymor, the international phenomena is not a cookie-cutter retelling of a Disney movie that parents lean on to entertain their kids, it’s for all people.
“It’s a sacred experience that takes you to a higher plane of being,” Taymor told Gordon Cox on the Stagecraft podcast. “Theatre began as a shamanistic, spiritualistic healing experience for a community, not for commercial profit.”
Perhaps the reason The Lion King theatre production is so revered is that it is entertaining, beautiful, with great talent and dance, and is a truly healing production. The words in the script can consistently be reinterpreted to be about where one finds themselves going through at that moment.
A significant addition to the Broadway production is the South African production that featured an exclusively South African cast. The production opened Montecasino Teatro Theatre in 2007 and ran until February 2008.
As a South African cast, this play has become a part of history where castings and tweaks to scripts are intentional, a choice carried throughout all other global productions.
For the dynamic duo Timon the meerkat and Pumbaa the warthog, the casting choices are relevant to South African history. Timon is played by Peter Mashigo while Pumbaa is played by Pierre van Heeren.
Taymor says that casting characters of different socioeconomic backgrounds as the outcast best friends brings a “sub-sociological bent in the South African production”.
At the heart of it is a coming of age story that transcends across generations and cultures, but what it doesn’t cross is humour. The different lanes of the story in each location of the production finds local humour.
The production in China is performed in Mandarin, where the hyenas have a different accent and dialect to the South African or American hyenas. These rough and tumble hyenas have their own geographical humour specific to Chinese audiences.
The Lion King’s theatrical performance is for all ages. The play explores the circle of life: what is death, a child dealing with the loss of his father and the responsibility of coming home to take over his kingship, and the spiritual journey of remembering one’s ancestral past.
‘The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride’ (1998)
Released four years after the original film as direct-to-video (yes, video, not straight-to-streaming), The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride is a solid sequel.
Despite drawing certain parallels from the original film, the Lion King II stands on its own. Much like the childhood of Simba, his daughter Kiera is an adventurous free spirit who makes similar misadventures to the young Simba. Here the antagonist stems from Scar in the form of a young cub named Kovu, the son of Zira, a former follower of Scar and leader of a pack of outcast lionesses.
Beginning where the 1994 hit ended, the Lion King II opens with Simba, now king, and Nala, his lioness partner, presenting their daughter Kiara from atop Pride Rock. This presentation scene is underscored by a familiar style of opener track He Lives in You, also performed by Lebo M. It is impossible to outdo the opening track of the film’s predecessor, but this track does feature in The Lion King on Broadway.
Other iconic artists such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Angélique Kidjo feature in the Lion King II score, but aren’t as revered as the songs in the original Lion King.
If anything, The Lion King II fulfils Simba’s destiny to be a strong ruler, but his history of trauma puts Simba in a unique position that distinguishes him from the idea of a flawless father. Timon and Pumbaa ascend to royal advisers with Zazu.
‘The Lion King’ (2019)
When Disney announced a 2019 release of a photorealistic remake of The Lion King directed by Jon Favreau, fans rejoiced. The casting choices and computer-generated imagery are impeccable, but does not have the power to overshadow the 1994 animation either.
There is some criticism of the coinage “live action” because not a single real animal appears in the film, but the casting choices makes up for this.
The cast that features Donald Glover as Simba and Beyoncé as Nala had fans such as Twitter user @bat_mason saying, “Beyoncé plays Nala in The Lion King we’re going to have a Childish Gambino Beyoncé duet on “Can You Feel the Love Tonight’”.
Seth Rogan, who plays Pumbaa, and John Oliver as the voice of Zazu are perfect castings because they are the right choices at the right time. Rogan and Oliver’s voices remind viewers of the original voices in the 1994 film, yet their unique voices remind us of who is behind the characters. You know Rogan is Pumbaa, and you know Oliver is Zazu. These choices refresh a film that halfway through got very dark.
The 2019’s performance of The Lion Sleeps Tonight is a sweet, funky acapella version lead by Timon (Billy Eichner), who are joined by a menagerie of characters including a bush baby (Chance the Rapper). This version of the song is as catchy as 1994’s Hakuna Matata.
For a generation mourning the loss of Mufasa in the 1994 film, rewatching the scene in computer-generated hyperrealism is hard. It still teaches audiences about loss, unfairness and the cold finality of death.
The goal is to make audiences feel like they are watching a cast of real-life animals, and this is admirably met. The 2019 Simba cub is so cute, that seeing him next to his dead father, Mufasa, is even more tragic.
The 2019 version of The Lion King is by no means a better movie than the 1994 animation, but it is successful in cashing in on the nostalgia and savvy Beyoncé casting, bringing in $1.6 billion, according to Disney.
Despite having multiple versions, the 1994 version of The Lion King is forever revered as a classic. The animation is still a cut above the rest of its younger cousins since it roared into our rolodex of Disney animated tales. It’s not as stiff as its 2019 retelling, yet not as stretched thin as the Broadway production.
‘The Lion King’ (1994)
Nothing beats the classics, like the 1994 animated version of The Lion King. The film brought viewers an award-winning score produced by legends Sir Elton John and Sir Tim Rice AND featuring other legendary artists such as Lebo M, Hans Zimmer and Whoopi Goldberg.
‘Timon and Pumbaa’ (1995-1999)
The Timon and Pumbaa animated series expands on the duo’s hakuna matata lifestyle. Although the series isn’t exclusively set in Africa, the cartoon is entertaining enough for child fans of The Lion King.
‘The Lion King’ on Broadway (1997)
The first show of The Lion King on Broadway debuted at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York City in November 1997. Director Julie Taymor immediately recognised the timeless storytelling of a young man outcast from home, royal power struggles, as well as innocence and romance. The show is the highest grossing production — film and theatre — ever, grossing more than $9 billion worldwide.
‘The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride’ (1998)
The sequel to The Lion King released in the era of home video, roaring into shops on VHS. Despite not giving audiences the same powerful performances as the original, the sequel is a clean, well-made sequel that does not dare attempt to match the 1994 predecessor.
‘The Lion King 1½’ (2004)
The Lion King 1½ film flew under the radar, probably because it is nowhere near as good as the original film, the sequel or even the Timon and Pumbaa spinoff. The film is a prequel to The Lion King that attempts to tell the origin of Timon and Pumbaa’s stories as individuals and as a dynamic duo.
‘The Lion King’ Johannesburg Debut (2007-2008)
The South African theatrical production of The Lion King was a major moment. The first South African-only cast now has 24 different nationalities. Even though the production was short-lived on South African stages, many of the original cast are involved in the other productions. The cast debuted their first show in the Middle East, in Abu Dhabi in November this year.
‘The Lion King’ (2019)
The (not-so) live-action version of The Lion King is an incredible retelling of the original. Like the 1994 film, the score is full of legendary, cross-genre artists, but leans on its headline cast for the music rather than giving flowers to artists from Africa. Directed by Jon Favreau, the 2019 film shocked viewers with the power of technology that gave us one of the best wildlife documentaries.
‘The Lion Guard’ (2021)
The Lion Guard is another spin-off animated series for the children who love The Lion King. The show follows Simba, who recruits his animal friends to prove to his father that one does not have to be a lion to be the bravest in the animal kingdom.
‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ (2024)
In September 2022 at Disney’s expo D23, the studio announced a prequel to the original story, Mufasa: The Lion King, which promises to tell the story of a young Mufasa. Not much is known about the film except for the 5 July 2024 release date and that Mufasa is voiced by Aaron Pierce.