The Lion King
Origins
The Lion King as we now know it is the product of many years of thought, refinement, re-imagining and re-writing. Its germination began in the time dubbed as the ‘Disney Renaissance’, but unlike several other tales such as
Peter Pan and
Alice in Wonderland,
The Lion King was an original story. While writing the story, story head Brenda Chapman said “Writing an original story is definitely more challenging, because there is nothing to fall back on. The story changed quite a bit during the process. It was our job to make the main characters likable and sympathetic." Screenwriter Irene Mechhi described the process of writing an animated feature as “Writing in layers. You are constantly going back and putting another layer on."
The team, along with directors Roger Allers and Robert Minkoff were also attempting to create a story which at its crux is not a love story like other Disney classics
Beauty and the Beast or
The Little Mermaid, but a story about the relationship between father and son. Minkoff said at the time “It is just as crucial and interesting in its own way, but a real different subject and a change of pace from other Disney films".
Initially, the saga was entitled
King of the Jungle, but this was changed as the team realised that the African Savannah was the perfect setting for the epic. Story head Brenda Chapman found real inspiration during her research trip to Kenya. It enabled her to understand the relationship between the animals and their environment which translated into the script. It was in Kenya that she discovered the popular saying ‘Hakuna Matata,’ one of the most iconic and oft-repeated slogans in the film, as well as Rafiki’s nonsense rhyme ‘Asante Sana. Squash Banana. We We Nugu. Mi mi Apana’ which originated as the nonsense chant her tour guide used to sing.
The Story and the Animation
The unforgettable story of
The Lion King follows Simba, heir to the pride lands, on a journey of self-discovery. He grows into a cocky young cub, but is forced to grow up when his father Mufasa is killed by his villainous uncle Scar. Overcome with guilt over his father’s death, Simba flees the pride lands, only to meet the hilarious duo, warthog Pumba and meerkat Timon. The pair teaches him valuable life lessons, and he eventually finds his way back to rescue the pride, re-claim his rightful place and banish Scar forever.
The breathtaking animation in the film was borne from a desire to capture the true essence of the natural habitat. The animation team created what they called ‘fantasy Africa; A vast canvas filled with natural weather and the movement of animals. The team also made a conscious decision to change the landscape depending on the point of view of the characters. For example during the scene where Simba sings
I Just Can’t Wait to be King the backdrop becomes more colourful, flamboyant and childish. Art Director Andy Gaskill explained “This is a lot more time-consuming to animate, but without the subtleties it wouldn’t be as special."
The Music
Disney films are characterised by the moments characters burst into song, and
The Lion King is no exception. When Lyricist Tim Rice was brought on board, he was asked who he would choose to write the music if he could have anyone in the world, and he said “Elton John." Together, they composed what would become Disney’s best selling soundtrack.
Tim and Elton had known each other for years and collaborated on previous projects. Producer Tom Schumacher has said of approaching Elton John “We were terrified at first, because we thought he might be extremely busy or difficult to work with. Instead, we found him to be a very interested and insightful collaborator who was a big champion of turning this story into a musical. Elton became an important part of the filmmaking process and really seemed to enjoy himself along the way."
Elton himself has said that he jumped at the chance because he felt immediately connected to the story line and the team. He said “this project was exciting and challenging because I had to write differently from what I would write for myself. I think that The Lion King is the funniest movie Disney has made since Jungle Book. In fact, I probably think it's the funniest movie they've ever made."
The Circle of Life turned out to be the most important song that the duo wrote together, and the anthem of the film. The song reminds us of the invaluable part that each one of us, from tiny ant to mighty lion, plays in the greater scheme.
Composer/Arranger Hans Zimmer brought Rice and Elton’s songs to life by adding African flavour, choral symphonies and filling them with the raw emotion that the film evokes. Zimmer recalls, "Elton was a very courageous man to just give me his demos and leave me to do whatever I wanted with them. I work like an animator, in a way. I do this sort of black and white sketch on a piano and then I start filling in the colours as I go along."
Together the trio brought us the classics
Can You Feel the Love Tonight,
I Just Can’t Wait to be King, and
Hakuna Matata - songs that are so iconic they became a vital part of what would soon be a hit musical in theatres around the world. In 1995 each of those songs was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and
Can You Feel The Love Tonight was the winner of that award.
The Voices
As important as the music, is the talented cast of voices in the film. Rowan Atkinson was brought in as the pedantic Zazu, secretary bird to the King Mufasa. Matthew Broderick played the cheeky Simba and James Earl Jones the magnificent Mufasa. Whoopi Goldberg voiced the detestable but daft hyena Shenzi and Moira Kelly was the adult Nala, the love of Simba’s life. Perhaps the most arresting voice was that of Jeremy Irons who played one of Disney’s most infamous and memorable villains, Scar. Director Roger Allers has said of Jeremy Irons, “He would give us so many different interpretations that it became difficult for us to pick which was the best. He brings to the character an air of incredible intelligence, yet sort of twisted and dark. He was absolutely brilliant."
Future Avatars and The Lion King: The Musical
Disney’s
The Lion King is still the highest grossing animated film of all time. In 1998 a sequel entitled
The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride was released, and 2005 brought the prequel/parallel,
The Lion King 1 1/2. In 2011
The Lion King was released in 3D to cater to a new generation of cinema audiences. This version has earned a whopping £100 million at global box offices, and over £12 million in the UK alone.
Following the movie’s release came the phenomenal theatre production. The musical debuted on July the 8th, 1997, in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the Orpheum Theatre and was an immediate hit. It then premiered on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theatre on November 13, before moving to the Minskoff Theatre where it runs to this date.
The Lion King has won 6 Tony Awards, and is Broadway’s seventh longest running show in history.
In the UK the show debuted in the Lyceum Theatre in the West End on October 19, 1999 and is still running as one of the most popular West End musicals. On September the 13th, 2011 the show celebrated its 5000th performance by donating the sales of 5000 tickets to Charity.
Currently George Asprey plays Scar in the West End adaptation, with Shaun Escoffery as Simba, Brown Linidwe Mkhize as Rafiki and Ava Brennan plays Nala.
Much of the success of the theatre production lies in the use of African masks and puppets created by director Julie Taymor and designer Michael Curry. In the production the masks are worn traditionally above the actor’s faces which clearly represent the characters, yet allow the actors to make full use of their human emotions and expressions. The production also incorporates Bunraku puppetry, where a puppeteer visible to the audience controls a life-sized puppet on the stage. By leaving the puppeteer’s visible, much in the same way the actor’s faces are left visible, audiences can concentrate on the character as well as the skill of the puppeteer, allowing them a complete appreciation of the theatrical event.
Critics have called the West End production ‘a ravishing spectacle’, ‘an absolute delight’ and ‘an indisputable triumph,’ and the play is a major pull for tourists to London from all over the world.
Global productions have now run successfully in major theatres in Toronto, Sydney, Paris, Taipei, Mexico City, and Madrid.
Breaking records and crossing borders, The Lion King continues to move audiences worldwide.
By Ahalya Alvares
Billy Elliot the Musical is the joyous celebration of one boy’s journey to make his dreams come true. Set in a small English town, the story follows Billy as he stumbles out of the boxing ring and into a ballet class, discovering a passion that takes him by surprise, and takes his whole family on an incredibly uplifting adventure.
BACKGROUND TO THE PRODUCTION
Billy Elliot the Musical, based on the beloved 2000 film, which garnered three Academy Award nominations and three BAFTA awards, opened at London’s Victoria Palace in May 2005 to unanimous critical acclaim.
The Mail on Sunday wrote, “Truly electrifying…this heart-stopping show is a must-see."
The Sunday Express raved, “Pure magic." And
The Daily Telegraph proclaimed it simply, “The greatest British musical I have ever seen." The production went on to sweep London’s nine awards for Best Musical, including the Olivier, Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards. It celebrated its fifth anniversary in May 2010.
Billy Elliot the Musical next opened to equal acclaim at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, Australia in December 2007. The Australian wrote, “Billy Elliot should come with a warning: abandon cynicism all ye who enter. Open your heart, get out the tissues and surrender." The Sydney Morning Herald raved, “Joyously entertaining, Billy Elliot bursts into starry-eyed showbiz magic … A rapturous pinnacle of self-expression and fulfillment." The Sunday Telegraph called it, “Bloody brilliant! Funny, exuberantly rude and heartbreakingly moving." The production transferred to Melbourne’s Her Majesty’s Theatre on December 31, 2008 where it was met with equally acclaim. The Australian production was honoured with 12 theatre awards, including Best Musical (Helpmann Awards, Sydney, and Green Room Awards, Melbourne).
Billy Elliot the Musical opened on Broadway, New York at the Imperial Theatre on November 13, 2008 to extraordinary critical acclaim. Billy Elliot was the winner of ten 2009 Tony Awards including: Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical (Lee Hall), Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical (David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, Kiril Kulish), Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical (Gregory Jbara), Best Direction of a Musical (Stephen Daldry), Best Choreography (Peter Darling), Best Orchestrations (Martin Koch), Best Scenic Design of a Musical (Ian MacNeil), Best Lighting Design of a Musical (Rick Fisher) and Best Sound Design of a Musical (Paul Arditti).
The Broadway production is the recipient of a total of 35 awards including being named Best Musical by the New York Drama Critics Circle, Drama Desk, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle.
THE FUTURE
Globally,
Billy Elliot the Musical has now played to over four million people, with a number of new productions in the works. Two North American touring productions will begin in 2010, the first launching at Chicago’s Ford Center for the Performing Arts on March 18, 2010, and the second slated to begin in November 2010.
In 2011 Billy Elliot The Musical will debut in Canada, presented in Toronto as part of the 2010/2011 Mirvish Subscription Season. Performances will begin in February 2011. Eric Fellner, a producer of the show, commented, "...Canada has also been a tremendous source of talent for the stage production, already having given us three Billys and a Mrs. Wilkinson. We have been looking forward to bringing the show to Toronto since Billy Elliot opened in London five years ago and are thrilled that it is now a reality."
New international productions are scheduled for Korea (August 2010), Japan (Summer 2011) and productions are in the works for Germany and Holland.
Billy Elliot the Musical is produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Jon Finn and Sally Greene. Angela Morrison and David Furnish are Executive Producers. The production features scenic design by Ian MacNeil, costume design by Nicky Gillibrand, lighting design by Rick Fisher and sound design by Paul Arditti. Musical supervision and orchestrations are by Martin Koch.
ARCHIVE STORY – THE LONDON BILLY ELLIOT PRESS LAUNCH
By The Editor/eltonjohn.com, June 2004
A sunny London morning and the chandeliered elegance of The Royal Academy of Music are a far cry from the bleak coal mining landscape of the industrial north-east of England, but today these two locations were fused at an exciting press launch for Billy Elliot – The Musical.
At 10.30 sharp dozens of photographers surged forward as Elton, director Stephen Daldry and producer Eric Fellner met on the stage for a short photocall. Eric Fellner from Working Title Films began the conference by reminding us of the success of the movie, Billy Elliot, one of the best-loved British films of the last decade. Co-producer Sally Greene, from Old Vic Productions, described the moment four years when Elton first watched the film Billy Elliot at the Cannes Film Festival. She saw that he was visibly moved and had tears in his eyes. Elton, naturally, gave us the bigger picture. “I was so moved by the story’, he said, ‘I was seen sobbing in my seat and had to be carted out by three people…"
Director Stephen Daldry revealed that it was a stroke of luck that Elton attended that early screening, as it was on that night that the idea for a Billy Elliot musical was born. Elton also went on to give huge support and publicity to the film all over world.
The musical will open in Newcastle, England in November 2004, ahead of its London debut in March 2005.
Lee Hall, who wrote the book for the Billy Elliot film and the lyrics for the musical, felt that it ‘made perfect sense’ for Elton to have been so moved by the story because in some ways the story of Billy Elliot is the story of Elton John. Lee said that… “he (Elton) is Billy Elliot grown up." Elton’s music was inspirational to Lee Hall in his childhood and to be writing songs with Elton is …“a dream come true." He then introduced …“the undeniably fabulous Elton John."
We had guessed that there would be live music, as Elton’s piano was positioned centre stage, along with drums, keyboards and a large number of microphones and music stands. Elton walked onstage in familiar Yamamoto black and red stage gear, and was followed by Bob Birch, Guy Babylon, John Mahon and Davey Johnstone. (Surprisingly, John Mahon climbed behind the drum kit)
Elton and the four-piece Elton John Band then played four stunning and very different songs from the Billy Elliot soundtrack.
The first song, What The Hell is Wrong With Expressing Yourself describes the scene when Billy finds his friend Michael putting on make-up. It’s an up-tempo song sandwiched with tap-dancing honky-tonk piano. This was followed by the big ballad Electricity, which describes how Billy feels when he is dancing.
Stephen Daldry then took to the stage to talk about the difficulties in casting Billy – finding young boys with extraordinary dancing ability, (up to Royal Ballet School standard), tap-dancing skills, and proficient in contemporary dance, acting and singing. He said that “…no child in any show has had the demands that this child would have…" The show’s producers have created a ‘Billy Elliot Academy’ and over the past eighteen months have been training many young dancers from across Britain. The final cast for Billy Elliot The Musical will be announced in September. Daldry then introduced a short film of some of the young people who auditioned for the role of Billy.
Elton and the band played two more songs: Grandma’s Song, a sad ballad about life with Billy’s grandfather, which Elton said …“had the best lyric in the whole show"... and included great acoustic guitar from Davey Johnstone, and We Once Were Kings, the final song in the show. This describes Billy setting off for London against the violent backdrop of the 1984 miners’ strike in England, and the miners’ eventual return to work in the pits. For this song Elton and the band were joined onstage by a male choir, dressed as miners in black donkey jackets. Elton did not play piano but, unusually, performed the song seated at the piano, his hands punching out the drama in the song. Guy Babylon produced an entirely convincing church organ on his synthesiser, and the emotion was underpinned by the sound of Bob Birch’s bass guitar, and John Mahon’s drums on the chorus.
A short question and answer session followed, and then it was time for the press to rush off and file their stories, while Elton gave some more interviews to television and radio.
