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Critical Analysis of what makes Disney’s The Lion King a successful musical



Introduction



The Lion King musical is a well-known musical that has taken the stages of Broadway, West End and the rest of the world by storm (The Lion King, 1997). Regarding the process of the musical, Artistic Director Julie Taymor’s first thoughts for choosing the Lion King as the next big thing on stage, was classed as ‘impossible’ due to the film’s lack of theatrical material (The Lion King, 1997). Therefore, staging this particular work contained a great deal of uncertainty and the need for taking huge risks. Taymor (1997) suggests how ‘the Lion King was the worst idea possible to create a stage show’. It has become evident that a number of significant barriers had to be overcome to secure the practicality of the production. In view of this controversy, this dissertation will critically analyse the success of the Lion King by exploring two significant aspects that have helped to make the musical a success. Firstly, the essential components that make up this theatrical production will be explored and secondly, the roles of each producer within the Lion King and their combined and individual influences they have had from the production will be evaluated. By analysing these two central themes, this paper will show how and why this musical has developed and achieved its phenomenal success. The components can be broken down into the following: dance and movement, character portrayal, masks/puppetry, music, idealistic process and inspirations. Each component will be analysed in detail in an attempt to portray how this effectiveness has added to the overall musical vision.



Chapter 1: Dance and Movement



Through dance and movement, the storyline is expanded with the assistance of choreographer, Garth ****. A well-renowned choreographer for his innovative choreography primarily for Garth **** dance, **** used his unique style of choreography in the Lion King by combining a variety of Ballet, Jazz, Modern Dance, African Dance and Balinese Dance to suggest representations of nature without making a replica itself and use dance to help tell the story (Exploring the Lion King, 2010). Using these styles of dances into the musical allowed **** to explore varied movements to convey each character’s storyline. This is also in addition to ****’s style of choreography, whereby dancers are evidently moving around on stage showing key understanding of the storyline. Taymor’s idea of expanding the film by adding in choreographic elements not only sets the overall concept, it additionally guides the visual aesthetic by allowing dance as the main element that balances musical numbers in all categories through characters, effects, music and so on into the choreography (Bluemental et al 210:1999). The characters storyline are not only expressed with the use of music and setting, furthermore, through dance the story of these characters captures the remarkable moments moving or non-moving with its powerful presence. Both **** and Taymor gave major contributions to the different styles of dance and performance techniques from around the world. This created the precision and versatility that is being portrayed in the musical by seeing dancers perform different dance styles and performances using masks and puppetry to understand the cultural purposes both **** and Taymor integrated onto the choreography. To create the ideal staging of the hunting lionesses, flying dancers in the aerial ballet to the takeover of the hyenas at Pridelands, the collaboration between **** and Taymor gave suggestions of how these movements being performed with grace and poise using different dance styles and are cultural based are at the forefront of the production (Taymor 148:1997). By looking at three notable dances in the musical, this chapter will analyse the presence of dance and movement being portrayed in the musical and how these dances create the drama by still giving the idea of moving in an African Savannah. Furthermore, this will give an insight to all challenges and pitfalls both **** and Taymor endured during the development of the choreography to make it a success.



Dance and movement play a huge part from the opening sequences of Act 1’s Circle of Life to Act 2’s spectacular movement of the grasslands and through the key and understanding aspects of the storyline (Disney Musical Theatre, no date). From Ballet to Hip Hop to cultural dances such as Balinese and Indonesian, the incorporation of these dances into the musical enabled critics to see actors not just dance as humans but also as animals on stage (Schumacher, 2010). Dancers are required to be able to portray emotional, physical and mental interpretations of their characters. Furthermore, to perform various styles of dance, as they cannot excel in one type of dance other than Ballet. To create the package the musical requires, male and female dancers expertise in other styles to suit the physical and technical form of the musical. In contrast to the film, the animated classic gave the storyline its basic outline of seeing the characters have their own pathways in the Circle of Life potentially. This is due to animation’s ability to demonstrate advanced technology in a cinematic level when the Lion King was first released. Film technology enables the film version to have its several technological advantages and through imagery, critics easily identify and ingrain the whole film into their minds (Bluementhal 22:1999). An example of this is the wildebeest Stampede. The wildebeest Stampede scene is a particular scene where young Simba witnesses the death of his father Scar whilst animals are running wild into the Savannah (The Lion king www). In the film, this scene was evidently portrayed through the use of cinematic level that leaves disadvantages with the lack of use of dance. This gave Taymor the chance to play around with sets and lighting regarding the preconceptions to the original theme. However, there were positive advantages in the effort made by Taymor to include movement in particular to explore the storyline that allows ‘to cover terrain and show an interior landscape that dialogues cannot convey’ (Taymor 21:1997). This particular scene is portrayed similarly to the film so when seen on stage, it takes out the familiarity and solidity from its landscapes.



In the musical, choreographer **** ‘wanted the choreography to look unlike Broadway dancing. I want the dance to look like a part of the Lion King land’ (Bramley 22:1997). Taking this particular approach in dance formed its own fluidity and strength that dancers themselves made evident throughout all dances. **** had a vision how the Lion King should look like on stage when it comes to movement. According to London’s resident choreographer Thea Barnes, Barnes (2010) expressed ‘the different strains of understandings from all over the world by using all different forms of dance to help tell the story to make an idea as one whole’. By allowing all forms of dance to come together as one, the choreography that both **** and Taymor visually created provided movement metaphor and vocabulary. Furthermore, **** used this metaphor to show how dance and movement is particularly used in the musical progress Act 1 and 2 storyline mentally and physically.



The elements that **** used gave the intriguing idea of forming the African body rhythm and weighted movement with unusual shapes and patterns that evolves from the dancers’ bodies. All of these are shaped equally showing relations to the magic Disney created for this musical and the existence of the African culture. Not only cultural dance such as the African style is included, Taymor took in the music of Elton John and Tim Rice made for the film additionally to composers Lebo M and Mark Mancina vast amounts of orchestral rhythms taken from the album ‘Rhythm of Pride Lands and choral chants in South African languages – Swahili, Sesatho, Zulu and Xhosa (Ebony 1998). These are composed and used with authenticity and realistic sense of the languages spoken in various African countries colliding with modern music giving its uniqueness for the production itself. In links to dance and movement, music was purely in its background base with the film version. However, on live stage it has played a huge part visually and aurally becoming one of the main events along with dance into the musical. An example of this is from Act 1 Scene 3/4, ‘The Lioness Chant’. ‘The Lioness Chant’, a dance fusion based on the African/Caribbean dance style with Ballet and Contemporary elements into the choreographic piece (Disney Musical Theatre, no date). This adds in the chants and rhythms that are sung by actors and dancers performing ritual style dances that give the overall effect Taymor wanted to convey. The dance itself is styled at its highest point, as dancers are not only dancers on stage but are also playing the animals and being part of the grasslands. This shows its purest abstract form of what the African Savannah looks like in reality. According to London’s resident choreographer Thea Barnes (2010), **** took all human aspects of each movement by giving these movements its own animal traits. There is a particular part were a dancer is playing the lioness making slight adjustments structuring the whole body visualising the creation of the animal physicality through the actors’ movement that comes to life on stage. The dancer who is now the lioness, has a huge amount of work to do at all times as this particular type of choreography not only brings out the aesthetic, it additionally requires the precise use of the arms around the waist, slight arch of the lower back not parallel and its focus to form the hunting idea **** envisioned. The use of Attitude jump in ‘The Lioness Chant’ choreography gave the sense of the dancers’ classical ballet background that is added into the emotional element of the lioness that is focused on the hunting aspects (Disney Musical Theatre, no date). This not only requires one aspect such as hunting but the dancer has to show importance to each feature. For example, emotion and focus are used to make a valid point of the technical level this particular dance has. Having the idea of what **** and Taymor envisioned on how the Lion King should be staged in relation to movement, **** choreographed a series of movements that are joined together to form a metaphor that assists each scene to provide the story guidelines (Disney Musical Theatre, no date). By showing how these unique styles of movement are performed, ****’s own metaphoric visions are portrayed tell the story with practical and technical aspects of the work made for stage.



The dance and movement choreography that **** contributes to the musical supports the narrative and scenographic visions of the musical’s storyline (Bramley 24:1997). With the use of characterisation, this expresses the integral element of what is involved within these movements being used. For example, in the ‘Lioness Chant’ there were clear contrasts between the synchronised movements that demonstrate the lioness’ heirachy through status and social cohesions (Bramley 24:1997). **** not only integrates to the process its progression of each plot allocated for all scenes, he also adds in this idea of his movement metaphor not only is visible to the audiences, it also plays a highly important role even though masks and puppetry do demand all attention required. **** also expressed his ‘fascination when I saw a pride of lions in Kenya was a lion’s huge, powerful sholders, which come at you when they move’ (Taymor 148:1997). This notable experience allowed **** to capture and maintain this image by integrating all images to his own. Another example is from Act 2, ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’. ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’ is the love story and interaction between Simba and Nala when they are both reunited together at the African Savannah much to Timon and Pumbaa’s detests. For this scene in particular, **** conveyed the understanding of love in its universal terms by allowing couples to perform in different levels from an aerial view (Taymor 148:1997). **** used harnesses and ballet techniques for all couples to perform in an aerial view over Simba and Nala not only adding his own choreography fusions, furthermore, portraying on stage the sensual interaction between characters and their emotions. Dancers are seen on stage emerging from various angles and directional points by audiences. This has been done to show audiences familiarity to ****’s style of choreography in particular to the audiences who know ****’s work in detail. The approach to this choreography to ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’ have been done with deliberation purely to present the audiences a range of various dance movements that is recognisable. **** felt the need for this into the choreography for audiences to ‘feel at home so the people who know my work will enjoy the experience’ (**** 24:1997). Whether it is classical or contemporary based style of dance **** ensured that critics are comfortable when watching the musical, particularly as most critics will make comparisons to the film.



Placing dance and movement into the musical however has its challenges (Bramley 22:1997). According to Taymor, (148:1997) **** had questioned numerous times the challenges of ‘how do you stage a hunt of lionesses without initiating the animal but still get across the tenacity of the hunt? What are the elements of a lioness hunt that human bodies can depict?’. This has given **** the chance to work on various aspects of the choreographic demands even though to such extent there were pitfalls during the dancers’ training prior to the musical being staged. Having the least amount of time to choreograph notable scenes, **** was challenged to choreograph from scratch in time for the try out show in Minneapolis in 1997 (Taymor 149:1997). Taymor found this approach of work sometimes frustrating, as both herself and **** will need to make sure they are in the same wavelength. Even though the Lion King has fast paced scenes from one to the next, both **** and Taymor not only wanted to keep this particular style, furthermore, giving **** time to create and develop each dances in order to tell the story that was established from the 1994 film. During the musical development of the Lion King, **** had expressed his concerns regarding the small amount of time choreographing huge material from scratch. Additionally, other materials involved such as music and storyline were included into the development of the choreography. According to Bramley, (22:1997) the choreographic work of **** was at first risky due to the dangers its overall effect with chosen movement material used for the musical by lacking cohesion. **** did not expect all the dangers that occurred during pre-production. An example of this issue is the lack of spaces dancers are given on stage. This also includes the angular shapes of fly ins that enter onto the stage which leaves very little room for dancers performing. This was a particular issue as **** is used to working to a bare stage and sets are added in were possible (Bramley 25:1997). In difference to the Lion King musical, using elaborated props on stage has affected ****’s ideal choreography not only from lack of space but also with its peripheral visions from staging and lighting effects. According to Bramley (25:1997) this particular process has been a frustrating experience as ****’s ideal choreography outside the musical usually involves playing around theatrical spaces and its visualizations. When choreographing a piece, **** tends to place his dancers on stage by using peripheral vision along with its potential and be involved with the musical process of the Lion King. Out of the comfort zone, taking on this type of work was a major contrast and a challenge to ****’s choreographic work that typically entails to his own accord.



Each dances that are performed in each scene of the Lion King has its own vision and justice to be able to tell the story of ‘the classic prodigal son and the mantle of kingship to the young Prince’s journey to darkness, finding himself before he is allowed to come home’ (Taymor 2010). The characters of the musical gave critics the idea of representing the key understandings of the storyline through dance and movement. Audiences’ are able to see characters’ movements on stage together with their form of fluidity and strength from ****’s metaphoric ideas. However, ****’s choice of choreography gave him awareness of the role it had played in cultural and social perspectives. According to Bramley (27:1997) **** is careful in avoiding stereotype with any lifestyle or race. Therefore, making changes to the approach of his choreography positively may allow the access to make specific changes to critical perspectives. Dance and Movement as such play a real role and inspiration to audiences of all ages, which is seen through ****’s eyes as a physically wonderful experience particularly to a child’s imagination (Bramley 25:1997). An innovative choreography such as the Lion King musical is brought potentially to its huge success due to dance and movement taking over the musical to the next level, breaking Broadway traditions.



**** and Taymor’s collaboration on the choreographic aspects of the Lion King that was brought to the whole production was a huge success considering its downfalls. Dance became a key to the understanding of how characters were moving on stage around each other. To tell the story of the Circle of Life, dance and movement not only represents the African shores of the storyline but also the characters involved and use of masks and puppets. The musical has allowed this particular component to make differences to such challenges from one dance to the next. The whole process of choreographing the musical was a particular challenge for **** as he is used to working on his own and found time management difficult due to their being certain slots available. **** in his own hope wanted audiences of all ages to look at dance without going through boredom or thinking about dance as a medicine (Bramley 24:1997). This was possible due to ****’s approach to choreography that is different compared to any another choreography that was designed in other Disney films turned musicals. Examples of these are Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid. These two notable musicals may have taken the stages of Broadway by storm, however, there were ingredients missing in those shows that Taymor was able to capture from beginning to end with the Lion King. The Lion King musical gave the critics an idea how actors are moving across the stage, embodying the human and animal aspects of all characters from an animated element. It was a risky challenge that **** took by radically going from the negative into the positive using dance and movement vocabulary to balance structure and pacing of the highly successful musical.



Chapter 2: Characters: Film vs. Musical



The Lion King musical represents the influences around the world from Asia, Americas, Europe and Africa. This has allowed the freedom to explore the characters suitable style that is best not just for the character itself also to the storyline (Exploring the Lion King 2010). Contrasting film to musical, the film gives the indication of each character’s image throughout the storyline. However, there were significant aspects that Taymor took out from the film by elaborating these characters through visuality, quality and symbolic into the journey of the storyline. By using various inspirations to invest these characters life on stage, viewers of all age are able to see every emotion that the characters portray and having the sense of authenticity and respect to the African culture throughout the journey of the musical (Taymor 120:2010).



The representation of these characters and the environment was a vast transfer from the basics of animation then suddenly to the nature of the Savannah respectively. The characters of the musical each play a huge part in their own right however, the film version has shown no indication to the connection of the characters through spirituality and soul due to its animated and cinematic qualities (Taymor 120:2010). Unlike in the musical, Taymor took these notable characters from the film and invested each image of the character by bringing out the inner character from the storyline and the music, adding in reality aspects (Taymor 2010). By using each images of the character, it brings in the authenticity and Taymor’s own style to explore the characters’ journey throughout the musical. Furthermore, Taymor has taken the technical aspects of traditional technique through everywhere inspiration but not duplicating the various art forms involved. An example of this particular aspect is the character of Mufasa who in the musical is not only seen as a lion aside from being a father to Simba and King of Pridelands, caring for his family and other animals (Exploring the Lion King 2010). Mufasa is portrayed on stage with the use of round, symmetrical mask representing the importance of the Circle of Life. This particular representation is taken appropriately everywhere in the storyline showing unique to the characters overall.



The film version gives an indication of male dominancy that has allowed Taymor to explore further by giving more power to the significant female characters of the film (Kanlor et al 59:2004). Making re-assessments to the lack of approach on female characteristics meant looking at different dimensions how each female character can be exposed in the storyline further. An example of this is the character of Rafiki, who in the film was played by a male but a female was singing the character’s songs (Taymor 2010). Taymor (2010) explained the ‘slight problem’ towards the opening scene of Act 1 to the music of ‘Circle of Life’. In the film, as mentioned it is a female singer singing the opening and this allowed Taymor to bring in the character Rafiki to sing the opening song. The character of Rafiki is an important character that brings something major to the production that the film has not achieved. The character of Rafiki in the film portrays a humorous male character as such however, Rafiki now in the musical has not only originated the comic aspects from the character of Rafiki (Film Version) but Taymor added the spirituality that the character now has.



In the film, significant characters especially Simba did not have enough time to explore his journey from childhood to adulthood. This allowed Taymor (1997) to explore further to his story and expressed ‘The 75-minute running time of the film just didn’t allow time for Simba to take the journey both inner and outer.’ The musical however, gave the opportunity to go into the deep end by strengthening the storyline that can lead to self-discovery (Taymor 1997). In the scene ‘Under the Stars’, this particular aspect is seen by utilising real life embodiment of Simba and Mufasa’s relationship. This scene has given the sense of spiritual



Taymor (2010) uses all her influences from around the world to involve the characters’ lives into the central storyline of the musical. Significant characters such as Simba and Nala each to their own have their own identity through different aspects. The characters of Simba and Nala express their bravery and strength from their adolescence to adulthood that can be indicated by their non-fully form, no jawbone upper masks (Exploring the Lion King 2010). Taymor had left these particular masks half finished and are painted lighter to give the audience hints of his immature sense of character (Exploring the Lion King 2010). Taymor (2010) suggests that the storyline is about ‘the Prodigal Son where the young Prince takes a journey to the darkness, finding out about himself and then goes back home and eventually takes his mantle of Kingship.’ It is only through reflection when Simba, already a young man, realises things need to go back the way they were before his father’s passing. However, even though Simba and Nala have the same masks, Nala’s youthful character indicates her conviction to take care of the people of Pridelands due to witnessing all the troubles from the Dictatorship of Scar (Stefaniuk 2010). Once Nala was reunited to her people, she became a young adult with power and strength to handle situations and became an essence to the future King and a stronger woman (Stefaniuk 2010).



The fundamental story of the musical is based on responsibility (Schumacher 2010). Schumacher (2010) expresses that the ‘whole storyline is about Simba facing his responsibilities’. It is a familiar storyline that allowed Taymor to bring out the originality of the characters through embodiment of the human and animal characteristics. The embodiment is reflected through costumes, design, make up and so on (Exploring the Lion King 2010). In the case of the storyline, Taymor and producer, Thomas Schumacher ensured that the base of the film explores the importance of these characters through their ‘humanity’ elements (Lion King 1997). It is evident that in contrast to the film, the animals are expressed in various aspects. An example of this is of the character Mufasa, who in the film is revealed ‘As a king and leader who holds a deep understanding of the forces that make the Pride Lands balanced and healthy’ In the musical, these aspects are explored in three ways from Mufasa being a Father, King and Lion (Exploring the Lion King 2010). Taymor and Schumacher embodied the humanity of the character through the Circle of Life and used African culture to express the characters features at both levels (Exploring the Lion King 2010). The embodiments of various cultural aspects such as Maasai Warrior are everywhere throughout the musical. Taymor expresses that ‘the inspiration of Mufasa’s character on stage is inspired everywhere. The top part of his attributes are Balinese, the middle Massai and the bottom part is Indonesian.’ It is an everywhere inspiration that allowed these particular embodiment to be challenge in ‘a profound unusual situation on Broadway stage’ (Wright 1997).



The approach overall to the characters importance on stage not only is a successful transformation furthermore, Taymor’s past experiences with puppetry such as Wayang Kulit and Bunraku allowed the evolvement of the characters to life with reality embodiment. The animated film has allowed the musical to progress further the journey of these characters particularly with Simba as ‘every prodigal son needs to pass certain trials, test that hurdle him to the bottom before he is allowed to come back on top’ (Bluementhal et al 213:1997). These characters have represented Africa, Disney and Taymor’s own creativity throughout.



Chapter 3 Masks and Puppetry: Creating Characters



From African Masks to Bunraku Puppetry, the approach Taymor used to form animal and human representations of the characters plays an integral part in the musical (Disney Musical Theatre, no date). Masks, full or partial, can be used to express neutrality and establishing identifications (Blom et al, 194:1982). (Explain more!!) The use of masks and puppetry in the Lion King came from various inspirations that Taymor took from her past experiences with Puppetry. These inspirations were taken from the film and converted by Taymor into her own aesthetic and style. By finding areas to work with the characters, Taymor used different techniques through masks and puppetry to suit the characters’ needs on stage. According to Taymor, (Bluemental et al 212:1999) the image that the film conveyed was identifiable and ingrained. Furthermore, Taymor kept its preconceptions on how these characters should look on stage. Actors and Dancers are not only required to play these characters, they are also embracing other appendages particularly with using masks and puppets. This gives rise to a number of significant challenges and perceived limitations. For example, in Act 1 opening scene, ‘Circle of Life’ there is various animals joined together at Pridelands to meet young Simba and each animal is moving similarly to an actual animal. The use of masks and puppetry in telling the story of the musical allows actors and dancers to be challenged to embrace all components involved. This particular chapter will introduce the use of masks and puppetry on stage and how Taymor kept the audiences imagination, maintaining the realistic sense of how the African Savannah is seen. This will also give an idea how masks and puppetry served its purpose in explaining the characters’ storyline on stage.



The film portrays the characters through the usage of 2D animation and technology unlike in the musical, its unique use of various masks and puppetry shows no attempts to cover up for example the human body that has a rod attached onto their costume. Each character on stage are seen throughout with expression as Disney characters are expressive and not only they are animals but they are human animals (Disney Musical Theatre, no date). This gave Taymor the chance to play around with these characters and how she kept the


Conclusion



The Lion King musical has taken the whole world by storm that it has now been recognised all over the world from US to Asia. There were many aspects in the Lion King musical that Taymor had visualise in order for this musical to become a success. Particularly to the emphasis of the duality between human and animal characteristics that gives the magical package the film version originally portrayed. According to Taymor (Disney Musical Theatre, no date) that when a human visibly animates an object, the audience experience an almost life giving connection, becoming engaged to the method of storytelling and the story itself.