The Lion King first premiered as a movie in 1994 grossing around a billion US Dollars with just a budget of $45 million USD. The franchise grew even bigger with time and has had many spin-offs over the years.
The movie got a sequel (The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride) and a prequel (The Lion King: 1 ½) in 1998 and 2004 respectively. And both these movies did pretty well. The Lion King also inspired the TV series Timon and Pumbaa, based on two of the most beloved characters from the movie, and The Lion Guard.
It was remade into a 3D movie in 2011 and in 2019 the movie was adapted into a photorealistic remake making it the highest grossing animated film of the time of release.
Though all these movies and TV shows mentioned above are worth your time, the one adaptation that one must see at least once in their lifetime is the Broadway adaptation- “The Lion King: Musical”!
It’s one thing, watching Mufasa being killed on screen but it will never match the kind of sorrow one might be stricken with while watching the musical.
This Tony Award winning musical was produced by Disney Theatrical Productions and the music was composed by Elton John, recipient of multiple Grammys, Golden Globes and Academy Awards.
You can listen to some of the songs from this adaptation here- https://open.spotify.com/user/cfl5l4vhiwciysgqjwebon5d6/playlist/4G4DfHS16cOIl6WfmLYE2N?si=ulfcJ8TfTOyLu_y1BqWEuA
There are some notable differences between the movie and the musical. For example, Rafiki’s gender was reversed to that of a woman. There have also been some subtle changes when it’s remade in Chinese/ Spanish to suit the audience. But these changes only make the play much more likeable.
So according to us, the musical deserves more love after the original movie. What about you?
Hope this made your day!
