The Lion King
February 18th, 2005
The Lion King was one of my favourite films as a child - I still have a lot of the merchandise that I would never Ebay - and was one of the then many Disney films of the time that actually captured young imagination. Films like Fantasia and The Lion King just aren’t synonymous with Disney any more, and instead nowadays they choose to pump out weird overly ‘touchy feely’ generic films coated with sugar and made for the masses. Although I have to admit that I base these observations on trailers and reviews, as I have kinda outgrown the whole genre - not to mention I have to pay adult prices, so I pick viable films with the money / long term enjoyment return factor. Not these throw-a-way made for T.V. flicks.
So it was with great enjoyment that I went to see the stage production of The Lion King. It’s amazing how inventive, given a seemingly impossible task, people can be. The Lion King could have quite easily turned into a fiasco of costumes made by over-zealous Blue Peter presenters, but that is not so. I defy you to sit down and watch the performance then not actually remark on how cleverly they recreated the magic of the film. Or even if you haven’t seen the film; just at how cleverly they used the stage and set pieces. I have seen a fair few musicals and stage productions, and I can safely say that The Lion King utilised the stage in the most impressive way.
For those who want to see the photos from the premiere of “Shall We Dance?” I will post again this afternoon. Or given some time in the future you are reading this - just click onto the “films” link to see them instantaneously.