The Lion King has transcended generations since its theatrical release in 1994. Until now, the story of a young lion named Simba who flees his homeland following the death of his father, only to return as an adult to take back his homeland from his evil uncle Scar with the help of his friends Timon and Pumbaa, has been told one of two ways: film and Broadway. But in Disneyland’s newest version of Tale of The Lion King, the story takes a different form.
The show, which originally debuted in 2019, features original arrangements of the classic songs from the film like “Circle of Life” and “Hakuna Matata.” Lively costumes, dance numbers, and music will surely keep audience members entertained. The show’s associate director, Paul Bryant, also outsourced brand new choreography from dance veterans Kevin and Marcel Wilson, also known as The Wilson Brothers, who’ve worked with the likes of Janet Jackson and Britney Spears.
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PopCulture.com attended a special preview of the show recently and had the honor of speaking with Bryant. The key to the production is the way the story is told. If you’re looking for the same take from the film and award-winning Broadway production, Bryant says you’re in for a treat. Cast members narrate the story without becoming animal-like characters or puppeteers.
“It’s not [like the original or the play]. And the thing that we’re so proud of is the fact that we are telling the same story but in a different way with this whole storytelling aspect of the story. It’s not like we’re not trying to be the animals within the cast,” he said firmly. “We’re not trying to necessarily turn into puppets or all of that other fun stuff either. And even in some of our other resorts where we have The Lion King or whatever the titles may be and all those shows, there are aspects of people trying to pretend to be animals. And our main goal was not to even go down that road. Instead, we wanted to be storytellers, where you can sit around the campfire and tell a story and keep everyone engaged. This story is different than any other version of The Lion King, no matter if it’s on Broadway or in Hong Kong, Florida, or Paris – I think they have one as well. But it’s all the same story. But I like the fact that in our cast, they are people, they’re human beings who have been telling this story time and time again. And every time you tell it, it changes a little bit.”
He added: “You know how you tell a story that somebody told you and then you tell it to someone else? Think the game telephone. And with that, you have to change it just a little bit more to make it a little bit more interesting. And I think that’s the magic, just having people step in and out of the roles of those characters.”
More than anything, the production truly ties into Disneyland’s Celebrate Soulfully series, which kicked off in honor of Black History Month this past February. The series brings curated experiences to the resort in the form of art, music, and more to pay tribute to Black culture. Tale of The Lion King debuted just a few days before June’s Black Music Month.
The cast is all-Black, something Bryant says was only fitting. “This time around, it was just like we wanted to tell this story our way. Because of where The Lion King is set and the different musical elements and such, the heart of it only made sense to be an all African-American cast,” he notes. “And had we not come up with the talent, we probably wouldn’t have. But it was just the chance that we were going to take. And it’s something that we have not really done here at the resort extensively. And having this opportunity to bring that to our guests, I think was absolutely amazing. And I don’t think people are looking at it, ‘Oh, look, it’s a whole bunch of Black people on stage.’ No, it’s a bunch of storytellers. And because everybody equates the tale of The Lion King with being on a safari or Africa, that would be appropriate.”
Tale of The Lion King is currently playing four shows a day Thursday through Monday at Disneyland’s Fantasyland Theater. Check the website or Disneyland app for official showtimes.
