Billed as the first Disney film based on an original story, some say The Lion King saved the animation arm of the Disney Production Studio. There’s strong statistical evidence to support the theory when you look at the numbers and names of animated films produced before and after the 1994 film’s release. The first one in two years (the previous being Aladdin), The Lion King presented a new kind of animation. It looked smooth, slick, and yet kept the traditional charm Disney’s animation reputation was built on. After making the previously declining studio $1.3 billion before they even added up VHS sales, The Lion King cashed in on its cinema success furthermore, with a Broadway musical, 5 years after the film’s release.

In the past 11 years, it’s still rocking strong, and I strutted my funky stuff down to the Lyceum Theatre in Covent Garden to treat my beady little eyes (and ears). The musical conversion includes 16 of the original songs. WooHoo!

The theatre itself I hadn’t visited before, but it’s pretty nice in there. The cheapest tickets available were in the Grand Circle (third and highest tier), costing about £22. I was up near the top row of that as well, and still had a pretty good view. You can see the whole stage right to the back, you can hear everyone clearly, and especially with a production like this where everyone’s wearing masks and it’s really designed to be viewed from a level angle, all the masks still worked from that high up. The only real major disadvantage of being that high was the heat. Man it was hot! Perhaps they were just a bit too serious in creating the ambience of Africa, but as long as you layer up, and bring some water it’s fine. Sadly I hadn’t brought water and felt like fainting half way though until I found some. Once I had, I soon forgot about it, the show was mesmerising.

It’s a fabulous start that forces everyone to perch right on the edge of their seats, trying to concentrate on the gorgeous, and terrifically inventive costumes all at once. When trying to explain which was my favourite afterwards, I think I named all but one (the owls are shit). Rhinos are made from two performers, Elephants 4. Each person representing a gazelle had one strapped to each hand, and one on their head, the birds were 3 to a stick on a guy’s head. It sounds pretty juvenile art department wise, but the way the performers prance (if they’re a gazelle), swoop (if they’re birds) or slowly stomp (elephants) around, you really see these people as animals. Even the giraffes are clearly just men on stilts with 4ft Papier Maché heads, but it doesn’t matter. They’re all beautiful. All accompanied by the classic ‘Circle of Life’ theme tune, it definitely gets you in the mood. The show’s 2½ hours long, so the first 5 minutes you’re thinking ‘I hope it doesn’t feel too long’, by the end of the first song you’re excited about each and every one of the 150 minutes to come.

It runs through the basic story of the original film. I don’t really remember what happens in the original, so some things I was genuinely surprised about, others I remembered with joyous recollection. I was 9 years old when it first came out, it was a big part of my childhood. So to see the same scenes, and hear the same songs performed, was not only enjoyable at the time, but brought back teary-eyed memories as well.

Another part of the production I particularly enjoyed were the costumes of the main character lions (especially Scar), and the hyenas. Scar’s lion face-mask is on a stick protruding from a backpack. The bottom of the mask sits atop the performer’s head. So when he’s talking you can look at the mask above his head and imagine it’s talking. It also means when he moves around, he can bend his back, and head down to make the mask swing out in front of him (making the shape of a lion walking), then when he stops, he expertly whips the mask back to the top of his head with his neck. It probably takes some practice, and it’s hard to explain, but it really creates the belief that you’re looking at, and listening to a lion, rather than a man in a costume. The hyenas are equally as inventive. They stand on their legs (which are the animal’s back legs), whilst leaning on one hand in front, on a stilt. Both the costume’s front legs (stilts) are attached to this one hand, whilst the other hand controls a stick with the character’s face on the end. This can come out and move around to make them look around. But where’s the performer’s head? You ask... it’s underneath the grey nylon costume, making up the bump at the top of the animal’s back, not needing to move much, and hiding their moving mouth.

It’s a brilliant story, brilliant music, and it looks gorgeous. The musical has taken the feeling of the film, and short of taking you to Africa to view a bunch of talking animals play out the same story, it presents an unrivalled live performance. I’m not one for crying during films or productions of any kind, but if you are, then bring some tissues. And if not, then be prepared for the sound of over 1,000 emotional women and children (and some testosterone-lacking men), blubbering like Japanese whale hunters throughout your evening.