Symphony Preview, November 15 and 16: The Big Screen Comes Out for “The Lion King in Concert”
Assistant Conductor Samuel Hollister leads the orchestra in Hans Zimmer’s score
The 1994 Walt Disney animated film “The Lion King” has earned rave reviews for over three decades. Upon the project’s inception in 1988 as “The King of the Kalahari,” the central animals were baboons that segued, thankfully, into lions. As the script developed, elements of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” and “Othello” inspired details for the villainous, ambitious Scar. In fact, Scar telegraphs the overarching story in his first words after the Zulu chant, which translates as “here comes a lion,” dynamically opens the film. Scar says to young lion cub Simba, “Life’s not fair, is it? You see I—well, I shall never be King. And you shall never see light of another day. Adieu.”
This launches Scar’s deceptive and murderous plot against Mufasa, the rightful king. The creators did superb research. In Swahili, the name Mufasa signifies ruler, royalty, leadership, and noble authority. As significant, to render all the animals with convincing accuracy, the animators traveled to Kenya and several U.S. locations to watch real animals’ behavior and movement. Of course, the artists took poetic license in the imaginary interaction among the diverse characters: numerous hyenas, the common warthog Pumbaa, the meercat Timon, the African red-billed hornbill Zazu, and the mandrill Rafiki, a type of monkey that looks like a baboon. Not just great escapism, profound ideas, values, and emotions are embedded in the narrative: jealousy, deception, lies, guilt, self-exile, pride, support, and love, along with environmental destruction caused by the failure to honor nature. Simba must find his rightful place, understanding not to flee from the past but to learn from it.
Technically, the artists had an important decision to make. Wisely, they chose strikingly beautiful, traditionally 2D hand-drawn and painted animation, with CGI used for only a handful of scenes such as the wildebeest stampede. These animators thus created vividly colorful action with one scene seamlessly flowing into the next. Also always crucial in an animated film, the voice talent must sparkle, and in “The Lion King” every actor superbly differentiates and interprets each animal’s personality. Jeremy Irons deep, resonant voice presents a terrifying Scar, Matthew Broderick illuminates Simba’s roller coaster of emotions, Nathan Lane is a clever Timon, Robert Guillaume interprets Rafiki (which means ‘friend’ in Swahili, and he is), and the pièce-de-résistance is James Earl Jones basso profundo that gives Mufasa stately dignity and an imposing presence. Equally impressive, iconic, talented singers add moving interpretations of composer Elton John’s and lyricist Tim Rice’s five original songs: “Circle of Life,” “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King,” “Be Prepared,” “Hakuna Matata,” and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” which won that year’s Academy Award for Best Song. “Hakuna Matata,” which translates from Swahili as “no worries, no problems,” became very popular as well, and, of equal energy, the opening Zulu chant was sung by Carmen Twillie and Lebo M, a South African musician discovered working at an L.A. car wash.
More tributes came the year of “The Lion King’s” release with Hans Zimmer’s score winning the Oscar. Zimmer needs no introduction with 150 films to his credit and a second Academy Award for the 2022 “Dune” score demonstrating his range. Zimmer has also written music for eleven films nominated for Best Picture. All of this to say that prodigious talent across the board created a masterpiece in “The Lion King.” Moreover, the experience of watching and listening to live concert accompaniment to such an exceptional film is a treat beyond compare.
Voted to the U.S. National Film Registry in 2016 as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant,” the highest grossing, traditionally animated film of all time, with over 55 million video copies sold worldwide, “The Lion King” truly stands alone as a cinematic treasure. The St. Louis Symphony orchestral performance at Powell Hall of “The Lion King” is Saturday, November 15, at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, November 16, at 2:00 p.m. For more information you may visit the SLSO web site.