The Lion King Study Guide - Telecharge

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Connecting the Human and
the Animal in THE LION KING
“I tried to sculpt the essence of each character, to sculpt the expression that
would represent the character’s dominant trait.”
- Julie Taymor (from The Lion King: Pride Rock on Broadway)
As THE LION KING opens we see lions, baboons, elephants, rhinos, zebras, giraffes,
wildebeests, cheetahs, birds, all coming to honor the new prince and celebrate the
unending Circle of Life. As we look at the animals, we can’t help but see – humans? Yes, look closer – you
can easily see the human performer under every animal costume and mask. The costumes are designed to reveal the
actors’ humanity within the animal portrayal.
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Julie Taymor
photo by Kenneth Van Sickle
THE “DOUBLE EVENT”
One of the ways Julie Taymor and THE LION KING’S creative team
met the challenge of bringing the animal characters to life on
stage was through masks. She was very inspired by African masks,
which are, “more abstract, much more stylized, much more
essential” (Julie Taymor, from THE LION KING DVD) than the
characters’ faces from the animated film.
Why do we wear masks? In Africa, masks are functional works of
art. They are meant to be used and serve many ceremonial
purposes: telling stories, accepting a boy into manhood, exorcising
evil spirits, capturing the invisible supernatural forces surrounding
us. Seen on a wall or a table, a mask may seem static, but when
used in storytelling or a ceremony, the mask comes to life.
Working with puppet expert Michael Curry, Taymor created masks
and costumes that would not hide the human being. For instance,
the masks for the lion characters sit on top of the head like a
headdress and so reveal the human face underneath. With every
mask, the audience sees both the mask’s fixed expression and
the actor’s changing face. Taymor called this mixture of the human
performer’s face with the fixed animal mask a “double event.”