Gareth Saxe as Scar in “The Lion King” on Broadway (Julie Taymor)
There’s no end to the popularity of The Lion King, which broke box office records on the weekend in its latest movie version. It’s a good time to appreciate the original stage show, especially the costumes, designed by Broadway producer and director Julie Taymor.
Taymor also co-designed the masks for the stage production, Broadway’s highest-grossing show of all time. It won six 1998 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical, making Taymor the first woman in theatrical history to receive the honour.
Julie Taymor carving a mask for The Lion King
Taymor also won a Tony Award for Costume Design.
Below, a couple of Taymor’s original sketches.
Mufasa and Scar, below.
One of Julie Taymor’s renderings, this one for the grasslands.
Below, a grasslands scene.
This short promo is a superb flypast of key costumes.
Here’s a more in-depth (5-minute) look at the Broadway costumes, with sketches.
Julie Taymor website, here.
A feature on Taymor, here.
Canadian Art Junkie 
Such incredible creativity. She has talent in her bones. 💀
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She is definitely one of a kind. I love all her work.
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Beautiful
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Fabulous. I know Taymor LOVES masks. It looks wonderful and the work is worth it.
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I was blown away by some of the details of costume making and mask making. Totally agree with you.
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These costumes are fantastic! I saw the new movie this weekend. It was really beautiful.
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Good to know. Thanks. It’s on our list to see, too.
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I saw the stage adaptation a long time ago. The costume designs were intricate, but I really wish Disney would give credit to Tezuka’s Kimba the White Lion series which The Lion King literally wouldn’t exist without it. That and shame on them for trying to block the Jungle Emperor Leo 1997 sequel for it’s North American debut in Canada.
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Thanks Ospreyshire, that’s so interesting. I love comments like yours that teach me something I didn’t know.
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Thanks, J. That controversy is quite mind-blowing. Here’s a link with a bunch of details. https://web.archive.org/web/20170310165825/kimbawlion.com/kimbawlion/rant2.htm
I also reviewed the original 60s Kimba Show: https://iridiumeye.wordpress.com/2017/05/27/kimba-the-white-lion-review/
It was crazy with the different similarities and I wish Disney would acknowledge that anime. My jaw dropped seeing some of the scenes or the episodes involving Claw AKA Original Scar.
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Thank you for the links. I’m looking forward to learning more.
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No problem. Feel free to check them out and let me know what you think.
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