Timon has a special surprise in store for his good friend Simba - a fabulous, moving, musical journey through his epic life, entitled "The Legend Of The Lion King". The excitement, the anticipation! It is time... let the magic begin!

Welcome to Our World

A spectacular waterfall cascades down in the middle of the stage as Rafiki holds the newborn lion cub Simba into the air. The water stops and Rafiki begins the show with an energetic performance of "Circle of Life" and "Welcome to Our World". The show director, Timon, arrives back on stage to congratulate the performers and give them some extra tips, with the help of Pumbaa and Zazu.

His majesty himself, Simba, arrives at the side of the stage and Timon announces the exciting surprise stage show about his legendary life! Simba sways along as his friends on stage perform "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" with a colourful backdrop and lots of playful competition between Simba and Nala. The other animals surround Simba and follow closely behind him as they try to get a piece of his future majesty, shading him with giant leaves and giving him an extra flare of fun.

Be Prepared...

Just when everything was looking rosy for Simba, Scar casts the stage into darkness and smoke fills the scene as he tells his loyal hyenas to "Be Prepared" for the murkiest scam to make him the undisputed king of Pride Rock.

The sound of a wildebeest stampede echoes around the stage as Simba dashes into sight, the herd of unstoppable animals thundering along behind him. Scar laughs wickedly as Simba falls to his knees and his father, Mufasa, is crushed by the stampede. Convinced by Scar that he caused the death of his father, Simba runs away in guilt to never return to Pride Rock...

Hakuna Matata?

Many years later, in a jungle oasis where everything is problem-free, we join Simba with his new friends Timon and Pumbaa as Simba confesses that he still misses Pride Rock.

Hakuna Matata! Timon and Pumbaa work their friendship magic and with their problem-free philosophy they cheer Simba up as Pumbaa swings through the trees and reminisces about his upsetting childhood.

As Simba returns to his normal cheerful self, his world is once again turned upside down as Nala arrives. A historic reunion of the two childhood friends takes place as the moonlight and stars add a beautiful touch of romance to the scene. She thought he was no longer alive... he though she would never forgive him. Their love brings them back together and they realise what they most want is each other. The other animals around them form couple and dance in the moonlight as two beautiful birds glide in from opposite sides of the stage, to later leave together in the bond of love whilst Simba and Nala lie together under the stars.

The mysterious sounds of wise African chanting break the romance as Rafiki runs on stage to get Simba's attention. Simba stands up and looks around curiously to try and see where the strange noises are coming from, before he sees Rafiki and she tells him to listen to wise words of his father - King Mufasa! "Look inside yourself Simba. Remember who you are. You are my son and the one true King. You must take your place in the Circle of Life..." The misty formation of Mufasa's face fades away and Simba announces to Nala that he will return to Pride Rock...

The True King Has Returned!

The stage suddenly glows orange as blasts of flames shoot up all around and the hyenas jump around in triumph. Scar parts the flames at the back of the stage to appear victorious in a reprise of his "Be Prepared" master plan. Before he can finish, however, Simba arrives back at Pride Rock and Scar reveals that it was him who killed Mufasa. "Hyenas - kill him!", Scar shouts, as the grand battle begins and flames lick the edges of the stage. With the Hyenas out of the way, Simba confronts Scar and a purple glow takes over the scene as a final slow-motion battle begins between the two lions. Simba slashes Scar's face and picks him up off the ground, before Scar retaliates with a quick swipe of his claws across Simba's body. Simba eventually manages to hit back at Scar and knows him over backwards - down into the fiery hell below.

The fight is over - Simba, the true King, has returned. He is initiated into the great Circle of Life by Rafiki and the legend is complete! The real Simba, at the edge of the stage, then invites everyone to join in a final celebration. All the singers and performers from the show return to the stage in a fantastic encore medley of the show's songs. "I Just Can't Wait To Be King", "Be Prepared", "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" and "Circle of Life" give the show a spectacular finale and allow the performers to take your breath away with their unbelievable singing talent.

An epic legend is complete - a legend of responsibility, of fear, of joy, of love. It's the Circle of Life, and it truly moves us all.

Reservation Tickets

Free reservation ticks are no longer required to see The Legend Of The Lion King!

Getting a Seat

It is recommended that you arrive at the theatre at least 25 minutes before the show. Doors open around 15 minutes before showtime. The show is presented in separate English and French performances, though only the dialogue between musical numbers is different for the French version. Check your park entertainment Programme upon arrival for exact language showtimes.

There are many excellent seats in the theatre. Just try to sit as close to the middle as possible, with a seat that isn't too close to the stage (unless the front row is still available!).

During the "Final Celebration Medley" sequence, some of the cast come off the stage and dance in the aisles, so try to sit here if you want to get even closer to the action.

Café Hyperion

Videopolis is also home to a busy counter service restaurant, whose seating area is situated at the back of the theatre. Get something to eat from Café Hyperion and from here you can get a fairly average view of the show. There are, however, large projection screens above you showing the action on stage!

The incredible music of The Legend Of The Lion King originates from the music of Disney's Animal Kingdom's Festival of The Lion King show, but has been reworked and added to to give the show its distinctly musical-stage-show feel. The brand new "Prologue" and "Mufasa" sections of the soundtrack create a dramatic atmosphere for the water curtain effects, whilst the new "Welcome To Our World" section after the initial "Circle Of Life" gives the show a unique feeling and a good way to welcome Simba - and the audience - into their world. Towards the end of the show, another new addition is the "Circle of Life" reprise, which features an excellent slow rhythm to allow Rafiki to show off her talent and to contrast with the high-energy finale which follows.

Vasile Sirli, musical director for Disneyland Resort Paris, was responsible for adapting the music for this new production, whilst the original songs from the film featured music by Elton John with lyrics by Tim Rice and the Festival of The Lion King music was produced by Dan Stamper. At the time of The Legend Of The Lion King's premiere, Vasile Sirli said "It might seem difficult [to create a new variation of the music] given that the music has been released in a wide variety of forms - the musical and a variety of video releases, for example - since the original film’s appearance 10 years ago. The repertoire, however, is so rich that there is always room to adapt it."

The Legend Of The Lion King was produced by Walt Disney Entertainment Paris and creatively developed in collaboration with Walt Disney Creative Entertainment California, taking its inspiration from both the "Festival of the Lion King" show in Disney's Animal Kingdom, Florida and the Broadway/West End musical.  It opened with a glamorous premiere evening event on 26th June 2004.

The show replaced the musical medley show "Mickey's ShowTime", and brought a complete redesign of the Videopolis Theatre stage with it. A whole new stage was put in place with incorporates the thousands of fibre optic endings aswell as the numerous other effects, such as a giant "water curtain" and faux fire effects, all designed and put together by Bernard Arnould (Scenic Designer) and Fabrice Kebour (Lighting and Projection Designer). The "FauxFire" flame effects during the Simba and Scar fight are obtained by back-lighted vapour jets streaming out from various places on stage. The effect is enhanced by projections of fire on the water curtain and images of fire on the video screens next to the stage.

The costumes in the show were designed primarily by Sue Lecash, who studied African costumes and traditions in great depth to achieve the correct look for each of the characters. Each season, when new performers join the talented team, many small alterations are made to the costumes to make them easier to work with as well as newer and fresher for the performers. 118 animal headdresses were created for the show.

Great effort was put into differentiating the show from earlier presentations of Disney's The Lion King. The result is an exciting, lively and spectacular stage musical that is fresh and new but still close to the great legend it celebrates.