Lion King

THERE ARE all sorts of ways to make money in the animation business. You can go the Pixar way of, say, "WALL-E" - marvelous technology and the industry's best storytellers in the service of a bittersweet ode to man, machines and the environment. That'll net you $200 million. Or, you can dig up a 10-year-old Reel 2 Real disco song like "I Like to Move It," play it over the image of a hippopotamus shaking its butt, and that'll get you to $200 million just as fast. I don't fully understand the power of the dancing, talking animal.

The circle of life will finally encompass Philadelphia when The Lion King, the pride of Disney theatrical musicals and a smash hit both on Broadway and on the road, begins an eight-week run in June 2006 at the Academy of Music. The adaptation of Disney's 1994 animated feature, which has been on Broadway since 1997 and on tour for the last three years, will open June 8. It will be the show's first appearance in the area. The right to stage the coveted musical was the subject of spirited competition between the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, which operates the Academy, and the Boyd Theater.

We opted to skip the digital love in honor of V Day for a title that could at least keep the little ones out of your hair for a while. The Lion King 1 1/2 guarantees at least 2 1/2 hours of free time for moms and dads when you toss in the entertaining and mostly interactive extras. Everyone knows, or should know, the original Lion King story. Young cub Simba (voiced by Matthew Broderick, one of many original cast members who returned for the sequel) must find a way to claim his rightful place as the leader of the pride in between the comedy and jungle boogie.

The Disney musical The Lion King, the most popular and highest revenue-producing show on the national touring circuit, will come to the Academy of Music for 12 weeks in 2006. The musical version of the 1994 animated film, which the partners renovating the historic Boyd Theater had also sought, will play at the Academy from late spring to early fall. It has not been determined when tickets will go on sale. But when it reveals its 2005 lineup on March 2, the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, which operates the Academy, will announce that subscribers to next season's shows will get special offers on Lion King tickets.

Tickets for the long-awaited Philadelphia visit next summer of the touring version of the Broadway megahit Disney's the Lion King will go on sale at the Academy of Music box office at 7 a.m. Saturday. That's early, but by then there may well be a line of theatergoers aiming to snare choice seats for the highly anticipated show. In other cities that have hosted The Lion King, according to press representative Carole J. Morganti, "there have been hundreds of people in line when the box office opened.

Summoned into being by chant and song, a huge venetian blind of a sun unfolds from the stage floor at the gorgeously restored New Amsterdam Theatre. A pair of life-sized puppet giraffes totter on stage, followed by a small herd of zebras. And then, as the house lights come up, all manner of God's creatures - notably an 11-foot-high elephant - parades down the aisles to join the others while the floor disgorges an enormous crag that slowly swivels into place. The crag is Pride Rock; the place is the Pride Lands; and the occasion is the opening scene of The Lion King, Disney's eagerly awaited stage version of its hit animated movie.

Driving home from work in late December, Sheree Reed tuned in to Wendy Williams on Power 99 FM. "Listen up, parents. There's an open call for Young Nalas and Simbas," Reed recalls Williams saying. She listened up. Pulled her Honda Civic over to the curb at 64th and Parkside. Wrote down the information about where and when the auditions would be held, then called her best friend. "Do you think she has a shot?" Reed asked. "Oh my God, yes!" was the answer. At the time, Reed's 10-year-old daughter, Zuri, had never been to an audition.

In this corner, wearing the red, white and blue trunks: Ragtime. In the opposing corner, wearing the animal mask: The Lion King. The referees - the producers, theater artists and journalists who make up the electorate of Broadway's Tony Awards - will render their decision in televised ceremonies June 7. Ragtime and The Lion King were the big winners yesterday when nominations for the 1998 Tonys, honoring achievement in the 1997-98 Broadway...

Once upon a time, in a magical kingdom known as Burbank, a lowly page approached great King Eisner, bowed low and suggested the kingdom put on a giant musical celebration for the entertainment of the entire realm and for the lands beyond. "Impossible!" said the king. "But your majesty," replied the persistent page, "our musical celebration will have singing cats. " "Singing cats?" roared King Eisner. "Why didn't you say so in the first place! Everyone loves singing cats!

There's a leonine roar rattling mall corridors across the land. It's the fearsome sound of the Disney entertainment machine shifting into overdrive. On Friday, Disney's The Lion King expanded to almost 2,350 movie theaters nationwide. And along with its Shakespearean borrowings, African setting and '90s themes of guilt and responsibility, the studio's 32d animated feature comes with a soundtrack with aspirations to rule. Ever since Disney revived the animated musical tradition with The Little Mermaid in 1989, it has overrun the pop charts like a wildebeest stampede.

The king of the Broadway jungle You got Leo, the MGM lion (Ars Gratia Artis!). You got Bubbles, logo of the Detroit Lions. You got the Cowardly Lion of The Wizard of Oz. You got Kimba, and Clarence the Cross-Eyed Lion, and Kitty Kat (feline of the Addams Family). Now shove over for The Lion King!! The Broadway show, not the 1994 Disney flick. According to figures (unadjusted for inflation) released Monday, Lion padded past ThePhantom of the Opera last week to become Broadway's all-time top grosser, with about $854 million.

LOS ANGELES - Walt Disney's 1994 animated blockbuster "The Lion King" certainly hasn't been an endangered species for the studio. Not with an international gross of $788.2 million. Though it hasn't been out on DVD or VHS since 2004, Disney reports it is the most successful title in home-entertainment history. Now the lions Simba (Matthew Broderick), Mufasa (James Earl Jones) and Scar (Jeremy Irons) and the comedic buddies Pumbaa the warthog (Ernie Sabella) and Timon the hyper meerkat (Nathan Lane)

Nobody really knew Matthew Broderick could sing, back in the early '90s. Still, it's a little bit of a surprise to recall that Disney used somebody else to do his crooning in 1994's The Lion King. A year later, Broderick would storm Broadway in the musical revival How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Lion King was the movie that Disney insiders regard as a high-water mark for traditional Disney animation, the exclamation point on the success story that began with The Little Mermaid and continued with Beauty and the Beast.

In some contemporary novel I read (title forgotten), there is a dinner party scene: Pretentious English-department academics play a game in which they confess the title of a masterpiece they have not read. An assistant professor declares he has never read Hamlet, and is fired the next day. So, risking all, I hereby confess that I had never seen The Lion King. Not the show, not the movie. The touring production at the Academy of Music (it took 18 tractor-trailers to load in this enormous show)

An annual holiday treat - Disney on Ice - returns today to the Wachovia Center offering a combination of classic and new characters to entertain families. In town through Jan. 4, "Worlds of Fantasy" showcases classic characters from Cars, The Lion King and The Little Mermaid, and introduces the new fairies from this year's Tinker Bell. Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, and Donald Duck also will greet the audience with song and dance. " 'Worlds of Fantasy' connects classic and new Disney stories," producer Kenneth Feld says.

THERE ARE all sorts of ways to make money in the animation business. You can go the Pixar way of, say, "WALL-E" - marvelous technology and the industry's best storytellers in the service of a bittersweet ode to man, machines and the environment. That'll net you $200 million. Or, you can dig up a 10-year-old Reel 2 Real disco song like "I Like to Move It," play it over the image of a hippopotamus shaking its butt, and that'll get you to $200 million just as fast. I don't fully understand the power of the dancing, talking animal.

They came to Penn State as media darlings, but this season in particular, Justin King and Derrick Williams have had a sometimes-contentious relationship with the Fourth Estate. The Nittany Lions juniors have been either indignant (King) or dour (Williams) when pressed by reporters over their perceived inconsistent play. And whether it's a coincidence or not, the duo have more often than not picked the same times to have their worst outings. Conveniently, King and Williams also had probably their best games of the season as Penn State (7-3, 4-3 Big Ten)

He is a defensive leader for Penn State, an all-America candidate, and a possible first-round pick in the 2008 NFL draft. He may also end up being the Nittany Lions' most stinging loss to graduation. While the "he" in question may sound a lot like senior middle linebacker Dan Connor - and, in generic terms, it does - it is cornerback Justin King. The 6-foot, 186-pound King is only a junior, however, on the roster sheet. He is a studious senior in the classroom, a soft-spoken young man in life, and a budding future pro on the field.

For those in Center City who have been in department-store-shopping withdrawal for the last 10 weeks, you're in luck. A new Macy's will open tomorrow in the former location of Lord & Taylor across from City Hall. Federated Department Stores Inc., which owns the Macy's chain, intends to make sure Philadelphians notice what has changed - as well as what hasn't. Expect a touch of the famed Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, beginning at 8:45 a.m. in front of the store at Juniper and Market Streets, with drum band, balloons and confetti.

WILLIE WILSON lovingly pats his favorite hornbill, looking for missing feathers, and perhaps a bent wire or two. Zazu is propped up on a work bench, almost ready for action. There is actually another Zazu lying on its side on the shelf below, just in case. The night before, the upper Zazu had quite a workout, three hours of flapping and squawking and singing and dancing on the stage at the Academy of Music as one of the main puppet characters of "The Lion King. " Zazu is one of 230 puppets and masks used by human characters in the ultra-interactive "Lion King" stage show, and each of them gets a good look-see every day by Wilson, the road show's puppet master since 2002.