Flashback: 'The Lion King' at the Oscars and Tonys - Los Angeles Times
Advertisement

Flashback: ‘The Lion King’ at the Oscars and Tonys

Share via

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

With ‘The Lion King’ back in theaters -- this time in 3-D -- it felt right to look back at the 1994 Oscars, when a category had not yet been created for animated feature, so ‘The Lion King’ was marginalized to the tech races. It ended up nabbing four bids, all in the music slots. Three of its tunes competed for best song -- ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight,’ ‘Circle of Life’ and ‘Hakuna Matata’ -- and, of course, ‘Love’ triumphed with Elton John and Tim Rice claiming the gold. ‘The Lion King’ also won best score for Hans Zimmer.

Soon afterward the hit film was transferred to the Broadway stage, where it finally reaped its lion’s share of kudos. In 1998, it won six Tony Awards including best musical, beating ‘Rag Time,’ ‘Side Show’ and ‘The Scarlett Pimpernel.’ Since it opened in November 1997, it has run continuously for more than 3,000 performances, becoming Broadway’s seventh-longest-running musical.

Advertisement

RELATED:

Poll: Will Melissa McCarthy be an Oscar contender?

Enter the ‘Dragon’: David Fincher’s latest Oscar bait

Advertisement

Quiz: What movie has earned the most Oscar nominations?

-- Tom O’Neil

Advertisement