How Did Julie Taymor Influence The Lion King

Nadeen Hamdan

THR 359 Research paper

Julie Taymor

Julie Taymor is recognized for her creativity and accomplishment as a famous theatricals director and designer. She is mostly known for her success on what is celebrated to be a classic stage musical along with my personal favorite The Lion King. The Lion King has been presented in 63 cities, in over a dozen countries, viewed by more than 45 million people summing up to her award known to be the first Tony Award offered to a woman. The characters displayed in the play were dressed up in multicultural designs from African masks, to Japanese puppetry. These designs were influenced from her early life where she was fortunate enough to live outside the U.S country to have a wider perspective on traditions. She also incorporated the play designs to be dual imagery of both animal and human form which was also influenced from the arts of a different cultural background.

Her interest in theater began at a very early age where she then started to direct herself towards joining the Boston Children Theater. Her passion for theater continued to grow as she launched into learning about new cultures. At the age of 15, she joined an education organization to travel to both India and Sri Lanka. Her experience in those countries lead her to take more chance in opportunity to travel. After graduating high school, her journey was not over. Taymor decided to take the offer of going to Paris to study at L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq. This school was known for being in high regards due to the demand of getting in. At this time, she was exposed to mime and masks where she concluded an overlook of art in a different form. She was now able to distinguish her views of theater to one day create it as her own art