


The number of languages The Lion King has been translated into around the world. Actors climb 5-foot ladders to get inside the puppet, and mount the stilt legs. The height in feet of the “Circle of Life” giraffes. (Also the number of wigs used in the show.) 14 The number of pounds Pumbaa’s full costume weighs-making it the heaviest costume in the company. There are also 39 hyenas, 15 gazelles (played by five actors), 14 lionnesses, three zebras, two elephants, two antelope, one rhinoceros, and one cheetah. The number of people involved with the Broadway company’s daily production, including 51 cast members, 24 musicians, 19 wardrobe staff, 13 carpenters, nine electricians, six creative associates, five stage managers, four props people, three puppet craftspeople, three sound people, three make-up artists, two wig/hairdressers, two company managers, one child guardian, and one physical therapist. The total number of puppets used in The Lion King. The number of Equity actors and stage managers employed by the Broadway company alone. Mufasa’s mask weighs 11 ounces, Scar’s weights seven, and Sarabi’s weights four. However, each of the masks, individually, weigh very little. The pounds of silicone rubber used to make the show’s masks. The number of stalks of grass needed to maintain the Grasslands headdresses per production per year.

Director and designer Julie Taymor-who won Tonys for Best Direction of a Musical and Best Costume Design of a Musical for Lion King-along with puppet and mask designer Michael Curry hand sculpted and painted every prototype that appears in the opening number of the show. The number of hours spent by mask makers, sculptors, puppeteers, and artisans to build the animal characters for the original Broadway production. Here, we break down Disney’s The Lion King by the numbers: 17,000 Seventy is the number of awards won across the globe, six is the number of indigenous languages featured in the script, and 20 marks the number of years ago The Lion King first played on Broadway-starting it all. Or 24, the number of productions of The Lion King mounted around the world to date. How about 19? The number of countries that have hosted a production of The Lion King.

Ninety? That’s the number of millions of people who have seen The Lion King worldwide.
