My Lion King Forum

I was wondering after I revived TLK as an obsession in 2011, why there was no DVD version of the musical... There is one for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (lovely musical by the way) and CATS (also lovely)... Come on Julie Taymor, release a DVD version!

Because it's still making tons of money and a lot of times they won't release a DVD because they're affraid it will interfere with the productions running everywhere. There are recordings of it that they use to make the commercials and whatnot, but they will probably never release an official copy of it. Maybe we'll get lucky though and they'll do some kind of special anniversary concert version like they did for Les Mis and Phantom of the Opera. But I don't see that happening honestly.

My argument is pretty much the same as HasiraKali because it will undermine the purpose of experiencing the musical live. However, there are video clips of the cast members performing songs from the musical like performing "They Live in You/He Lives in You" on The Rosie O'Donnell Show. You can also check out some performance and behind-the-scene interviews with the cast and crew on Disney on Broadway's YouTube channel. There is also a special edition release of TLK on Broadway CD which includes a DVD of behind-the-scenes video content. Check out it: here

I'm not positively sure why Cats and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat got DVD releases, but I do know they weren't performing Joseph on Broadway when the DVD was released in 1999. The Lion King doesn't have that opportunity since it's constantly performing all around the world.

Cats was done for its anniversary and so was Joseph. Same with Phantom and Les Mis. I really wish they'd release it. Phantom in particular has not hurt for attendance since the 25th Anniversary DVD was released. It's consistently in the top five for attendance along with TLK. Who knows though. Maybe one day we'll get an official video release. Until then, I'm contenting myself with the crappy recordings you can find in the darker parts of YouTube. :p

I agree with that argument.

It's still way too popular, and sold out shows in every country it's playing.
Making a DVD would ruin all that.

I'M GOING TO SEE IT NEXT WEEKEND! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm not sure if this is a DVD, but there's a video on Youtube of the whole musical (Japanese version) divided in a lot of parts:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUw4DoSBSQ4&