The Lion King Celebration

The Lion King Celebration was a parade inspired by The Lion King. It ran at Disneyland Park from June 1, 1994, to June 1, 1997.
==Information==
===Concept===
The Lion King Celebration was a parade held on Main Street, U.S.A., at Disneyland. It was designed to tell the story of Simba as if it was a tale that had been told for generations. It featured six different floats and a host of audio-animatronics, "Puppetronics", costumed characters, and live dancers, all carefully designed to accurately display and portray African artwork, tribal designs, and dances. There were over 75 people involved with each parade.
===Overview===
The parade was set to a mostly instrumental version of "I Just Can't Wait to Be King". The respective floats appeared as follows:
#A float featuring Zazu and Rafiki, who introduced the parade
#A gazelle-inspired float
#An elephant-inspired float
#A rainforest float, featuring Pumbaa and Timon, who walked close behind
#A drum dancer float, featuring costumed dancers and drummers
#A Pride Rock float, featuring Simba and Nala
The floats were separated by lively groups of dancers and performers, all of whom were costumed to look like various species of African animals. Eventually, the parade procession would stop, and Mufasa's voice could be heard telling Simba to take his place in the Circle of Life. The song "Circle of Life" would begin to play as Simba roared and symbolic white doves were released from one of the floats, thus marking the end of the parade.
==Credits==
#Nance Weenick — Producer
#Joey Michaels — Production Manager
#Robert Ponce — Show Director
#Sylvia Hase — Assistant Director / Senior Choreographer / African Dance Consultant
#Steve Bass — Art Director
#Bruce Healy — Music Director
#Tom Childs — Writer
#Ted Carlsson — Technical Director
#Mark Nordike — Choreographer
#Alyja Clegg — Costume Designer
#Roseanne Yokoyama — Costumer
==Trivia==
*After the parade ceased to run, four of the floats were transported to Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort to be used in the Festival of The Lion King show.
*Due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and in celebration of Disneyland's 65th anniversary, the original cast of The Lion King Celebration performed a virtual rendition of the show.
==Gallery==
TLK Celebration Pride Rock float.png|The Pride Rock float
==Media==
The_Lion_King_Parade_-_1994_-_Disneyland|The Lion King Celebration parade at Disneyland
Lion_King_Celebration_2020_Virtual_Performance_-_Original_Cast|The original cast of The Lion King Celebration performs a virtual rendition of the parade
==References==
Category:Attractions
Category:Disney Parks attractions
Category:Real world