The Lion King: a 5 Year Old’s Review

I took my 5 year old son to the opening of The Lion King in Toronto.  While I respect all the local reviewers, I thought it might be beneficial to hear his perspective.

So what did you think of the play?

Good.

Would you recommend it?

What does that mean?

It means would you tell all your friends that they should go?

Yes.

Is there anybody who wouldn’t like it?

I don’t know.

Is there anybody who’d really like it?

Maybe Claire.  And Kai and Luca and Kieran and Toby.

Would mummies & daddies like it?

Yup.

How about grandmas and grandpas?

Yes!

He then turns to his stuffed dog.

Snowy, did you like the play?  “Woof.”  That means yes!

That’s great.  Snowy, do you have a favourite character? 

Arf.  That means no.

What about you, who did you like?

The mouse guy. 

What mouse guy?

“The little mouse guy.  Just the mouse shadow thing.

Oooh, you mean at the beginning?  The one Scar was talking to?  Wow.

I am amazed because it’s a small shadow puppet we only see once, for barely a minute and a half, at the top of Act 1. But it goes to show that a) no detail goes unnoticed and b) kids are drawn to things us adults would rarely even think of.

Ya, him and the elephant.  He was bigger than me.  Bigger than daddy.  Bigger than our car even.

We were seated in the lower orchestra, and while it was amazing to be in the thick of it all with animals, puppets and performers coming in around you, I would still recommend sitting in the front balcony.  It gives you a better view and perspective of everything that’s happening on stage.  Plus there are performers up there as well, so you don’t miss the interactive experience. 

There are several complete black outs, something I wouldn’t think anything of, but my son said were scary.

The “kill” sequence where the lionesses take out an antelope went totally over his head.  But he found the hyenas a bit scary, as well as the scene with the charging wildebeests.

When the lights came up for intermission he asked “Mom, is that the end of the movie?”

Do you want it to be?

Um…no.

Act 2 opens with a beautiful sequence of birds flying all over the theatre. 

Where’s the elephant? 

Well, he’s not in this one.

Oh.  What if the birds lose the rope?  How do they catch them?

I left that one…

So all in all, how many thumbs up?

one, two, three, fourfivesixseveneightnineteneleventwelvethirteenfourteenfifteensixteen

seventeeneighteennineteentwenty!

Twenty thumbs up?

I mean, one hundred.

Ok.

No, a thousand.  What’s more, a million or a thousand?  But let’s see what my sister says ’cause she can count higher.

If you’ve seen it, please let us know what you thought.  After Toronto, it’s heading to Ottawa and Montreal.