Lion King Celebration, 1994

"The Lion King" debuted in June of 1994 and was a smash hit in theaters; at Disneyland, an elaborate parade known as "The Lion King Celebration" was introduced at the same time. Today's photos come to us from Irene, Bruce, and James - as you can see, these are panoramic prints, and they look pretty great! 

According to Wikipedia, The parade's design centred around the story of Simba, the main protagonist of The Lion King, as if it were a tale passed down in Africa for generations. The lineup featured six floats designed around different aspects of African culture, dancers dressed in animal costumes, and a Pride Rock float featuring Simba and Nala.

The following description is also from good old Wikipedia:

Set to a mostly instrumental version of the song "I Just Can't Wait to Be King", the first characters to appear are two rhinoceroses...

...followed by tribal dancers, drummers and a float.

During a typical show a total of 89 cast members performed in The Lion King Celebration. This included 56 dancers, 12 puppeteers, 10 acrobatic pole dancers, 6 musicians and 5 remote control operators.

Zazu and Rafiki introduce the parade as it continues down Main Street, U.S.A.

The design of the parade had strong roots in traditional African artwork, featuring vibrant colors, traditional designs, and dance routines based on traditional African dances.

Next, a herd of gazelle dancers dressed in spandex costumes with hoods precede a float with tribal gazelle designs pushed along by wildebeest dancers.

They are followed by a group of tribal crane dancers, the elephant float and two remote-controlled crocodiles. The elephant on the float occasionally shoots a stream of water from its trunk. In the first year of the show, the larger "mother" elephant was preceded by a smaller "baby" elephant whose costume was similar to that of the previously mentioned rhinoceroses, only larger. Two pole dancers dressed in tribal bird costumes walk at the sides.

I've seen some pole dancers in my day, but I guess Disneyland has their own versions?

There's the mama elephant, with the Rain Forest float right behind her. So many dancers, so many costumes!

The Lion King Celebration featured the first use of Audio-Animatronics in a Disneyland parade. It also featured the first use of "Puppetronics", a technique used to create the large, lifelike animal puppets featured on the floats. Puppetronics allowed the animatronic animals to be controlled by a puppeteer but still retain complex movement, allowing for a smoother and more realistic performance.

Leopard dancers dance around the Rain Forest float, which features monkey dancers on swings and Pumbaa on the back. Pumbaa talks to Timon, who follows behind while chasing three remote-controlled bugs including a scorpion and a rhinoceros beetle.

Two tribal-bird pole dancers lead the Drum Dancer float, which features drummers, dancers and percussionists in colourful, vibrant tribal costumes.

The roll of film must have run out, because there was no panoramic photo of the final "Pride Rock" float featuring Simba and Nala. The parade eventually stops and Mufasa's voice is heard telling Simba to take his place in the Circle of Life. The song "Circle of Life" begins to play and the dancers dance and leap around the floats as the drummers drum along to the song. At the end of the song, Simba roars and white doves are released from one of the floats, symbolizing hope and peace.

"The Lion King Celebration" ran for a full three years, ending on June 1st, 1997.

Many thanks to the Dream Team!

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Extra! Extra! GDB pal TokyoMagic! has generously shared his personal photos of the final Pride Float so that you can see what it looked like. THANKS, TokyoMagic!