Theatre and Production 1B WSOA1024A

Written Task

Lion King Production Mask

Essay

Name:
Oratile Pega
Student Number:
2703035
Thought and consideration must be put into making a mask. It is not just something that is
made with no thought and just worn but is Its own character and person. The lines, texture
and shape of the mask is what determines what the mask represents and whether it is
delivering the feeling and look of the character that is being portrayed. People when mention
masks often think of them covering your face but in some productions, specifically talking
about the masks in Lion King do not cover the face for example, Simba and Mufasa’s masks
from the Lion King production. As well as Touch on the connotations of the lines which are
“An extension of a point, elongated mark”, (Rigdon;2018) to create the effect of the edge of
an object, shape” projects the moods of the types and directions of lines enclosing them”,
(Rigdon;2018) texture of the masks parts of the body and really focus on the similarities and
differences of the two masks, and how these features on the masks firstly, separates Simba
and Mufasa and how the characters are portrayed as powerful just in two different ways.

In terms of the Denotation of both Mufasa’s mask and Simba’s mask, you can see with
Mufasa’s mask that it perfectly symmetrical, and circular in shape, with grey mane with black
tip and has gaps in between the manes. The mask is very muscular and a big triangular
nose which has a 3-D illusion, which is created by the lines running vertically. Mufasa’s mask
compared to Simba’s has a lot darker and rough in texture to his mask and marbling. Whilst
Simba’s mask is much smoother than Mufasa’s and is a lot more angular especially by the
cheekbones. It has a light texture by the cheek bones, it has much lighter mane and has
greater volume of mane and very close spaces between them. Simba’s mask does not have
a mouth and the nose is much smoother. From the denotation itself it is clear what the
differences are and what the
similarities are, there very little
similarities but huge differences in the
masks.

In terms of the connotations of both

masks, Mufasa’s as a character
represents “wisdom, balance and
strength” (Disney On Broadway, 2017)
which is reflected in the design of his
mask as it is symmetrical which
represents balance and order and is
also circular to represent the circle of
life. His mask in texture is a lot darker
and is marbled vertically to show that
he is older whilst Simba’s mask is a lot
smoother in texture to show how young he is. As well as the texture of Simba’s mask by the
cheek bones is lighter and softer to show that he is young, while keeping that
aggressiveness. Whilst the texture of Mufasa’s mask is a lot more rough and darker to show
that he is older than Simba, and how powerful he was, which is also exaggerated by the size
of his triangular nose as it has angular lines, some thicker than others to make it stand out
more and come off as powerful and aggressive to create variety and focus. In terms of the
feathers/hair on Mufasa’s mask around the contour of the mask, it is short, grey with black
tips to show his age which can also be signified by the gaps in between each of the feathers.
Meanwhile, Simba’s feathers/hair is a lot longer and whiter. Furthermore, his feathers/hair do
not have as many gaps in between and goes all the way around the whole mask which
shows how young he is. The masks share similarity in terms of shape, they are similar
specifically focusing on the overall circular shape of the mask and they are both symmetrical
meaning representing balance and
order. Secondly about the shape,
they are both angular, just in different
places for example, Mufasa’s mask is
angular by the nose meanwhile
Simba’s mask is angular by the cheek
bones. Thirdly another similarity is the
textures both Mufasa and Simba
have, the texture of the mask is a
manipulated three-dimensional
texture, meaning that it doesn’t only
appear like that but is 3-D. Lastly both
masks are not made of wood but made of carbon fibre although Mufasa’s mask has some
wood on it. In general, Mufasa’s mask has a lot of texture and patterns around his mask and
Simba’s mask is smoother and lighter.

In terms of the mechanics of the mask and

how it is operated by the actors, Mufasa’s
mask is mechanical, it has a mechanical rod
which is placed at the back of the mask by
this means that his mask can move up and
down using a switch in his hand which he
controls in the play when he has an
encounter with Scar (his brother) which plays
into his power and Simba’s mask has no

mechanics and is put directly on his head to

emphasise that he is still a young adult. His mask
does not have a mouthpiece because it was
designed to be like a “Roman warrior helmet.”
(The Lion King production notes; pg4) you can
see this because Romanian helmets did not have
jawlines and the way the mane/hair was shaped
on Simba’s mask is like what it would look like on a roman helmet. which played into the fact
that he is still a young adult and presents him as a brave fighter.
When discussing parts of the body of both Mufasa and Simba. They both had red paint
around the neck area which shows that Mufasa is Simba’s father. There is a huge difference.
Mufasa is fully covered by wearing long sleeved shirts and lose fitting pants. Mufasa is also
wearing a corset which was inspired by the traditional Maasai dress, this
made his shoulders look much broader, and appear as strong, and more
powerful. Whilst Simba only wears a beaded corset which was inspired by
the Maasai warriors’ attire, and this also made his chest look bigger and his
shoulders to look broader, stronger allowing him to show more muscle and
skin which shows that he still a young adult. When Simba grows from the
child to a young adult, he wears wrist bands so
he can appear as a warrior. Unlike Mufasa,
Simba uses his whole body to move, fight and
express emotion and is not wearing a shirt to
cover up his upper body but is also wearing loose
fitting pants like Mufasa does. Mufasa is older so
he uses the mechanics to move the mask to
create the illusion of exaggerated movement,
make it seem effort less and to show how he is
older because scar has similar mechanics on his
mask. Mufasa’s costume contains the colours
gold and orange tones to represent the sun and
the sunlight and when he dies, the sun dies with
him and the kingdom becomes dark, presenting
him as a good force for the animals and the
kingdom.

In conclusion, it is evident that there are a lot of similarities and differences with Simba and
Mufasa’s masks and costume and those same similarities and differences hold a great
significance in portraying the character for the audience to grasp because it is hard to take a
film and make it into a theatre a production so by using these small minute details like the
rough texture of Mufasa’s mask to make him look like an older lion and the Mane of Simba’s
mask to make him look younger compared to Mufasa. Subtle details like that go a long way
in a production that was adapted from a film.

References:
Podplesky, A. (2019) Broom bristles and Turkey feathers: Behind the masks of ‘the lion
king’, Spokesman.com. Available at:
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/jan/26/broom-bristles-and-turkey-feathers-
behind-the-mask/ (Accessed: 12 September 2023).

King, L. (2018) Production notes - lion king education, Production notes - Lion King
Education. Available at: https://www.lionkingeducation.co.uk/pdfs/Disney_The-Lion-
King_Production_Notes.pdf (Accessed: 12 September 2023).
(2015). Disny on broadway. Available at: https://youtu.be/x0DNDqVq-h0 (Accessed: 2023).