'What I found that happened here, which so rarely happens, is you had a lot of people who just simply responded to the story,' he said. He credited Disney Theatrical Group President Thomas Schumacher and CBS CEO Les Moonves for getting it green-lit. Getting 'The Lion King' - one of the jewels in the Disney crown - to play nice with CBS, a rival, blue-chip entertainment company, turned out to be a delightful surprise for Seitzman. 'I didn't have to do too much research - only 13 years of preparation,' he said, laughing. It was amazing.'įor White, who has played Mufasa on tour, in Las Vegas from 2009 to 2011, and on Broadway, it was a career highlight. At one point I was at the monitor and I turned around and I realized how many people had gathered behind me to watch it,' said Seitzman. 'It's like when you're a kid and you see your teacher at the supermarket.'įilming the episode took two weeks in mid-October and climaxed in a moving finale that took 20 takes but left many of the 150 extras and regular cast members in tears. It was exuberant and it was emotional and it was fun and it was funny,' he said. There was something about seeing them out of their costumes singing that song that we all know so well.

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