VIDEO: Julie Taymor Brings THE LION KING to THE VIEW

Tony winner Julie Taymor appeared on The View this morning to celebrate 25 years of The Lion King on Broadway.

Taymor discussed the musical's success, how the production has affected families, and what it was like to reopen the show after the Broadway shutdown.

Later in the segment, Taymor brought along performers from the Broadway production who demonstrated the puppets used in the show that she desgined, including The Lioness, The Bird Man, and The Cheetah. Taymor discussed each puppet's different functions and meanings.

"The decision was not to put people in furry costumes and hide their faces but to create the duality ... You enjoy the human and the animal simultaneously," Taymor shared.

Taymor was the first woman to win a Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical and remains actively involved in the show, launching new productions and maintaining the flagship Broadway production. Watch the new video!

While two Broadway juggernauts have previously reached this milestone, The Lion King marks several historic firsts. Never before has a show in its 25th year been playing in so many productions around the world simultaneously and placed in the Top 5 grossing Broadway shows this long - nearly 1,300 consecutive weeks and counting.

Currently, 115,000 people enjoy the show in nine productions on three continents every week. There have been 28 productions over the life of the show, seen by a staggering 110 million people. That is more than the combined populations of Canada, Greece, Sweden, Holland, Denmark and Australia.

The Broadway production opened on November 13, 1997 and has played through four NYC Mayoral administrations, five presidential administrations and 11 Olympics.

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