A new generation will be getting to know "The King & I" in animated form

March 29, 1999
Web posted at: 12:57 p.m. EST (1757 GMT)

From Bill Tush
CNN Showbiz Today Correspondent

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The newly released animated feature film "The King & I" has big shoes to fill, considering the original play won 10 Tony awards, and the Yul Brynner film racked up five Oscars. But it comes on the scene with powerful voice talents behind its colorfully drawn characters.

Stage actor Martin Vidnovic brings the strong-willed King of Siam to life. In a sense, he says, he learned from the master. Vidnovic shared the stage with Brynner in a revival of the musical in 1977.

"Yul was wonderful, he was like a father to me," said Vidnovic. But when Brynner took the stage, "Boy, he was the king," Vidnovic remembered.

In the ensuing 20 years, Vidnovic has become one of Broadway's leading men himself, and is preparing to open in "Man of La Mancha" next.

"Saturday Night Live"'s Darrell Hammond voices a new comic-relief character

Christiane Noll brings her Broadway-trained voice to the singing role of Anna. She talked of the Rodgers and Hammerstein songs with reverence, and considered getting the chance to sing them an honor. "I've been entrusted with, with, a bit of a legacy really," she added.

Noll can currently be seen on Broadway as Emma Carew in the critically acclaimed "Jekyll & Hyde."

As comic relief, Warner Bros. has written in a totally new character, the sumo-sized "Master Little," voiced by comic actor Darrell Hammond. Hammond sharpened his wit and timing during three years as a regular on "Saturday Night Live."

Hammond says his role in the "King" is something of a dream come true. "I always dreamed of one day being a part of a classic story and being able to contribute a character to it," he said. The newly created character, Master Little, is an over-zealous helper to the Kralahome, the evil prime minister who wants to take over Siam.

Meanwhile, the nearly 50-year-old Rodgers & Hammerstein score behind the "King" is unchanged and timeless. "The music that they wrote is enduring, because you still have people who go, who see 'King & I' now and they're whistling a happy tune all over again just like they did when they were kids," said Vidnovic.