The Lion King stage musical has officially become the highest grossing entertainment production in any media in the world.

The theatre version of the hit Disney film, featuring music by Sir Elton John and Sir Tim Rice, opened in 1997 and recently became the first Broadway show to rack up $1 billion in profits, and now the musical has roared its way into the record books once more by earning $6.2 billion in worldwide box office sales.

Data compiled by Disney bosses reveal touring and international versions of the show have now been seen by more than 75 million people in 22 global productions.

The figure - which does not include merchandise sales - places The Lion King, directed by Julie Taymor, ahead of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, which has played to audiences around the globe and brought in $6 billion in show profits since its launch in 1986.

Disney chief Thomas Schumacher says, "It's difficult not to become emotional at this realisation of the show's impact.

"Our goal then was to tell the story purely and theatrically so that audiences could feel it in their hearts. And, to this day, that is the audience experience, whether they see the show in Madrid; Appleton, Wisconsin; South Africa; Tokyo or Broadway. Of that, we are deeply proud."