I use cinematic things in a theatrical way on stage, and in film I use theatrical techniques in a cinematic way.

We're really having a problem right now in our culture. I haven't seen one movie lately in which the story and visuals have been equally good.

You don't have to patronize your audience, and you can mix art and commerce in a profound way. You can simultaneously play to the sophisticated, 60-year-old theatergoers and to 4-year-olds.

I love directing Shakespeare on film. It's fantastic that the actors would do exactly the same thing and be true to their part.

Americans are attracted to the dark side. But which movies should be allowed to be violent and show that dark side, and which should not? I don't believe in censorship, but I do think there are horrible movies that are bad for you.

When I was thinking about The Lion King, I said, we have to do what theater does best. What theater does best is to be abstract and not to do literal reality.

One of the reasons I love to jump back and forth between mediums is that film does allow me to be more literal. I can go to the real place. I can go to the Coliseum, and I don't have to fake it.