Comparison of Hamlet, the Lion King, & Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2009 adaptation of Hamlet shows resembance to Disney’s 1994 production of the Lion King. Each film revolves around a male protagonist, who must cope with the death of his father, murdered by his uncle. Both characters are a prince, and threats to the throne which makes them targets for murder. They each experience emotional trauma in order to overthrow the corrupt king. Gregory Duncan had an unusual vision for his modern rendition of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, just as Roger Allen had for his African themed one. One parallel event which stands prominent is Hamlet’s second encounter with his father’s spirit compared to Simba’s with his. Each director effectively used characterization, as well as manipulated their script to fulfill their interpretation of this scene from the classic story. Thus, proving that each film reflects the positive and negative connections within a family in a monarchy's society.

After the process of making their way back home, both princes end up with fighting with their uncles. In “The Lion King”, Simba fights with Scar and Scar gets killed by the hyenas. Prince Hamlet in Hamlet kills king Claudius with a poisonous knife. Both “The Lion King” and “Hamlet” allows the main character to overcome a moral struggle. In “The Lion King”, Simba must act and be the king of his palace for sake of the animals of the kingdom and his father instead of running from what happened in the past. In “Hamlet”, prince Hamlet must decide to kill his uncle and take the risk of getting himself killed, or to keep the secret of King Claudius killing King Hamlet and live with it for the rest of his life.

When contrasting the characters in William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet to the characters in Walt Disney’s film, The Lion King, there are many differences in characterization. Hamlet is a play set in Denmark that tells the story of the tragic murder of King Hamlet and the emotional effects it has on his son, Prince Hamlet. The Prince’s mental instability causes him to go wildly insane over his love for Ophelia, who he will never have. He seeks vengeance on his uncle who is guilty of his father's murder. The Lion King is a film about Simba, a young lion prince who grieves over the untimely death of his father, the King of the Pride Lands. Simba discovers his Uncle Scar was the cause of his father's death. He must now return to Pride Rock in order to save his home and all who live there from the chaos under the ruling of Scar while he finds his place in society. When analyzing the characters Ophelia and Nala, they are dissimilar in their traits of obedience, dependence, and inner strength.

In addition to the pain Hamlet and John had endured because of their mothers, they both had to overcome the people who intended to use them. For Hamlet this meant suppressing information from the bothersome Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Upon the king’s request these two friends of Hamlet are sent off in an attempt to relieve Hamlet’s sorrow. However Hamlet soon discovers that they have alternative motives. They are strictly set out to discover the cause for Hamlet’s depression and madness, and don’t even attempt to enlighten his spirits.

The purpose of this report is to compare and contrast two movies made about Hamlet. I will present and discuss different aspects of the version directed by Kenneth Branagh to that of Franco Zefirelli. During this paper you will be presented with my opinions in reference to determining which version of Hamlet best reflects the original text by Shakespeare. I will end this paper with my belief and explanation of which movie is true to the original play.

At the beginning of the film the camera angle looks up towards him, the lights shine on young Simba; the importance of his birth is immense, although Simba may be oblivious to the fact at the time. Another parallel is the fact that both Simba and Hamlet at one stage wish to be dead. When Timon and Pumbaa find him, they believe Simba to be dead when they first find him. He is not – but wishes to be. The same could be said about Hamlet when he questions his life – “To be, or not to be”. Like Hamlet, Simba tends to need to be on his own to reflect. Hamlet and Simba are near perfect examples of tragic heroes. Both are tested to the extent of their inner strength and faith in the triumph of good.

There is always similarities and differences in book, movie, and play. There are a lot more differences between Hamlet and the Lion King than there are similarities. One of the biggest differences is that everyone dies at the end of Hamlet. Since The Lion King is a Disney movie and they love making sequels they didn’t kill everyone at the end of it. Hamlet is for sure a more mature play that The Lion King would ever be. The Lion King didn’t really have any sexual jokes in it, unlike Hamlet. Disney tried to make it so similar but also different. Instead of the main characters, dead dad talking to him in the beginning, like he did in Hamlet Disney had the dead dad talk to him closer to the end. In

Hamlet by William Shakespeare is a story about a king that was murdered by his brother and the prince has been asked by his father?s ghost to avenge his murder. The original story line has been altered a few times since it has been written. The original Hamlet the play and the altered Hamlet the movie are shown differently in many different ways. Hamlet the movie with Mel Gibson shows different things than the play, but there are three major differences between the two. The three major differences are in the way both of the productions start out, differences in the scene that the players put on a play, and differences in the way the productions end.

     Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are two of Hamlets childhood buddies who when asked by the king, try to find out what is troubling their friend. The two of them go to Hamlet pretending to be his friends, when in all actuality they are only there because the king asked them to find the truth. Hamlet realizes their purpose for their visit is to find the real reason for his sadness as of late. As the play continues the twins are asked again by the king to go to Hamlet and try again to find the real reason for Hamlets behavior. Hamlet insults them at every chance knowing they are lying to him about their purpose of the visit. "Tis as easy as lying; govern these

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are foils to Hamlet. The two are introduced as friends to Hamlet. But also they are like messengers for the king. Hamlet learns of their

Out of spite, both protagonists plan to take revenge on their evil uncles. Hamlet ponders on the idea of revenging his father’s death, but it wasn’t until Claudius’ guilty conscience was exposed during the play and also when the Ghost orders Hamlet to “Revenge his soul!” that Hamlets purpose was clear. In the end, Hamlet confronts Claudius but it is pointless ending in a blood battle. Simba on the other hand was told, “Run away and never return!” after believing it was himself who killed his father. Wanting to do what was right, Simba followed his uncle’s orders and it wasn’t until a chance encounter with Nala, that he realised the damage he had caused. Trying to take back what was rightfully his, Simba defeats Scar but instead of death as his revenge, he banishes Scar from The Pride Lands, telling his “to never return”. Both antagonists in the texts experience the heartbreak and misfortune of revenge but deal with it in ways their intended audiences will understand and learn from.

The setting of these two texts that demonstrates the idea of the challenges and triumphs that lie ahead. The audience is presented with different environments, Shakespeare's Hamlet starts off in a closed and dark environment, this shows that there is something bad is going to happened during the novel,

As innocent and young the Disney movie “The Lion King” may seem, it is, indeed, loosely based off of the renowned Shakespeare play “Hamlet”. It would seem strange to the typical audiences of each, but when looked at closer, it is seen that they are actually related underneath the youthful, animated surface of The Lion King.

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet is one of the most produced plays of all time. Written during the height of Shakespeare’s fame—1600—Hamlet has been read, produced, and researched by more individuals now than during Shakespeare’s own lifetime. It is has very few stage directions, because Shakespeare served as the director, even though no such official position existed at the time. Throughout its over 400 years of production history, Hamlet has seen several changes. Several textual cuts have been made, in addition to the liberties taken through each production. In recent years, Hamlet has seen character changes, plot changes, gender role reversals, alternate endings, time period shifts, and thematic alternations, to

Firstly, there are major differences in the storyline of both Disney’s “The Lion King” and the Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”. To begin, The Lion King’s plot was carefully adapted for an appropriate audience. For example, Disney had to change some of the stories conflicts to teach moral lessons and have more positive influences on the younger audience, Such as, by making Simba not contemplate suicide like Hamlet, questioning his life “To be, or not to be”, and addition of songs like “Hakunama Tata” meaning “no worries.” help children realize that problems can get better if they stop overthinking and worrying about them. The Lion King is encouraging, child-friendly, with positive songs and cheerful secondary characters that help lead to a happy ending.