Supernatural Elements In The Lion King

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.

When I went to go see The Lion King on Broadway a few words came to mind after the play; amazing, stunning, and unbelievable! I was a little unsure at first, because I thought I was too young to see something from a Disney World production. I was also wondering how Disney was going to manage putting a film starring non-human characters, into a three-dimensional stage. However, using all their “Disney magic” with a little help from a great stage producer The Lion King Musical kept my attention all the way through with their; voice and diction, staging, and many other elements.

As a child, I can remember watching the Lion King movie several times because my family loved this timeless movie. I always just thought of it as a story about the “circle of life” that we all hear so much about in church and from our parents. However, for this assignment I chose to watch this movie once more; giving particular attention to details and thoroughly examining Simba’s life stage development in relation to Erik Erikson’s psychosocial stages and Jean Piaget’s cognitive development stages. Needless to say, I was able to find significant evidence relating to these developmental theorists. The story not only displays the hardships of maturation, and the perplexities associated with growing, but it also deals with the search for one’s own identity and responsibility.

The Lion King is a true hero's journey that takes place in the savannas of Africa. The title "the Lion King" emphasizes that a lion is king, most likely referring to the main character, Simba. Simba is the main hero in the story because he regains his kingdom and defeats evil. The main character's archetype is "king"; he takes responsibility for his actions and his kingdom, he regains order and control. Simba takes part in a hero's journey by being a part of the departure, initiation, and the return.

Simba and Hamlet, the main protagonists of The Lion King and Hamlet, can represent both the exiled child and tragic hero archetypes. In The Lion King Simba was compelled to leave his homeland because he was led to believe he had killed his own father. In Hamlet, Hamlet was forced to leave by his uncle’s order. Likewise in The Lion King Simba’s leave was also influenced by his uncle’s action. Unlike Simba’s unawareness of his uncle’s role in his father’s death, Hamlet is fully aware of his father’s killer being his uncle. As of the beginning of Hamlet, he meets his father’s ghost who asks Hamlet for vengeance, as the ghost leaves he says “Adieu adieu Hamlet remember me”. This scene can be compared to when Simba also meets his father’s ghost, who says to Simba as he leaves “Remember who you are”. Simba’s father appears more concerned about Simba’s state of mind and convinces him to return to The Pride Lands, whereas Hamlet’s father shows little concern for Hamlet and wants to be remembered and avenged. Hamlet is older and spends less time than Simba in exile whereas Simba spends a few years exiled without a care, which is shown in the song Hakuna Matata. After his father’s influence, Simba returns. Upon both of their returns, a fight occurs. Hamlet kills his uncle and is also killed himself whereas in The Lion King Simba doesn’t actually kill scar but says to him “Run away Scar...Run. Run away and never return.” however Scar pounces on Simba and their duel begins, in the end, Simba throws Scar off a cliff leaving him to the hyenas. Hamlet and Simba both represent the exiled child and tragic by being forced to leave their homeland and to kill, fight their own uncles to save their homeland. The Lion King’s ending was altered to have almost no death to make the film

A couple minutes after Nala leaves, Simba is graced with the presence of a crazy baboon named Rafiki who tells him that his father is still alive, inside of him, and that he should follow him if he wants to see for himself. Simba follows the baboon to a pond and looks to where the monkey is pointing. Unfortunately he only sees his own reflection but Rafiki tells Simba to look harder. He then sees his father in the water, realizing what the baboon meant. Mufassa is now in the dark clouds telling Simba that he’s forgotten who he was, therefore he’s forgotten him, and this triggers Simba’s emotions making feel disappointed in himself for not going home like he should have. His father then tells him that he needs to find his place back in the circle of life and says “remember who you are. You are my son and the one true king. Remember who you are.” His voice is very deep and almost sounds like he is hurting. Then in an instant he is gone with the storm and Simba is chasing after him begging him not to go.

An epic story once told from family to family has transformed into modern day movies that many people watch. An example of a movie that is a modern day epic story is Rocky IV. Characteristics of an epic story that are demonstrated in Rocky IV are a character that is highly valued or important to his people, a setting that spans across great amounts of land, and many examples of the hero’s super strength that none of the other characters. In addition to this, the hero has his own characteristics that include great amounts of courage, superhuman strength, and is extremely dedicated to his success that he doesn’t worry about how it could affect his family or people that are important to him. Rocky Balboa is a perfect example of a modern epic hero because of his difficult journey to victory.

Authors, poets, and film directors have all used ancient stories to create new pieces of literature and film works for modern times. The animated Disney film Hercules (1997) and the myth of Hercules share the background of audience-driven narratives; however, Disney's aspiration to fill the theaters and earn money results in an unblemished narrative, while the original myth portrays an imperfect model to a flawed humanity.

Simba’s heroic qualities don’t just stand out when he is found by Nala begging him to return to Pride Rock to save everyone and the community, but also when he meets Pumbaa and Timon. He is learning how to survive on his own and how to be a true friend. Simba shows all characteristics of a hero throughout his journey, it begins with his separation from his family, and his choice to runaway. Simba has to deal with guilt and is tested emotionally, he has been told that he killed his father and needs

The second characteristic of an epic is the setting. In order for something to be an epic it must take place in most of the known world. This specific movie just happens to take place all over the world. It begins in South America, then

Although The Lion King and Macbeth seems like two different stories. One is set in the medieval era while the other is set in postmodernity, but both displays the similarities of the character’s strategic battle for power. Scar, known as the villain in the movie, The Lion King, committed selfish acts to fulfill his distorted desires. As Simba was at the edge of the cliff, about to be murdered by Scar, Scar snarled at him, “That [is] the way your father looked before I killed him” (The Lion King). Simba leaped up from the side of the cliff, and pushed Scar to the ground demanding him to confess to his crime of killing the king, his father, Mufasa. This quote proves that Scar’s ambition leads him to do ruthless acts, wanting to kill Simba, who was next in line of the throne. These malevolent plots are what fuels the battle of evil against the good. Scar stated to his three murders, the Hyenas, “We [are] going to kill him. And Simba, too” (The Lion King). In the movie, The Lion King, shows that Scar is resentful of the king, Mufasa, and the power he retains. In this quote, he plans a plot on who he wants to kill with the three hyenas to help him finish the deed, which shows his strong ambitions. Another

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.

Nowadays, religion is tied into pop culture from our childhood have this connection that we don’t recognize until later on in life. The Lion King is one film that is associated with religious themes due to it having a story that is similar to some texts. It is a Walt Disney animated film that incorporates a community of animals in a kingdom that is ruled by a lion king named Mufasa. Mufasa has a son named Simba and the story revolves around his adolescent growth and how he is supposed to be next in line to become the future king. The idea of the “Circle of Life” ties into several religions but most specifically it goes hand in hand with Christianity. A ritual is performed on him by Rafiki as a newborn and he is presented to the kingdom with a new life. This aspect is similar to how Christians perform baptism and the significance of having new life brought onto earth. Also the kingdom crowding around this ceremony highlights the similarities even bigger due to how many people gather for the religious ceremonies.

In 1994, the critics hail an animated masterpiece, not only for its artwork and music, but also for the plotline: an evil uncle displaces the heir to the throne and sends him into exile. Years later, following both a prophecy and an encounter with the ghost of the old king, the heir is persuaded to return to his home, avenge his father's death, and take his proper place as the ruler of the kingdom. At first glance, Disney's The Lion King has all the classic motifs of the revenge plot. These archetypal patterns occur in many stories, and Disney writers Jim Capoblanco and Irene Mecchi may well have built the plot's structure from the ground up. However, if we disregard the Serengeti setting, the

On the other hand, in Disney's The Lion King, Simba's father is killed after he falls from a cliff into a herd of antelope. Simba falls into a deep depression after Scar twists things around and convinces Simba that he is the one responsible for Mufasa's death. Simba can not deal with what has happened and Simba exiles himself where he meets a warthog and meerkat, named Timon and Pumbaa, and develops a carefree lifestyle with them. Later on in the story, as an adult, Simba returns to the Pride Lands to reclaim the throne from Scar.