Symbolism In The Lion King

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 King has returned." These are the powerful words Rafiki uses when telling Nala, Timon, and Pumba that Simba has gone back to the pride lands to overthrow Scar. Before making his entrance to Pride Rock, Simba's "palace," he gains three helpers to assist him in gaining his kingdom back; Nala, Timon, and Pumba all offer their services to him. There are a few scenes in the story that can be easily compared to the Odyssey. First, Simba wants everyone to continue to think he's dead, as Odysseus did prior to his own entrance. Second, Simba uses Timon and Pumba as a form of "Trojan Horse" to distract the hyenas while he and Nala sneak in. Third, Simba tells Nala to "rally the lionesses" as a form of weapon against the hyenas which are like suitors in his palace.

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

Almost everyone in the world is familiar with the infamous Disney movie The Lion King, but very few have gone into detail and analyzed the rhetoric within the film. Each scene is filled with a sense of pathos that tugs on the emotions of the audience and inevitably pushes them to one side over the other. It is interesting to see how the voices, color, and actions of each character have such an effect on their personalities which then has an effect on the audience and leaves them judging the morals of the characters. For people who grew up watching the original Disney movies, this is a great film to watch in depth and really figure out the meaning behind each scene.

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

In “The Lion King”, Disney uses animals to tell a coming of age story. In this film, characters are used to symbolize racism. From the beginning of Simba’s life, his father forbids him to go to the Elephant Graveyard. Upon further investigation, the viewer learns that the graveyard is resemblant of the ghetto. Even the inhabitants of the graveyard are voiced by minorities and participate in illegal activities one would imagine happening in the ghetto: i. e. stealing food, kidnapping the king’s son. Gail Robertson’s essay, “Snow Whitey?”, states that the “embedded messages [ in “The Lion King”] can only be described as despicable” (43). This essay also on points out the “ghettoization of Blacks and Hispanics” (43). In the film, the integration

“Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance. As king, you need to understand that balance, and respect all the creatures from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope,” said Mufasa, a supporting character in the film depiction of Walt Disney’s: The Lion King (1994). The Lion King is a timeless archetypal work that time after time has given youth hope and has shown them that courage is not always innate, but can be learned from just living life with a little “hakuna matata”. The Lion King, through the use of classic archetype, vivid surrealism, and iconic symbolism, shows a coming to age story that shows children that life is an adventure worth the trouble.

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.

Nala explains the wretched condition of the Pride Lands since Scar became King and urges Simba to return. Simba comes in contact with the wise baboon. He hesitates out of fear, and out of his rebellion he has a vision of his father that prompts him to return home. When he returns he challenges Scar and wins. He becomes King of the Pride Lands as his father had taught him he would. Nala gives birth to a cub of their own completing the circle of life.

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.

Summary of The Lion King: In the Disney animation loved by families everywhere, The Lion King, Simba, the young lion born into royalty. His parents have high expectation and have strict boundaries. The Lion King follows Simba as he explores the plains of Africa and stirs up trouble with his uncle, Scar.

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.

The movie The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride follows the life of Simba and Nala’s daughter Kiara. She falls in love with Kovu, a male lion from an exiled pride known as the Outsiders who was once lead by Simba’s evil uncle named Scar. Separated by Simba’s prejudice against the Outsiders, who are followers of Scar with a vindictive plot planned by Kovu’s mother Zira, Kiara and Kova struggle to overcome the two obstacles that are keeping them apart. Desperate to be together, Kiara and Kovu become the key to join both prides at peace. This paper will be focused on Kiara’s life within the movie and also examine Kiara’s process of development through Freud’s psychosexual and Erikson’s psychosocial stages, and as well as Piaget theories.

The Lion King is a classic movie, beloved by many. On the surface, this movie seems to be a light-hearted, carefree tale of a lion cub’s journey to justice. However, on taking a deeper look, one finds that the tale consists of conflicting worldviews and philosophies, while presenting the idea of destiny. But which religions and philosophies is it portraying? Let us take a closer look.