Has anyone ever noticed that Walt Disney borrowed substantially from Shakespeare’s Hamlet in the creation of the Lion King? At first this suggestion might seem outlandish, and one is tempted to explain any similarity away in terms of superficiality and inherent similarities of many plotlines. However upon examination of the correlation of characters, plot and symbolism it becomes clear that the similarities are far more than cursory. Clearly the parallels are contrived and intentional.
‘So where are these supposed parallels?’ I hear you ask. The first of the parallels is the most obvious: plot. The fundamental premise of each work is identical. In Hamlet we see political unrest following the mysterious death of a monarch, it is later revealed that the king was sleeping by Claudius’s (his brother) and the ghost of old hamlet charges young hamlet with the task of avenging his murder through killing his uncle and reclaiming the throne of Denmark that was rightfully his.
Additionally hamlet is profoundly disturbed by the fact that his mother is intimately involved with the lecherous satyr Claudius. This existing angst combines with the revelation of the fact that Claudius had in fact killed his father and forms the basis of a series of contradictions and subjectivities that eventually engulf hamlet in a swamp of indecision. The reader of the play is then confronted with a further three and a half acts of metaphysical contemplation, moralizing and philosophy revolving primary around the issue of the incongruence of Hamlet’s motivation to act on his filial obligation and his actual ability to act. Procrastination and action are examined and hamlet finds them both paradoxically inhabiting him. In the culminate moments of the play hamlet finds himself acting on his obligation not by choice but because his hand was forced, sadly however, he dies doing so and the kingdom is inherited by Fortinbras.
The same elements of plot drive the Lion King. The story begins preceding the death of the monarch so the viewer is given an insight into the benevolence of Mufasa’s rule. This glimpse serves the purpose of illustrating Scar’s inability to effectively manage the complexity of the ecological microcosm of pride rock.
Scar is intensely jealous of his brother who like Old Hamlet was a much-loved benevolent father figure to the people. As such scar concocts a plan to induce a stampede whereby Mufasa would be deposed as leader (on account of his being dead) thus ensuring Scar’s ascendance to the throne. Like Hamlet Simba is initially unaware of the fact that scar facilitated the events that led to his father’s death and this dramatic revelation has a similar effect on samba to it does on hamlet, his conception of reality and the natural order are shattered and he is forced to undergo a journey to find himself again.
Given the media, Samba’s journey is less figurative than Hamlet’s and he geographically travels and experiences new things a means of illustrating his growth as a person. Simba’s forays into the madcap world of Timon and pumbaa parallels Hamlet’s descent into madness, this inference is based on the similar developmental bearing of both the effect of the radical ‘no worries’ philosophy on Simba and Hamlet’s feigned ‘antic disposition’ on Hamlet’s expanding conception of the world.
Like Hamlet Simba is forced into the realisation of the necessity of his returning to and righting the wrongs propagated by scar in the kingdom that was rightfully his and he returns and reclaims the kingdom that was his birthright. The ending is one point where the Lion King’s plot deviates substantially as there is stark contrast between the joyous fulfilling ending of the Lion King underscored by the inspirational music of Mr. Elton John. This is probably primarily due to demographic constraints; what sort of seven year old wouldn’t be disturbed by the bloody ending of hamlet and disappointed at Fortinbras’ seemingly random inheritance.
A discussion of plot doesn’t do justice to the extent to which the Lion King borrows from Hamlet. To fully comprehend the profound influence of Shakespeare’s hamlet on this classic film one must consider the relationships between various characters that serve an obvious allegorical purpose.
As such this article will be continued…
