The Shakespearean Lion King
Celebrating 20th year of Disney’s The Lion King and comparing it to the original storyline that
The Lion King based off of, Hamlet written by the legendary William Shakespeare.
Written by Grace Song
The Lion King is one of Disney’s most-loved animation/movies of all time. It is considered
Disney’s masterpiece, because there are so many good things about the whole 88 minutes of
awesomeness. This is one of those movies that even if you watch it about thousand times, you
won’t get tired of it and you’ll be singing ‘Hakuna Matata’ at the end without even knowing.
There are many things that make The Lion King one of the most successful movies that Walt
Disney Pictures produced. First of all, it is based on William Shakespeare’s famous play Hamlet.
Not many people are aware of this, but it is basically Hamlet but on four legs. However, there are
many things that Hamlet should learn from The Lion King. I’m not saying that Hamlet isn't a
successful play/literature. I just wanted to recognize the importance of the cinematic experience
that The Lion King gives it to the audience and how it gives a greater affect to the audience even
with a same plot as Hamlet.
Before I go on and ramble about how great The Lion King is, I wanted to talk briefly about the
storyline for those of you who might not know what the plot is, and how The Lion King is similar
to Hamlet. The Shakespeare’s play Hamlet is about Prince Hamlet’s revenge against his uncle
Claudius, who had murdered Hamlet’s father, the King of Denmark, and married Hamlet’s
mother Getrude. Comparing Hamlet to The Lion King, prince Hamlet represents Simba from The
Lion King, King Hamlet represents Mufasa, Uncle Claudius represents Scar, and Getrude
represents Queen Sarabi. There are more characters that represent each other, but those
characters that I mentioned are the ones who are important. The only difference between two
stories is that Hamlet is a tragedy and The Lion King has a happy ending.
One of the reasons why people love The Lion King is because of its soundtrack. The soundtrack
and the musical aspect of the movie is the reason why The Lion King is loved by all ages and
different genders. ‘The Circle of Life’ and ‘Can You Feel The Love Tonight’ which is written by
Elton John, ‘The Circle of Life’ in the opening scene of the movie creates this majestic scene.
Also, ‘Hakuna Matata’, a very well known song and a great phrase that will help you get through
your day. It means, ‘don’t worry about your past’ and move on. Elton John, being famous
English singer, the songs that he wrote was a chart hit in the United Kingdom and made it to the
Billboard Hot 100. When reading Shakespearean Hamlet, we have to read it using our own
imagination. However, watching The Lion King is like watching a musical. Depending on what
kind of music they play in the background or they sing in the movie, it creates this mood for the
audience. Making it easier for the audience to follow each character’s emotions and the overall
feeling of the scene. For example, the scene where Mufasa tries to save Simba from the massive
stampede of wildebeests and gets killed by his own brother Scar on the cliff, if there was no
music in the background to describe changes in Simba’s emotions, the scene would have been
felt totally different. With the dramatic changes in the music, the scene was able to evoke more
sympathy for Simba and the death of Mufasa.
When I’m watching a The Lion King, it is really easy to follow the plot along the way and really
get into the movie. If the music helps the audience to feel the mood of the scene, the color that
changes to cold color scheme when Scar (Polonius in Hamlet) comes out definitely is something
cinematic. Helping the audience to understand who is a villain and who is the good, it really
helps bring these characters out to alive and engaging. Also the contrast in colors of the
Kingdom in The Lion King between when Mufasa was the king and when Scar became the king
is very impacting and strong. When Mufasa was ruling the kingdom, it had balanced and
harmonious circle of life with rich colors, but when Scar became the king, the overall color of
the scene changes to dark colors, where it seemed depressed (which expressed how other lions
felt) and destroyed.
If William Shakespeare made Hamlet to be a tragedy, Disney decided to change The Lion King’s
ending to be happy and happily ever after. By making Simba as a “hero” of the movie, it is
completely different from how William Shakespeare ended the play Hamlet. By changing the
meaning of Shakespeare’s “tragic hero” to a “hero” in The Lion King, it changed a genre of the
overall story. Also, The Lion King carries the same life lessons that Hamlet teaches the audience,
morality and mortality. By changing the meaning of a “hero”, the overall theme was delivered to
the audience faster and easier.
All these cinematic aspects that The Lion King provided through scenes that Shakespearean
Hamlet didn't have it for the literature readers, made the plot stronger and created a legendary
film of all time. The music that hit top charts in the music industry and the graphic/visual that
The Lion King created, all those elements of the film helped the audience to learn about morality
and mortality. It really shows how using a different medium as reinterpreting a literature can be
successful. Remaking Hamlet into The Lion King is a great example of how films/movies can
create similar experience that the theatrical can give and also a great tool to teach young
audience about Hamlet in an easier way.
Bibliography
The Lion King. Dir. Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. By Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, Linda
Woolverton, Tim Rice, Elton John, Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, and Jeremy
Irons. Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc., 1994. DVD.
Shakespeare, William, and Harold Jenkins. Hamlet. London: Methuen, 1982. Print.