William Shakespeare’s Hamlet (2008) has influenced many modern movies because of its several compelling themes featuring madness, revenge, and manipulation. Perhaps one of the most popular movies loosely influenced by Hamlet (2008) is Disney’s The Lion King (1994). Although The Lion King (1994) is a family film primarily created for children and concludes with a happy ending, many elements of the animated film parallel Shakespeare’s Hamlet (2008).
Characters from The Lion King (1994) can be matched to characters found in Hamlet (2008); with Simba being Prince Hamlet--the main protagonist, Mufasa as King Hamlet--the slain king, and Scar as Claudius--the greedy uncle. The most obvious similarity between The Lion King (1994) and Hamlet (2008) is both works feature the murder of the king by the hands of his greedy brother. However, the difference is the methods used to execute the monarch. Claudius was able to take the throne after poisoning his brother and Scar was responsible for Mufasa’s death because he pushed Mufasa off the ledge of a cliff he was hanging on to.
Following the murders, both princes, Hamlet and Simba, were unaware of how their ruling fathers passed. Hamlet initially believed a snake poisoned and killed his father, while Simba was
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manipulated by Scar and led to believe he was responsible for Mufasa’s death. Hamlet learns Claudius murdered his father after speaking to his father’s ghost, which occurs early in the play. Simba only learns that Scar killed Mufasa at the end of the movie, after he has grown up, when Scar discloses the information as he attempts to eliminate Simba as well. Another similarity between Hamlet and Simba is they both communicate with their late father’s ghosts. Hamlet’s father appears to him for the purpose of explaining his murder and to avenge his death. Mufasa appears as a guiding spirit, reminding Simba that he is the rightful king of the Pride Lands and he needs to return home and defend his kingdom. Both instances of supernatural communication are effective at shifting the main character’s purposes; Hamlet is now occupied with getting revenge and murdering Claudius, and Simba wishes to reclaim his title. How the spirits of the late kings appear to their sons differentiates; Hamlet’s father is a typical ghost roaming the halls of his former castle and Mufasa takes the form of a cloud when he speaks to Simba. After speaking with their deceased fathers, both Simba and Hamlet wish to resolve matters with their respective uncles. Hamlet and Simba react differently after speaking with the ghost of their individual fathers.
Hamlet understands that his uncle is capable of murder and will not think twice about having him killed. Therefore, if Hamlet is going to avenge his father’s death, he has to be inconspicuous about his methods. Hamlet decides to feign insanity in order to mislead Claudius and have him think Hamlet’s actions are due to his insanity and not his revelation of the truth. Simba on the other hand is reminded of who he truly is after speaking with his father’s spirit—the rightful king of the Pride Lands. Simba makes the decision to be courageous and no longer hide; and he is successful in reclaiming his title and disposing of his
uncle. Whereas The Lion King (1994) is meant to inspire, Shakespeare’s Hamlet (2008) is considered a tragedy and rightfully so. Not only does Prince Hamlet die at the end, but he does so soon after attaining his revenge and killing Claudius. Hamlet does not even get to celebrate his victory in successfully avenging his father’s death. Hamlet’s love interest and mother also pass away, adding to the gloom surrounding the play. The Lion King (1994) is more appealing because it features both a realistic tragedy and a happy ending. Hamlet (2008) is enthralling because of the scandals that occur, but it is one disaster after another. The Lion King (1994) is original on its own because it utilizes anthropomorphism to the highest degree—every single character is considered an anthropomorphist. Hamlet (2008) is one of Shakespeare’s most popular plays because of its captivating themes concerning manipulation and madness. Disney created its own interpretation of Hamlet (2008) by releasing The Lion King (1994), a more lighthearted version of the play. Both works include the major plot component of a royal family murder and feature the deceased king’s son as the main protagonist. While Hamlet (2008) and The Lion King (1994) seem substantially different, similarities between the two works exist.
When comparing and contrasting the main characters in William Shakespeare's Hamlet and Disney The Lion King they are similar and different. Hamlet is a story about revenge. The Lion King is about a king lion who dies and his son has to take over the thrown. But there is another lion in his way. When specifically looking at Polonius and Zazu they are both protective, loyal, and nosey. But are different in terms of being a father.
No story is entirely original. Authors, playwrights, and songwriters all pick and choose elements from stories regardless of whether they intend to or not. Some stories mirror those of the past more similarly than others while adding a fresh, new twist. The Disney movie The Lion King contains many similarities to Shakespeare's play Hamlet, some of which are more obvious than others. Similarities in the character complexes of the three hyenas and Polonius's family, betrayal from Scar and Claudius, and the kingdoms deterioration and resolution are a few examples of the likenesses of the movie and play.
Hamlet and The Lion King shared majority of the themes that were found in each story. A theme of revenge was prominent in both the film and the original play as Simba and Prince Hamlet worked towards avenging their fathers throughout the story. Politics can also be seen in both as the stories explain to the viewer/reader that a bad king can mean a corrupt and equally bad kingdom (murders committed by the new kings). Although some harsh themes, family also seems to be mutual in both tales, more so seen in The Lion King. Shakespeare was able to show the reader the importance of family throughout Hamlet, when there is a power-hungry family member, and the rest of the family must stick together to overcome the struggle. The producers of The Lion King do a similar job as they explain the same thing, however also digging into the loyalty of Sarabi for Mufasa. The reason for a greater theme of positivity in the newer film is due to the demographics. The Lion King was primarily a children’s film, thus it required a simpler and happier tone. This also changes the overall plot by reducing the number of deaths and ruling out madness. This tone also affects the number of comic relief moments in the story. In Hamlet, there were only a few moments in which Rosencrantz and Guildenstern were able to lighten the mood of the play by offering comedic anecdotes. In The Lion
The Lion King is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, with some minor differences and a happier ending. Both narratives follow the Hero’s Journey, but The Lion King follows all twelve steps flawlessly. Simba’s experience in the belly of the whale is perhaps the shortest of the three examples, only really encompassing his fight with his uncle. It is Scar that initiates the fight, throwing embers into Simba’s eyes, they fight for a few minutes, and just when the audience thinks Simba is doomed, collapsed on the ground as his uncle pounces on him out of the flames, he throws Scar over a nearby cliff and into a group of vengeful
The leading roles in each of the stories had a corresponding role in the other. The corresponding characters shared a number of similarities, but it was the ways in which they were different that determined their fate and that of the kingdom. In Hamlet, the prince is Hamlet. He is in deep grieving of his father’s death. He is angry because he believes that everyone has already forgotten how great of a king his father was. Hamlet does not know for sure who is responsible for his father’s death, but he suspects Claudius who is his uncle and the new king. Hamlet decides that if he can convince everyone that he is insane, then maybe he will be able to get someone to tell him more about his father’s murder. In The Lion King, Simba is the prince. Simba’s father, Mufasa, is killed after he falls from a cliff into a herd of hyenas. Simba falls into a deep depression after his uncle Scar twists things around and convinces Simba that he is the one responsible for the Mufasa’s death. Simba can not deal with what has happened and he runs away from the kingdom.
The Lion King and Hamlet. In one film it is “to be or not to be” and the other is “to hunt or to be hunted”. At the surface these two seem to have nothing in common, but when one digs deep he/she can see how similar they are. Yet with all their similarities a few of their characters are written differently. Was it really bad for Claudius to be king? Was Hamlet’s Crusade as justifiable as Simba’s? Was Hamlets plot a reverse of The Lion King? Was their circle of life corrupt from the beginning and was Claudius Mufasa? Hamlet/Simba and Claudius/Scar may be similar in terms of ideology, but different from their results.
Throughout William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Hamlet undergoes a transformation from sane to insane while fighting madness to avenge his father’s death. The material that Shakespeare appropriated in writing Hamlet is the story of a Danish prince whose uncle murders the prince’s father, marries his mother, and claims the throne. The prince pretends to be feeble-minded to throw his uncle off guard, then manages to kill his uncle in revenge. Shakespeare changed the emphasis of this story entirely, making his Hamlet a philosophically minded prince who delays taking action because his knowledge of his uncle’s crime is so uncertain.
Hamlet’s emotional upheaval can be attributed to his relationship with his mother and his real father. Throughout the book, Hamlet interacts with various people who contribute to his outrageous emotions, specifically his mother, Gertrude, and his father, King Hamlet. His relationship with each of them directly affects his feelings and actions enough to cause him to drastically change his behaviour. His collaboration with other people also influences his behaviour and actions.
William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet strikes many literary chords and themes. It primarily chronicles a quest for revenge, political intrigue and a slow descent into madness. Throughout the play, two men of different rank and intellect; Hamlet and Laertes are portrayed in this play as each other’s foils. Hamlet who has lost his father in the hands of his uncle and Laertes who has lost his father in the hands of Hamlet, seek out similar goals but in very distinct ways. Hamlet and Laertes both go through stages of their carving vengeance to finally fulfill their goals of killing their fathers’ murderers. The readers detect that Hamlet goes in the path of plotting and deceiving to kill Claudius whereas Laertes goes in a more haste and reckless path
The characters in The Lion King closely resemble the characters in Hamlet. Simba, the main character in The Lion King, embodies Hamlet. Simba and Hamlet are the son of kings and both are the rightful heirs to the throne. “By pairing the play Hamlet with the Disney movie, The Lion King, students discover that both Hamlet and Simba represent the mythical archetype of exiled child whose role is to restore world order and who has an heroic task. Students also realize that they too are unique individuals on heroic journeys.”(Gavin 55) Hamlet and Simba, when he was a lion cub, were banished from their homes. Simba exiled himself because he believed that he killed his own father but, it was in fact his uncle scar that killed him. Hamlet, on the under hand, was sent off to college by his uncle Claudius. Claudius became the king of Denmark after death of Hamlet’s father. Claudius believed that Hamlet played a h...
The beloved movie “The Lion King” is actually based on a african folktale called sundiata. Sundiata is the story of a young boy who is heir to the throne. However, due to family issues, he is not accepted as king. You can probably already start to see the similarities. In “The Lion King” many story points from the original story are taken out because it had to be transformed for american culture.
In Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, Hamlet is easily influenced, he relies on the remarks of his father, mother, and member of the Fortinbras army to make decision on whether to kill his uncle Claudius, who is now King. The ghost of Hamlet’s father influences him to seek revenge and prove Claudius’ guilt. Queen Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, influences Hamlets behaviour, causing him to lash out and attempt revenge. A conversation Hamlet has with the Capitan of the Fortinbras army influences him to finally man up to the situation he is in, ultimately ending it all by killing Claudius.
In The Lion King, the plot mirrors the plot of Hamlet as well. In the very beginning, Hamlet Senior is poisoned by Claudius, who then ascends to the throne and marries Hamlet's mother Gertrude. Similarly, Mufasa is thrown to his death by Scar, who goes on to become King of the Pridelands and leader of the pack, thus "marrying" Simba's mother, Sarobi.
Hamlet’s morals tell him killing his uncle is wrong, and simba feels responsible for the death of his father so he does not want to return home. Another strong theme is revenge and corruption. Both uncles in the stories are blinded by power and go as far as to kill their own family and the only solution both protagonist seem to find is revenge for the murder of their father/parents. One last theme that can be found is justice. Both characters feel the need to take matters into their own hands, which is necessary to a degree, instead of going to higher authorities or seek help from other people instead of acting alone. Hamlet’s notion for revenge nearly drove him insane. Though they do receive some justice in the death of their uncle, Hamlet being the original adult version of the book end with the death of all the royalty family. The Lion King being a movie designed for children ends with the demise of
In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the influence of Hamlet’s psychological and social states display his dread of death as well as his need to avenge his father’s death. In turn, these influences illuminate the meaning of the play by revealing Hamlet’s innermost thoughts on life, death and the effect of religion. Despite the fact that Hamlet’s first instincts were reluctance and hesitation, he knows that he must avenge his father’s death. While Hamlet is conscious of avenging his father’s death, he is contemplating all the aspects of death itself. Hamlet’s decision to avenge his father is affected by social, psychological and religious influences.