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Analysis of themes in the lion king
Analysis of themes in the lion king
Analysis of themes in the lion king
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In the Pride Lands of Africa, a lion rules over the animal kingdom from Pride Rock. King Mufasa's newborn son, Simba, Simba is presented to the assembled animals by Rafiki, a mandrill who serves as a shaman and advisor. Mufasa shows the young Simba the Pride Lands and explains to him the responsibilities of kingship and the "circle of life" which connects all living things. Mufasa's younger brother, Scar, covets the throne and plots to kill Mufasa and Simba so he can become king. He tricks Simba and his best friend Nala into exploring a forbidden elephants' graveyard, where they are attacked by three spotted hyenas who are in league with Scar. Mufasa is notified to the danger by his majordomo, the hornbill Zazu, and rescues the cubs. Though …show more content…
Disney and Peter Schneider on a plane to Europe to promote Oliver & the Company. Throughout the conversation, the topic of a story set in Africa came up, and Katzenberg immediately jumped at the suggestion. The suggestion was then developed by Walt Disney Feature Animation's vice president for creative affairs, Charlie Fink. Katzenberg decided to add elements involving coming of age, death, and ideas from his personal life experiences, such as some of his trials in his bumpy road in politics, saying about the film, "It is a little bit about myself.” In November of that year Thomas Disch wrote a treatment entitled King of the Kalahari, Afterwards, Linda Woolverton spent a year writing drafts of the script, titling it King of the Beasts and then King of the Jungle. The original version of the film was very different from the final film. The plot was centered in a battle between lions and baboons with Scar being the leader of the baboons, Rafiki being a cheetah and Timon and Pumbaa being Simba's childhood friends. Also, Simba would not leave the kingdom, but become a "lazy, slovenly, horrible character" due to the manipulations of Scar, more easily overthrown after coming of age. By 1990, producer Thomas Schumacher, who had just completed The Rescuers Down Under, decided to himself to the project "because lions are cool.” Schumacher likened the script for King …show more content…
Matthew Broderick believed initially that he was, in fact, working on an American version of Kimba since he was familiar with the Japanese original. However, The Lion King director, Roger Allers, claimed that he was unfamiliar with the show: “The whole time I worked on The Lion King., the name of that show never came up. At least I never heard it. I had never seen the show and really only became aware of it as Lion King., and was being completed, and someone showed me images of it. I worked with George Scribner and Linda Woolverton to develop the story in the early days but then left to help out on Aladdin. If one of them were familiar with Kimba they didn’t say. Of course, it is possible... Many story ideas develop and changed along the way, in an effort to make the story stronger. I could certainly understand Kimba’s creators feeling angry if they felt we had stolen ideas from them. If I had been inspired by Kimba, I would certainly acknowledge my inspiration. All I can offer is my respect to those artists and say that their creation has its loyal admirers and its assured place in animation
In the movie Simba feels that the death of his father, Mufasa, is his fault and that he is the one to blame, when in actuality Scar killed Mufasa so that he would have chance a being next in line for the throne to claim the title as King. Because of his father's death Simba runs away and tries to live a life of no responsibilites. “As Simba says, “I just needed to get out on my own, live my own life, and I did, and it’s great.” There are clear parallels here with Jesus’s Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11 32). In the parable, the son thinks he can live better without the responsibilities he has while living with his family, and so leaves to live in a ‘far country’. This is exactly how Simba behaves.” (Barfield, Jonathan), so as you can see, the two have a lot in common, The Lion King retold the story in a children friendly
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.
There is no doubt that today's entertainment has lost most of its touch with the more classical influences of its predecessors. However, in mid-1994, Walt Disney Pictures released what could arguably be the best animated feature of all time in The Lion King. With a moral base unlike most of the movies released at the time, TLK placed a children's facade on a very serious story of responsibility and revenge. However, this theme is one of the oldest in history, and it is not the least apparent in one of the oldest works of literature by The Bard himself, William Shakespeare. The work that Disney's TLK parallels is none other than Hamlet: Prince of Denmark, and the film shadows this work so closely, that parallels between the main characters themselves are wildly apparent. This very close comparison has led critics "to compare the movie to Hamlet in the importance of its themes" (Schwalm 1). But with a closer inspection of the characters themselves do we see just how apparent these similarities are.
The Lion King is a Disney animated movie portraying the life and times of Simba, who later becomes the greatest lion king known in the land. Simba's rise to the throne is a journey fraught with perils and hardships that make it an absolutely trilling story for the whole family! Although The Lion King is an exciting and entertaining movie, the movie is also a good illustration of several psychology concepts.
The Lion King is a well-known children’s movie that was produced by Disney. The movie begins with a small cub being presented to the kingdom by his parents, Mufasa and Sarabi (Hahn, Minkoff, & Allers, 1994). The small cub is named Simba and he will one day become the king of his father’s kingdom. Mufasa’s brother, Scar, does not like that Mufasa’s son will one day take over, and plots to kill Mufasa and Simba (Hahn, Minkoff, & Allers, 1994). The movie continues on, and Mufasa saves Simba from a stampede, but Scar will not save Mufasa (Hahn, Minkoff, & Allers, 1994).
Although the movie The Lion King is often times viewed as nothing more than a child-based movie, in actuality, it contains a much deeper meaning. It is a movie that not only displays the hardships of maturation, and the perplexities associated with growing, but it is also a movie that deals with the search for one's identity and responsibility. As said by director Julie Taymor, "In addition to being a tale about a boy's personal growth, the `Lion King' dramatizes the ritual of the `Circle of Life'." Throughout The Lion King, Simba must endeavor through the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth to take his place in the circle of life, as king of the pridelands.
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
Hamlet regains his throne for a few seconds, until the poison sets in and takes his life. The Lion King has a happy ending. Simba returns to his kingdom and finds Scar. He tells Scar that he knows about his father’s death. Scar lies to Simba by telling him that the Hyenas were the ones who killed Mufasa.
The Lion King is a story based around the betrayal of a king by his brother. The brother’s ambition of becoming the king leads to him killing the true and current king. In The Lion King, Scar betrays his brother by killing him to gain the throne for himself. Through Psychoanalytic Theory, it is clear that Scar feels shame because he is not the king and the next in line for the throne is his nephew. This shame eventually leads to Scar betraying his brother because of his ambition.
Walt Disney Pictures (Production Co.), & Reitherman, W. (Director). (1967). The Jungle Book [Motion Picture]. USA: Walt Disney Pictures.
The Lion King is Disney's most successful movie to date. Many believe that the Lion King is Disney's only original movie; the only movie not previously a fairy tale from one country or another. In fact, The Lion King is in on based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Disney writers conceal the basic character archetypes and simplified storyline in a children's tale of cute lions in Africa. On the other hand William Shakespeare’s Hamlet was based on the Epic of Son-Jara or Sundiata. This lead to the debate is the Lion King based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet or the West African story, the Epic of Son Jara. Simba, Hamlet, and Son-Jara are all heroes in their own story. All of them must take on a villain that knew very well, but who does Simba’s journey resemble the most Does Simba represent Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, or Son-Jara, the lion king.
Many perceive The Lion King, Disney's most successful movie to date, as Disney's only original movie; the only movie not previously a fairy tale from one country or another. This, however, is not the case. While The Lion King seems not to be beased on a fairy tale, it is in fact strongly based on the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Disney writers cleverly conceal the basic character archetypes and simplified storyline in a children's tale of cute lions in Africa. To the seasoned reader, however, Hamlet comes screaming out of the screenplay as obviously as Hamlet performed onstage.
Disney movies have created a whole genre of children’s movies that have spanned throughout the decades, they detail social values and personal goals. Evil wreaking society but good overcoming the trials. All Disney movies are remembered for heroes overcoming obstacles to defeat an antagonist. Villains influence Disney movies roles by actually making schemes to build up the plot. In the Lion King, Scar convinces other that he should be the king, while simultaneously endangering the life of Simba and their whole pride. Scar is second son of the previous lion king and only has right to be king if the first son or his heir are incapable to lead. Aladdin, Jafar tries to steal the right to be sultan in the Arabian town, Agrabah. Though Scar effects
Shakespeare is known for being a great writer, his play have been rewritten, re-adapted, and turned into films to keep their magic alive. However what many people do not know is that many of Shakespeare’s plays have been adapted into many Disney Films. More precisely “Hamlet” is one of the most used plays. Movies such as “Tarzan," “Aladdin," and “101 Dalmatians” used many scenes in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” to inspire scenes in the films. The movie The Lion King by Disney, however, is one of the strongest and more closely related to “Hamlet” than any other Disney film, but how? More importantly what makes this movie more important and the focus of this essay?
The Lion King is a movie created by Disney and was released in the summer of 1994. It is about a pride of lions that uphold the cycle of nature, or as they call it “the circle of life” (The Lion King, 1994). The lion pride is considered royalty within the “Pride Lands” and are just and fair when it comes to hunting only what they need. A young prince named Simba is introduced and he is next in line to be the future king. However, Simba’s uncle Scar had other plans. He believed that it was his right all along to be named future king and wanted all of the glory to himself. Eventually, Scar comes up with an elaborate plan to rid the Pride Lands of Simba and the current King, Mufasa and take the throne for himself.