Hamlet Vs The Lion King 3x6741

Hamlet vs. The Lion King

Narendran Sairam Introduction to Shakespeare Mr. Lubawski December 1st, 2010

Movies based on written works of literature are made constantly. Especially in this day and age, with the available technology movie based on ancient literature are commonplace. The Lion King is one such movie. It is in many ways a euphemism for Shakespeare's Hamlet and this is illustrated by the numerous differences between the two. Apart from the obvious difference that one is a play written centuries ago and the other is a Disney Movie, the two differ in their characters, plots and themes while being similar enough that one can observe the parallels between the two. The effect of these differences is that the movie seems like a fairy tale; a comedy while the play is actually a full blown tragedy. The similarities are quite obvious. As the movie begins, the audience is made aware of the similarities between the characters Simba is Hamlet, Mufasa is Hamlet (the father), Scar is Claudius, Nala is Ophelia and so on and so forth. As the movie progresses then, the viewer begins to notice the obvious glaring differences between the two and the movie built on the base of Hamlet begins to turn away from the path taken by the play. One of the biggest differences is changing of the characters for the better. Simba who is supposed to be Hamlet, the prince, is never deemed crazy by his mother, his friends or his uncle. He is always seen as this noble cub/lion that constantly has the ability to save Pride Rock. This apotheosis of Simba is a sharp contrast to the character of Hamlet who is deemed so mad as a result of his father's death that Claudius wants him to be sent to England. The pattern is also followed by Nala. As Simba's love, Nala is Ophelia's representative in the movie. She never goes crazy and she never dies. In fact, she is the one that brings Simba back home and helps him save Pride Rock from Scars claws. Ophelia, on the other hand, plays no part in the death of Claudius. The pattern here is simple: the craziness, the deaths, anything inappropriate or violent is removed, slowly but surely transforming the movie into a comedy; a fairy tale. While the two works are split apart widely by a host of differences, there are things that link the movie to the play so that throughout the movie, the audience can recognize that it is still a

representation of the play. For example, Hamlet's (the father) ghost helps the prince Hamlet in killing Claudius albeit indirectly. His participation serves as motivation at the very least. Similarly, in The Lion King, Simba is visited by Mufasa's spirit and told that he is the “one true king,” which changes him and makes him determined to take back his kingdom. In addition, the idea of the circle of life is also repeated in both works and that thematic connection forms a powerful link that shows that The Lion King is some form of the Hamlet. Another difference is the changing of the plot itself and the omission of characters that play and important part in the play but are denied a role in the movie. For example, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are both friends of Prince Hamlet who try to get him executed in England but are tricked by Hamlet and are themselves executed. Simba does have friends in the play, namely Timon and Pumba but the two do not try to bring him any harm nor do they get tricked by Simba so it is unfair to say that Timon and Pumba are the equivalents of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. This means that there are no characters that play the parts of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in the movie. Similarly, the character of Polonius is nowhere to be seen in the movie. Simba kills no one but Scar and even Scar is not directly killed by Simba. The observation to be made here is that most of the people that die are removed; the violence is reduced. Moreover, Claudius, Prince Hamlet's uncle is never really mean to him or tries to trick him. It is only after Hamlet incessantly badgers him and annoys him that he decided to strike back. In the movie though, Claudius's equal, Scar is portrayed as a bad guy from the beginning itself; his deceits and chicanery is shown frequently, especially his tricking of Simba. All of these changes to the plot and the omissions of characters serve one purpose: they make the good guys seem better and the bad guys seem worse. This polarization is a typical characteristic of a fairy tale. The movie The Lion King is a fairy tale version of the Shakespearean tragedy, Hamlet. While there are similarities that weave the play and the movie together and make the movie recognizable as a recreation of the play, the differences make the movie completely different. The changing of

characters so that they seem better or less vulgar, the omission of certain characters to reduce the number of deaths and the changing of the plot to make the hero seem better and the villain seem worse change the genre of the play from a tragedy to a comedy, specifically a fair tale. In fact, the movie ends with a kind of “and everybody lived happily ever after” scene and it foreshadows that the story will continue with Simba's son.