Disney’s The Lion King is a 1994 kid friendly, along with an adult friendly, movie. Like most movies, it is very entertaining, yet very meaningful. Hamlet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare in 1599 that is full of revenge. The stories are the same, both about two young princes whose fathers are killed by their uncles, and they return to avenge the deaths of their fathers and take back the throne that rightfully belongs to them. Although The Lion King is based off of Hamlet, the characters are very different from each other. From the differences between the character’s traits and tone of the movie and play to how they are both portrayed, they are both similar, yet very different.
The two main protagonists are Simba and Hamlet. At the beginning of Hamlet, the very first scene portrays a dark tone, while at the beginning of The Lion King, the scene is upbeat and happy. In Hamlet, the guards are patrolling the castle in the scene. While doing this, they see the ghost of King Hamlet. This alarms the guards, giving off a mysterious vibe. Throughout Hamlet, however, the tone seems to stay the same. Hamlet is depressed and suicidal for most of the story, while Simba, although he is sad after his father's death, runs away and spends most of his life with Timon and Pumbaa, living in a “Hakuna Matata” lifestyle, meaning that they have “no worries.” Both
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Both Hamlet and Simba keep secrets from everyone else in their kingdoms. Simba’s secret is that he strongly believes it was his fault Mufasa died, when in all reality, it was Scar’s fault. Hamlet’s secret was that he knew Claudius was the one who killed King Hamlet. He hides it from everyone except his best friend from college, Horatio. Hamlet also hides the fact that he sees his father’s ghost. When Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, and Claudius find out Polonius is dead, they try to persuade Hamlet to tell them where he hid his