ipl-logo

Hamlet Vs The Lion King Hamlet

967 Words4 Pages

Many children grew up watching the magic of Disney through the first Disney princess, Snow White, all the way up to Frozen with Anna and Elsa. When The Lion King first came out in 1994, everyone thought it was just another heart-wrenching movie about a young lion prince who must fight his uncle for the title of King. However, scholars have recently released a theory that threw the world of The Lion King back to Shakespearean times, claiming the movie is actually based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. While many jumped on the bandwagon, agreeing that The Lion King was clearly based on Hamlet because it has an evil uncle who takes the throne and a prince who must fight him for that throne. However, upon a deeper look into the movie, there are more …show more content…

This is the biggest difference between the two works and is what makes the theory that The Lion King is based on Hamlet so hard to believe. From the moment that Hamlet speaks with his father’s ghost, Hamlet spends the majority of the book trying to determine whether the ghost was really his father or not before taking revenge on his uncle. In that quest, Hamlet kills Polonius and sends his son into his own search for revenge. The entire play is based around the idea of revenge and builds up to the moment when Hamlet finally decides to kill his uncle and leaves the audience with a relieved feeling towards the deaths at the end, especially Claudius’. However, the main theme for The Lion King is the circle of life. The opening scene of the movie includes the theme song titled “The Circle of Life”, which, according to www.kinema.uwaterloo.ca, “already depicts its importance”. Vicky Wong, author of Deconstructing Walt Disney’s The Lion King, states that, “We need to understand the balance (of the ecological system) and respect all the creatures,” which I believe is what Simba is trying to follow throughout the movie, instead of focusing on getting revenge on the wildebeests who actually killed Mufasa. The song isn’t the only time the circle of life shows up, as Mufasa himself talks to Simba about this cycle. Mufasa refers to …show more content…

These characters are not only different in their looks and actions, but also in the way they have an impact on the audience. Hamlet makes the audience feel, demented, exhausted, and maybe a little melancholy. The way Hamlet mopes around in the beginning of the book makes the audience feel dark and heavy while, causing the melancholy feel of the entire book. The audience also may feel as though they are becoming a little demented themselves after trying to follow the reasoning of Hamlet’s actions and his thoughts as he acts crazy throughout the majority of the book. As well, the audience may feel exhausted after trying to make sense of Hamlet’s thoughts in his soliloquies and the constant aggravation that Hamlet causes. Simba, however, does not have such a heavy feeling to accompany him. As the audience travels through Simba’s life with him, they feel a sort of fond attachment to Simba. Because the audience watched Simba grow up through the pain, the confusion, and the frustration, they end the movie with a feeling of pride towards Simba as he takes the throne. This pride has a much lighter feeling than the feeling Hamlet leaves the audience

Show More
Related
565 Words | 3 Pages

Simba also escaped this strategy and returned home with the help of his new friends, Timon the meerkat and Pumba the warthog. Simba, similar to Hamlet, kills his uncle by pushing him off of a cliff. Hamlet and Simba have many similar aspects to their personalities, but are also very different. Their relationships with other people demonstrate how they differ. Simba does not let Nala, his love interest, down by telling her he never loved her.

Read More
1041 Words | 5 Pages

Branagh’s version was true to the plot and was based in a modern period of time, while Zeffirelli 's skewed away from the original text and set his film in the medieval times. However, while those dislike the medieval setting of Zeffirelli 's film, the way the director has his character roam throughout the kingdom, allows his viewers to observe the society during the period in which the play was set. Unlike in Branagh’s film, where characters were usually restricted to certain rooms in the castle. When comparing the overall quality of the two films, one can observe the amount of effort Branagh placed upon ensuring his portrayal of Hamlet was true to the script. Nevertheless, the greatest differentiation between the two films was how they portrayed the characters.

Read More
898 Words | 4 Pages

we see prince Hamlet feeling far from cheerful due to his father 's death and his unstable family. He shows his hardships and loss of identity throughout the story, but we see it in-depth during his mourning phase when he can 't seem to deal with anyone. He goes to the people that he feels close to, the ones he can trust, and his perspective on life and maturity grow throughout the story. Adversity can at first leave us feeling a strong sense of emotion, people gradually take more control and act rationally and more stable. Hamlet is affected harshly with deep and dark feelings of thought and emotion when his father passed away.

Read More
734 Words | 3 Pages

It is no secret that the mothers mentioned in the story Hamlet by Shakespeare and the Disney movie The Lion King are not the most important characters. However, these women have an important yet subtle influence on the plot and their sons. They give love to their offspring, whether unconditionally or occasionally. Queen Gertrude and Queen Sarabi have very blatant similarities, like their reigning status and their sons, but they also have strong differences, like how they react in unfavorable situations, and how they take care of their responsibilities.

Read More
839 Words | 4 Pages

In more ways than one the world of Disney has somewhat interacted in the world of Shakespeare. Hamlet and The Lion King ,all though years apart in the making, have been drafted to be almost similar with little to no differences. They are similar in the ways of the plot and the moral background, but different as far as the ending transition of Hamlet and Simba are combined. The plot of Hamlet and The Lion King alike are about an Uncle to the King, or a heir next in line to the throne trying to gain power. Thus including some of the main characters being the King, the Queen, the King and Queen’s son, the son’s first love, his first loves’ father, two of the son’s instigating friends, and of course the son’s one and only true friend.

Read More
939 Words | 4 Pages

The setting of the movie is the first obvious difference that can be seen. The movie was set in New York City, New York in 2000 while the play was set in Elsinore, Denmark in the late middle ages. This greatly affects the way the movie is viewed because it is essentially an entirely different world. In the movie there are video cameras, cars, phones and skyscrapers, all things that obviously weren’t around during Shakespeare’s time. Even if the movie and the play had been based in the same year, the story still would have been slightly different.

Read More
145 Words | 1 Pages

During World War II the relations of African Americans and whites were still segregated. For African Americans during World War II faced great discrimination in the workplace. If the African Americans did get a job they were usually not good ones. The jobs were also usually less in pay than a white person and the job required more profound labor. They knew not to ask for a better position or better wages because they would not get it.

Read More
735 Words | 3 Pages

There are many productions of Hamlet, but the two most popular are the 2009 film featuring David Tennant and the 1996 film featuring Kenneth Branagh. Overall, I believe that Hamlet was portrayed better in the movie with Kenneth Branagh, rather than the movie featuring David Tennant. One of the most significant scenes of the play is Act V Scene 2, where Claudius dies. In the Kenneth Branagh film, the costumes in this scene are very fitting of the time period of when Hamlet was alive. The men were mostly wearing tight pants with trousers and patterned jackets, while the women were all wearing colorful, poofy dresses.

Read More
932 Words | 4 Pages

The story of Hamlet by William Shakespeare is a story of betrayal, revenge, and intrigue. Hamlet, the title character discovers that his uncle killed his father and married his mother effectively stealing the throne. Hamlet decides he must kill his uncle Claudius as revenge for what he had done. However, as the new king, Hamlet isn't sure how to get to him, so he decides to fake madness, but his plan backfires as Claudius doesn't trust him and makes sure he is always watched. In his fumbled plan for revenge, Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius, forces Polonius's son Laertes to seek revenge against him, and drives Ophelia crazy causing her to kill herself.

Read More
1457 Words | 6 Pages

Contrasting his attitudes with the moments that the king walks in, his behavior towards Polonius while the play is preparing, and his actions to Ophelia during the play, Hamlet is sporadic, when alone with Horatio, he is calm and collected, then again the sudden resumption to his “antic disposition” when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern enter. There is a long break in which we don’t sense any insanity from Hamlet, this is due to the fact that he has no need to assume his disguise. When we find Hamlet with the players, he is giving them directions for the play. With the players, Hamlet acts normal and of sound mind because the players are not likely to betray him, they don’t have the opportunity or the wish to do so.

Read More
649 Words | 3 Pages

Hamlet and Simba have to go through many struggles within themselves after their father 's death. Hamlet is struggling whether to kill his uncle and be a murderer or just to kill himself. This is explained through his famous quote, “To be or not to be”. Where as, Simba is struggling whether to forget his past or become the rightful King. Also Simba vanishes from the kingdom after his father’s death which is similar to when Hamlet is forced to leave the Kingdom by his uncle.

Read More
567 Words | 3 Pages

Hamlet is a powerful story of love, life, revenge, and death. The themes within the play are written to live on for eternity. It is difficult to fully and accurately represent a play as great as this one. The movie that we watched in class did not wholly represent the wonders and the magnitude of the themes within Shakespeare’s work.

Read More
1160 Words | 5 Pages

Many compare the mere Disney movie The Lion King with the great shakespearean work Hamlet. It is commonly believed that The Lion King portrays itself as a remake of Hamlet. From an quick overlook of the two works, I cannot help but agree that they do in fact hold similarities. The common misconception that The Lion King was a remake of Hamlet typically derives from the identical plot found between both works.

Read More
785 Words | 4 Pages

The Lion King is an illustrious 1994 Disney movie. The movie begins with the celebration of Simba’s birth. Simba is the son of King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi. Scar, Simba’s evil and jealous uncle, kills Mufasa by letting Mufasa fall off of a cliff during a stampede. Simba runs away, thinking it was his fault for his father’s death.

Read More
880 Words | 4 Pages

Through the entirety of the play “Hamlet” by William Shakespeare, the characters were overcome with the need for revenge as the outcome of many deaths. Therefore, no one was happy through “Hamlet” and it resulted in a tragedy. The character Hamlet played a big role in turning towards revenge and never would classify himself as being happy. Hamlet displays positive and negative behavior throughout the play. Hamlet exhibits strengths and weaknesses as well, although his weaknesses of over-thinking, bitterness, and his inability to accept the death of his father overshadow his strengths.

Read More

More about Hamlet Vs The Lion King Hamlet

Related Topics

Open Document