Disney’s Happily Ever After Meets William Shakespeare’s Tragedy
Two completely different kingdoms about two completely different types of species can be more in common than someone would think. Character is a suicidal, depressed Prince of Denmark and the other a singing, animated young prince of the jungle. How does William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet relate to the Disney movie, The Lion King? Although Simba, the main character in The Lion King has an ending that is more compatible with its juvenile audience, and Hamlet’s ending would put a Greek trinity to shame. They both have to go head to head with their evil uncles and they must overcome moral conflict within themselves. Simba and Hamlet have their obvious difference, but also share more unique traits in their stories than some would think.
Every family has a black sheep. Both Simba and Hamlet had an evil, diabolical uncle who killed their father, married their mother and then tried to kill them. Simba’s uncle, Scar, killed Mufasa, Simba’s dad. Scar manipulated Simba into believing he killed his father and had him run away from his kingdom, leaving Scar to be the king and marrying Simba’s mom. Mufasa had villainous ways from the beginning; his obsession to be king showed him to be the antagonist in the Lion King. Hamlet’s uncle was similar, King Claudius also killed Hamlet’s father, took his mother and tried to
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Even though Hamlet’s ending isn’t a happy ending like Simba’s, they both still find resemblances in their stories, considering they both have selfish murderous uncles who tries to take advantage of them and that both, Simba and Hamlet had to learn a life lesson to overcome their conflicts in the story. Even though one of the characters is a lion and the other is the 17th century Prince of Denmark, they both have to deal with the same conflicts and the same