The Hero's Journey In Lion King

While watching the Disney's Lion King you meet the protagonist named Simba. Throughout the film, you see the development and progression of his fears and his overcoming of them as well as his maneuvering and his strategies to do so. This can put him easily into one of the hero archetypes. Let’s examine his journey through the movie and look at it through the purpose of defining him as an Orphan archetype. We will also disprove other archetypes however prominent or obvious it might be. In order to evaluate his archetype you must first evaluate what parts of the archetype fall where on the Hero's Journey. Delving into that first, we see that his call to adventure is when his father succumbs to death and he has to leave his pride or family.

Nala at this point enters the story as a false antagonist. She seems to cause multiple problems by bringing the problems of his past back into the story in which were previously buried. “Wait till everyone hears about this.” Nala told him when she found him in the woods. In response he shows his true colors of just wanting to be taken care of and his work ethic of just not wanting to work even though he was given a bunch of stuff but still feels like he innocent or like he needs someone else to help him. Next, the hero in this case Simba has to face those problems and develop new skills. This comes in the form of Rakifi, the baboon, he shows Simba his father or rather a mystified version of his father. Together they instill a sort of philosophy similar to Hakuna Matata but a more ethical or moral version of it. This next part in which Rafiki hits Simba over the head with his staff is the death and rebirth it’s not a literal part but he sheds his old ways or philosophies and begins to realize that the “past is in the past it does not matter now.” He also seems to want all the answers such as in the part when he is talking to his dad or the weird mist version and does not want to have to