"The Lion King" is basically "Hamlet"!!!! Fan Theory of "The Lion King" Part 3

In the universe of Disney factoids, saying that “The Lion King is a remake of Hamlet” is one of the brightest stars. It’s got all the things that make a Disney factoid great: it’s about a classic film, it feels a little conspiratorial, and it makes you feel pretty clever when you share the theory with other people. Unfortunately, it’s unclear how true this factoid actually is. The Walt Disney Company has spent a lot of time talking about the influence of Hamlet in interviews over the years, but should we believe them? A cynic might suggest that the main motivation for spreading this narrative is prestige. Disney benefits hugely from popularising some variation of the “Lion King is Hamlet” line. Shakespeare carries a lot of cultural capital and status, Hamlet even moreso. It’s one thing to be the highest-grossing traditionally animated film of all time, but being “basically a Shakespeare play” would seem to elevate The Lion King from ‘very popular pop culture’ and into ‘something that definitely counts as Art’. If fans believe that The Lion King is genuinely a kid-friendly, less-bloody, animated musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy, Disney gains pretty substantially. So how closely does The Lion King actually parallel Hamlet? The Lion King wasn't originally meant to mirror Hamlet. In a 2011 interview with Blu-Ray.com, Minkoff said the film, which went into development six years before its release, was initially "thought of as a Bambi in Africa." He said the filmmakers believed that "because The Lion King was considered an original story, there was always the need to anchor it to something familiar. " While it does share a crucial plot point or two with the 1942 tearjerker (the pivotal sudden death of a parent, for one), unintended parallels to another story emerged during a roundtable meeting. "When we first pitched the revised outline of the movie to Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Peter Schneider and Tom Schumacher, someone in the room announced that its themes and relationships were similar to Hamlet," Minkoff said. "Everyone responded favorably to the idea that we were doing something Shakespearean, so we continued to look for ways to model our film on that all-time classic.". "I'd be happy if we had even unconsciously channeled the old Bard!" added Allers. To start off with, lets work out who is who. Which characters do what in the story. In no particular order. Hamlet = Simba. Both are young men trying to avenge their dead fathers. King Hamlet = Mufasa. Both are the fathers of the protagonists and guide them on their quest. Claudius = Scar. Killed his brother and ascended to the throne. Queen Gertrude = Sarabi. The mother of the protagonists that is now with the new king (although Gertrude is more willing than Sarabi). Timon and Pumba = Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Both characters are comic relief like characters. Nala = Ophelia. Both are the love interests of the lead characters, although one ends up with a sticky end. Zazu = Horatio. I don’t know all that much about Horatio, but he is the voice of reason in the play. So make of that what you will. In fact the only characters that don’t immediately have a correlation are Laertes (Ophelia’s brother who schemes with Claudius to kill Hamlet), Polonius (although the Hyenas fill the evil henchmen role good enough) and Fortinbas (who appears pretty late and could be stretched to fit as Rafiki, but it’s a big stretch). So it’s clear there is a connection between the characters and the play? So is the plot the same? Let’s dig to the cases that people often make: 1. IT’S NOT EASY BEING PRINCE Both Simba and Hamlet are royalty. Both The Lion King and Hamlet depend on that fact. They’re both the oldest child of the King (before their respective fathers die) and in line to the throne. In both The Lion King and Hamlet, the title is itself a play on this: Hamlet’s (dead) father is referred to as “King Hamlet” in the play, and the whole of The Lion King centres on the question of which character is the (rightful) Lion King. Think of it this way: The Lion King and Hamlet would sort of suck if they were just about ‘some average non-royal lion hanging out in Africa’ or ‘some middle-class kid in Denmark’. 2. CLAUDIUS IS SCAR In both Hamlet and The Lion King, ‘The Evil Uncle Who Kills The Father And Takes The Throne For Himself’ is a central figure. Scar and Claudius kill their brothers, fake an innocent accident, take the throne for themselves, and cast their nephews out. Scar may be a lot more animated (wink wink) than Claudius, but he’s just as guilty. Please watch the video for the more details points.