This Essay is about the similarities and differences of Hamlet (a play by William Shakespeare) and the Lion King (a Disney film) and that argues Hamlet is very similar to the Lion King. The following points will be discussed in this essay: The different settings and the environments, the similarities with life after death, the attitudes towards growing up and the differences between kings towards the society.
There are distinct differences between the settings and environments in Hamlet and the Lion King, firstly the most distinct one is that the Lion King is in the African Savanna which is indicated in the whole movie, Hamlet is set at a Medieval Castle and surroundings, which is indicated when Hamlet gets on a horse and rides away from the castle along a beach. Secondly Hamlet is very dark and sad whereas the Lion King is bright and full of life and thirdly, Simba leaves his birthplace and grows up in a safer environment with Timon and Pumba in the Jungle.
Hamlet Stays at the Castle where his father had died. Life after death is very similar in Hamlet and the Lion King, the “ghosts” both speak to their sons personally in “ghost form” with Simba running in the jungle where his father speaks to him from the sky. Hamlet his father speaks to him through out the film they both get told to “set things right” but when they go to set things right they do it differently.
In The Lion King Simba banishes Scar from the Pride lands forever and not everybody dies, whereas in Hamlet, Hamlet kills his uncle and everybody dies at the end. Their attitude to growing up in each film is similar. In the Lion King Simba leaves his birthplace to the jungle where he meets Timon and Pumba. They teach him the rights and wrongs in life in their perspective. In Hamlet he relies on himself most of the time, there is no one he can really trust they both mature and rise to reclaim the throne.
The Essay on Hamlet Vs Lion King
It has been said by many intelligent and informed people that Disney's The Lion King is a children's version of Shakespeare's Hamlet. There are certainly many parallels between the two stories, and even in the actual dialogue. Both are the story of a young man who is torn apart by the early demise of his father. An uncle takes over the thrown that should rightly belong to the young prince, and ...
How the kings change the environment and society is very different between the two films firstly in Hamlet the castle and surroundings are still very much the same as what it was but in the Lion King it is very different, Scar transforms the environment completely from a happy and stunning environment to a dark gloomy place full of dead skeletons and hyenas. Disney has in fact created a masterpiece, in the retelling of Hamlet for a younger ordinance. While children can enjoy the story of a lion and his jungle pals, they will later read Hamlet and realize the striking similarities and differences between the two.
