Lion king

vs.
Hamlet
Pietra Antunes
Creativy Writing
Hamlet
By William Shakespeare

The ghost of the King of Denmark tells his son Hamlet to avenge his
murder by killing the new king, Hamlet's uncle. Hamlet feigns madness,
contemplates life and death, and seeks revenge. His uncle, fearing for his
life, also devises plots to kill Hamlet. The play ends with a duel, during
which the King, Queen, Hamlet's opponent and Hamlet himself are all
killed.
Lion king
A Disney production

A young lion prince is born in Africa, thus making

his uncle Scar the second in line to the throne.
Scar plots with the hyenas to kill King Mufasa
and Prince Simba, thus making himself King. The
King is killed and Simba is led to believe by Scar
that it was his fault, and so flees the kingdom in
shame. After years of exile he is persuaded to
return home to overthrow the usurper and claim
the kingdom as his own thus completing the
"Circle of Life".
 comparation

In the Lion King, Scar is the villain, and well as

Claudius in Hamlet. Both of them are uncle.
Claudius and Scar killed the current kings, to
become kings. Hamlet and Simba were heirs of their In this scene, Simba returns to the place where his
kingdoms. And when they discover who was really father was murdered, and planned to o enthrone
responsible for the murder of their parents, they Scar. Hamlet discovered that his father was killed in
crave revenge and want to regain the throne. a different way:
A big difference between the play and the film is
how the protagonists deal with the situation:
revenge drives Hamlet mad, while Simba focuses
not so much on revenge, but on recovering the
 When Hamlet discovers the truth, he freaks out, and
wants his uncle's head.
At the end of the work, Hamlet (poison on the sword),
Claudius, Ofelia's brother and Hamlet's mother
Hamlet, Act 1 Scene 5 (suicide) die and there is a tragic ending. In Lion
Ghost King, the ending is not so dramatic, since the
I am thy father’s spirit, protagonists do not die and have a happy ending
Doom’d for a certain term to walk the night, when they manage to recover the kingdom.
And for the day confined to fast in fires,
Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature In Lion King, the events are not so tragic (perhaps
Are burnt and purged away. But that I am forbid because it is a children's film), but it shares a
To tell the secrets of my prison-house, message with Hamlet: life you will be able to get
I could a tale unfold whose lightest word
Would harrow up thy soul, freeze thy young blood,
away with something for long but not forever.
Make thy two eyes, like stars, start from their spheres,
Thy knotted and combined locks to part
And each particular hair to stand on end,
Like quills upon the fretful porpentine:
But this eternal blazon must not be
To ears of flesh and blood. List, list, O, list!
If thou didst ever thy dear father love–
HAMLET
O God!
Ghost
Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.
HAMLET
Murder!
 Characters
Timon and Pumbaa Vs. Rosencrantz and
Guiderstern

The four play the role of classic helpers of the protagonist, the only
difference is that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern play a double role,
as they keep watch by spying on Hamlet. As far as we know, Timon
and Pumbaa only help Simba, helping him with his mission and a life
lesson.
 Characters
Timon and Pumbaa Vs. Rosencrantz and
Guiderstern

Timon and Pumbaa also offer

Simba another escape from the pressures of royalty: Hakuna Matata.
As he defensively explains to Nala, his belier in Hakuna Matata
relieves him of any responsibilities to the Pridelands. Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern themselves don't offer this kind of escape, but they
represent a time when Hamlet could get out of Denmark and goof
off at school.

In the end, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are essentially just more

complex versions of Timon and Pumbaa. The latter pair exists to push
Simba forward (into fulfilling his destiny as heir to the Prideland
throne), and the former to do the same, but in a more complex and
backwards way. Some of the philosophy is the same, but there's a
more nefarious land, honestly, less likeable and more pathetic) side
to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. That's probably why one duo is
featured in a Shakespeare play and the other in a Disney movie.
 Characters
Nala Vs. Ophelia

The two are the protagonist's love interest, but that's not all. In Shakespeare's
work, Ophelia is the daughter of Polonius, Prime Minister of Denmark and advisor
to the king. In Lion King, Nala's lineage is unclear, but the film suggests that, as in
the play, something is expected from the relationship between the two. Luckily, the
lioness has a much happier ending than Ofélia, who drowned in the river after her
father's death.
 Discussion
What meaning or message can be taken away from the original play versus the modern interpretation? How are these similar
and/or different?
In the Lion King story is the ability to forgive ourselves for the past, the mistakes we have made and the things we can't change,
and look to the future with pride at how far we've come on our journey, and how much more there is to learn and experience in
the world around us. However, in Hamlet it’s the idea of the price of revenge. Shakespeare explains that path of vengeance is a
messy one with destructive repercussions and often takes many innocent lives in the process. Both of the stories, however, pass
the idea of fighting for your ideals, and never giving up of the thinks that are important.
How were the thoughts, feelings, and concerns in Shakespeare’s time similar to or different from the time of The Lion King?
During Shakespeare’s time, England not only witnessed several plots and alerts, but also faced very serious challenges to survival as
a kingdom and as a free country. It became involved, internally and externally, in various religious and theological conflicts that
separated the three main religious currents: the official, Anglican, Catholic (papist) and Calvinist (Puritan) ones.
In addition to all this, England was a country where a large part of the population was poor.
Possessed by the intense emotional climate that enveloped the English, the poet dedicated himself to composing a series of great
historical pieces, celebrating the bellicose past of the British kings, presenting drama, betrayal, ethics and entertainment for the
British.
However, the feeling of the Lion King is much more simple: the feeling was purer, to entertain and send a message to the viewers.
Disney directors remodeled revenge and tragedies (typical of Shakespeare's time) and built a childish world.
What kind of audience were the two works made for?
It is observed that the public, the audience of the Shakespearean era was the nobles, the scholars, the maidens, the
prostitutes, the thieves, that is, the general public. In Lion King, the content is aimed at children, but can be viewed
by anyone of any age.

Why does Hamlet have a much more tragic tone than Lion King?
It’s possible to understand that Shakespeare‘s time was different from ours. People were used with more tragic
events than nowadays. The monarchy and the drama were real, and it’s understandable that Shakespeare was
inspired my this context. It is not possible to say that his works could not have been created in today's times, but it is
understandable the dramatic tone of his works.
The Lion King was written at a different time and with a more childish purpose.

Which characters of Lion King were inspired in Hamlet?

Some of the characters are:
Simba= Hamlet
Ophelia=Nala
Scar=Claudius
Timon and Pumbaa= Rosencrantz and Guiderstern
etc…
Thank you!