Submitted by: Submitted by gogowizard
Views: 647
Words: 913
Pages: 4
Category: Literature
Date Submitted: 12/12/2010 04:11 PM
December 1st, 2010
Movies based on written works of literature are made constantly. Especially in this day and age, with the available technology movie based on ancient literature are commonplace. The Lion King is one such movie. It is in many ways a euphemism for Shakespeare's Hamlet and this is illustrated by the numerous differences between the two. Apart from the obvious difference that one is a play written centuries ago and the other is a Disney Movie, the two differ in their characters, plots and themes while being similar enough that one can observe the parallels between the two. The effect of these differences is that the movie seems like a fairy tale; a comedy while the play is actually a full blown tragedy.
The similarities are quite obvious. As the movie begins, the audience is made aware of the similarities between the characters Simba is Hamlet, Mufasa is Hamlet (the father), Scar is Claudius, Nala is Ophelia and so on and so forth. As the movie progresses then, the viewer begins to notice the obvious glaring differences between the two and the movie built on the base of Hamlet begins to turn away from the path taken by the play.
One of the biggest differences is changing of the characters for the better. Simba who is supposed to be Hamlet, the prince, is never deemed crazy by his mother, his friends or his uncle. He is always seen as this noble cub/lion that constantly has the ability to save Pride Rock. This apotheosis of Simba is a sharp contrast to the character of Hamlet who is deemed so mad as a result of his father's death that Claudius wants him to be sent to England. The pattern is also followed by Nala. As Simba's love, Nala is Ophelia's representative in the movie. She never goes crazy and she never dies. In fact, she is the one that brings Simba back home and helps him save Pride Rock from Scars claws. Ophelia, on the other hand, plays no part in the death of Claudius. The pattern here is simple: the craziness, the deaths,...