Lion King Compared To Hamlet

The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark is authored by William Shakespeare, a seventeenth century playwright and poet known for his plays. It is a elaborate and full story with sympathetic and abhorrent characters the audience can understand all too well. It entails elements of betrayal, loyalty and inaction. The Lion King is a Disney movie with general plot of Hamlet where, a king is murdered for his throne. While the Lion King has some character and plot resemblances, its differences is what marks the gap between a children's movie to a richly told story.

In the Lion King, Simba was Hamlet’s counterpart. Both of them share the tragic ending of their fathers being murdered over selfish brothers who wanted the throne. The brothers,

Disney, knowing their target audience will be children creates the Lion King with touches of optimism. Its pleasant atmosphere, predictable actions, and happy endings, produces a rift between the Lion King and William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Unlike Disney, Shakespeare develops thought-provoking, multi layered characters and plots. He utilizes a combination of a ghost story, a detective story, and a revenge story to keep his audience on the edge of their seats as well as provide essential insight on the protagonist, Hamlet. Throughout the play, the question of whether the ghost is really Hamlet’s father or a ghost sent from hell is consistent. After the ghost apparition, he's forced to go outside of his pragmatic views only to discover himself in seclusion and derangement. Without Horatio, who has never seen the ghost, Hamlet finds himself constantly contemplating how he should proceed. As an intellect, Hamlet naturally responds with rational deductions. He declares out loud to himself “O, what a rogue and peasant slave am! It is not monstrous that this player here, but in a fiction, and a passion, the forces so so to his own conceit.” The notable difference that sets the Lion King apart from Hamlet is that Simba receives moral guidance and encouragement from Rafiki. While Hamlet and Simba denies their sense of