Simba is Hamlet?

By Issa Vonglakhone

Yes, you read the title right, Simba is Hamlet. If you are familiar with Disney movies, then you know that they mostly come from old tall tales, fairy tales, or stories. Well, the inspiration for The Lion King came from Shakespeare’s famous play Hamlet. Throughout both the play and the movie, there is plenty of similarities in the characters, scenes, and overall concept. Disney does put it’s twist on stories, but they never stray too far from their original inspiration, and The Lion King does just that.

The Lion King is not a direct copy of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, but they both are very similar. One main thing that they have alike is the characters. There are some characters that are clear they are the same as the characters in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. These characters include: Simba, Mufasa, Scar, Nala, Sarabi, Zazu, and Mufasa’s ghost. Simba, the main character in The Lion King, would be Hamlet, the main character in the play Hamlet. Mufasa, Simba’s father, would be King Hamlet, Hamlet’s father. Scar is Claudius because Scar is Mufasa’s brother and Simba’s uncle. Nala would be the character Ophelia in Hamlet because Ophelia is Hamlet’s lover and Nala in Simba’s lover. Sarabi would be Gertrude because she is Simba’s mother and Mufasa’s wife who gets left behind in the Pride Lands under Scar’s rule. Zazu would be Polonius because he tends to the king’s needs. Mufasa’s Ghost would very obviously be King Hamlet’s Ghost leading Hamlet on a mission. There are still some characters that have similarities in The Lion King to the characters in Hamlet, but these are the characters that their similarities out rule the differences. Now, there are a few more characters that I did not list that do play a big part in the storyline of The Lion King, but their similarities may not be as clear as the others. These characters are: the three hyenas (Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed), Rafiki, Timon, and Pumbaa. The three hyenas play a big role as bad guys working for Scar. In Hamlet, the characters Rosencrantz and Guildenstern help Claudius in his evil plans and try to act as friends to Hamlet. Although the hyenas do not try to act as friends with Simba, they are Scar’s little minions who take part as pawns in his evil plans. Rafiki is a bit tougher than the other’s to figure out. He almost seems like a character just added to help us understand the story a little more, but I think he might be Hamlet’s madness. In The Lion King, Simba never really goes crazy, but Rafiki is all kinds of crazy and his character is never really explained. Rafiki’s painting and actions foreplays what Simba must do and what he is destined to do. Rafiki’s line “It means you’re a baboon and I’m not.” can be taken as Simba’s madness, as Hamlet’s madness was like another character than the real Hamlet. This theory is a little far fetched, but it makes sense. The next character, Timon, possibly could be Laertes. Although he is not Nala’s brother as Laertes is to Ophelia, he is Simba’s friend that didn’t really approve of Nala and Simba’s relationship. In the song “Can You Feel The Love Tonight”, Timon expresses his feelings towards Nala and Simba’s relationship, “I can see what’s happening, and they don’t have a clue, they’ll fall in love and here’s the bottom line, our trio’s down to two. Ze sweet caress of twilight, there’s magic everywhere, and with all this romantic atmosphere disaster’s in the air.” you can tell that Timon does not truly approve of their relationship, and it may not be for the same reasons, but it relates to Laertes in Act. 1 sc. 3, “It fits your wisdom so far to believe it, As he in his particular act and place, May give his saying deed, which is no further, Than the main voice of Denmark goes withal. Then weigh what loss your honor may sustain-” He says that he doesn’t approve of Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship because Hamlet is supposed to be married to another royal and he is just infatuated with her, not in love. Laertes has a different meaning of why he doesn’t fully approve of Ophelia and Hamlet’s relationship, but they both disagree with the relationship. Now the last character, Pumba, could be in relation to Horatio. Horatio is Hamlet’s college friend not from Denmark and was there at his service only. Pumba is Simba’s friend, not from the Pride Lands and is there to help Simba out. Pumbaa says,“At your service my leisure,” more than once, and could be an example of Horatio who was always at Hamlet’s service. There is many similarities between Shakespeare’s Hamlet and The Lion King ’s characters and some differences, but overall they are the same story. Other than the fact that The Lion King ’s characters are animated animals, and they’ve changed the purpose of some characters for younger viewers, and applied the magic of Disney, The Lion King is very much Shakespeare’s play Hamlet.

Just like the characters of each story, the storyline in The Lion King is very much the same as Hamlet’s. One of the biggest similarities is that Scar murders Mufasa secretly and Claudius murders King Hamlet secretly. The two characters Mufasa and King Hamlet may have died different deaths, but the whole purpose of their death is the same. After both kings die, both sons, run off. Simba ran off to the rainforest, and Hamlet runs of to Great Britain. “Scar speaks, “Simba… What have you done?” “There were wildebeests and he tried to save me... it was an accident, I... I didn't mean for it to happen.” says Simba.  Of course, of course you didn't. No one... ever means for these things to happen. ...But the king IS dead. Oh! What will your mother think?”. Simba asks, “What am I gonna do?”. “Run away, Simba. Run... Run away and never return.” Scar commands.” They then pursue their own lives outside of the kingdom. Simba meets Timon and Pumbaa and Hamlet meets Horatio. While they are gone, bad stuff goes down at home. In both stories, the evil Uncle takes over the kingdom. The pride lands get taken over by Scar and the hyenas and in Hamlet, Claudius hooks up with and marries Hamlet’s mom. Hamlet and Ophelia end up fighting and Simba and Nala end up fighting as well. “Get thee to a nunnery,” commanded Hamlet in Act 3. Sc. 1. “Leave it!,” commanded Simba. After the fight in Hamlet, Hamlet gets sent off to England, only to return back home, and after the fight in The Lion King, Simba decides to return home, face Scar, and take back his rightful reign. Another scene, The song “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”, could be taken as the scene where Laertes disapproves of Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship. As explained in the above paragraph. On Simba’s journey back to the pride lands, he runs into Rafiki, Hamlet’s madness in a character, and he leads him to Mufasa’s ghost. Mufasa’s ghost appears and reminds him who he is and encourages him to take back the Pride Lands. Mufasa’s ghost speaks, “You have forgotten who you are, and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the Circle of Life.” In Hamlet, when Hamlet kills Polonius and then is going mad to his mother, his father’s ghost appears to remind him not to kill his mother and that his goal is to kill Claudius. “Do not forget. This visitation Is but to whet thy almost blunted purpose. But look, amazement on thy mother sits. O, step between her and her fighting soul. Conceit in weakest bodies strongest works. Speak to her, Hamlet.” Both Hamlet and Simba return home and they both begin to take their revenge. They end up fighting and killing their uncles. Claudius was sliced and poisoned and Scar was eaten by the hyenas. Although The Lion King may seem a little more sane than Hamlet, they are basically the same raw story. Any story that Disney recreates always has its own twist to it. To say The Lion King is not anywhere near the same as Hamlet, is baloney. There are minor differences, like the fact they are animals and it’s a simpler story, but their concepts, characters, and scenes are mostly the same.

To make it more obvious, let’s simplify the similarities a bit more. Both stories have almost exactly the same concepts. In the beginning there is a kingdom; the Pride Lands and Denmark. They both have a glorious king; Mufasa and King Hamlet. Then, the king gets murdered by his brother; Claudius poisoned King Hamlet and Scar pushed Mufasa off a cliff into a stampede of wildebeests. Then the prince of the kingdom runs off to another country/place; Hamlet goes to Great Britain and Simba goes to the rainforest. There, the prince makes some friends; Hamlet meets Horatio and Simba meets Timon and Pumba. Then, we get a tiny complicated, Hamlet comes back for his mother and uncle’s wedding and hooks up with Ophelia. In The Lion King, Nala finds Simba and they fall in love that way, and then Simba goes home. That concept was just reversed. Timon doesn’t quite like Simba and Nala’s relationship and Laertes doesn’t quite like Hamlet and Ophelia’s relationship either. Then, once the prince is back home he challenges his uncle and kills them on behalf of their father and land. Of course, everyone dies at the end of Hamlet and it’s a happy ending at the end of The Lion King, but the concepts can never be more similar.

The similarities of the characters, the scenes, and the concepts are very close and show that Hamlet and The Lion King are basically the same story. Disney does put its own twist on things because that’s what makes them unique, but they never stray too far away from the main story and inspiration. They made their version of the story to be a family movie and where little kids could watch it. There’s no doubt that Disney found their inspiration in Hamlet, and the characters, the scenes, and overall concept prove it. Hamlet and The Lion King, are one in the same. So,“Hakuna Matata! Have a wonderful day”.