Lion King Vs Hamlet

[Whitewolf]

Ok kids for all of us who readed the Hamlet i want to know which TLK character would be Who in that play (Hamlet). I also want to Know was the Lion King base on the Hamlet cause i found that both story are very very close to each other :horror:

[Ralli]

I know for a fact that TLK is based on Hamlet, because the directors and several people who worked on the film and Broadway production have said that they used elements and whatnot from it for the show. The storylines are very similar, no?

[Shatara]

I don't think the similarities were intentional, but they are there.

It's pretty much Hamlet in which everyone doesn't die in the end ;)

[Whitewolf]

Yea they are similar since the uncle kills the father (aka king) and the prince the sound takes revenge on the uncle.... Only difference is in Hamlet they use Posion in Tlk Scar throws Mufasa over a gorge into a stampede....

[Mizani]

Originally posted by Shatara
I don't think the similarities were intentional, but they are there.

It's pretty much Hamlet in which everyone doesn't die in the end ;)
The similarities are very intentional actually.:uhno:

[LunarCat]

^ not directly, *just watched that section of the dvd yesterday*

they took elements from other things that were based on hamlet which ultimately ends up being hamlet. :p

[Mizani]

true.:uhno:

[Vidan]

To answer your question, I'd say:

Simba -- Hamlet

Mufasa -- the late King Hamlet

Sarabi -- Gertrude. Hamlet initially thinks that his mother Gertrude is involed in the betrayal, but of course this was never the case for Sarabi.

The hyenas -- Rosencrantz and Gildenstern. Both provide comic relief but seek to hurt the protagonist (Simba, Hamlet) based on another's command (Scar, Claudius). If just for the comic relief Timon and Pumbaa could be R&G, but of course they are true friends to Simba who stick with him to the end, even if they are reluctant to follow him back the the Pridelands.

Scar -- Claudius and Polonius. Claudius poisons King Hamlet and attempts to steal his wife. Claudius and Polonius both have ambitions to kill Hamlet.

I don't think that Hamlet has a direct parallel for Nala or Rafiki.

Even though Hamlet likes Ophelia she ends up betraying him in the end, so Nala can't be Ophelia. She more closely resembles Horatio, who is Hamlet's best friend.

This is somewhat out of the scope of this discussion but Fortinbras is somewhat like Kovu in that he initially seeks to reclaim land that he believes belongs to his father but is convinced by Hamlet, but is convinced otherwise and becomes a 'good guy' and takes Hamlet's place as king when his time is up.

[HasiraKali]

It's not just Hamlet. Simba's Pride has elements of Romeo and Juliet and 1.5 is very similar to Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are Dead. Both of those last two tell the story of the original (TLK or Hamlet) from the point of view of two other characters. When we studied Hamlet in high school, I brought this up quite a bit in class discussions I think they hated me. But Woes already mentioned everything I was going to say really. :p

[Kiara Serengeti]

Originally posted by Mizani
The similarities are very intentional actually.:uhno:

Yes. The SE DVD has a whole featurette about it.

Scar=Hamlet's uncle
Mufasa=Hamlet's father
Simba=Hamlet
...
But, Kali, I don't think Romeo and Juliet parallel WAS intentional in SP. Any movie about two people eloping will naturally make a lot of people think of R&J.

[unregistered user]

I'm pretty sure that they did do R&J intentionally for TLKII simply because they thought it to be a good idea since reworking Hamlet worked for TLK.

I think Polonius could actually be Shenzi, she provides comic relief yes but she's the boss and more serious.

And Gertrude could also be considered for Zira (at least I think so).

And Ophelia could be Kiara, going againt Hamlet (Simba). *shrugs* idk heh

[HasiraKali]

Yes the parallel with R&J is intentional. :)

[starlioness]

Originally posted by Kiara Serengeti
Yes. The SE DVD has a whole featurette about it.

Scar=Hamlet's uncle
Mufasa=Hamlet's father
Simba=Hamlet
...
But, Kali, I don't think Romeo and Juliet parallel WAS intentional in SP. Any movie about two people eloping will naturally make a lot of people think of R&J.

yeah, like Pocahontas.. though Poca and John Smith weren't lovers in real life ;)

I thought Polonius would be like Zazu.. since he was Mufasa's advisor.. not sure about Scar though.. be funny if Zazu was Nala's Father :lol::jejeje:

[Kimberley]

As long as we're throwing Shakespeare elements here I'm going to say Zira is Lady Macbeth. :lol:

[chaotic serenit]

I would think the biggest difference between Hamlet and TLK is that Disney's version isn't the story of one prince's maddening spiral into the insanity of murder and revenge. It has, y'know, a happy ending. ;)