Il Medico
7th December 2011, 13:08
So yeah, never really noticed the connection until yesterday when I was reading Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's wiki page and saw in the other portrayals section that Timon and Puma were based on them. I thought about it for a while and realized there are tons of similarities between the two.
In both Hamlet and The Lion King:
The King is killed by his brother who then becomes King and marries the queen (not 100% on that last part for the Lion King but I'm fairly sure Sarabi was still queen during Scar's reign)
The Prince is hesitant in his duties.
The Prince is visited by the ghost of his dead father.
The Prince returns home to a land that he is a stranger to. (Hamlet says he feels a stranger in Denmark and Pride Rock is visibly changed)
Both have two friends from when they were away (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from Hamlet's studies in England and Timon and Pumba from Simba's time in the jungle.)
Both are lead to their father's ghost by a wise childhood friend (Horatio in Hamlet's case and Rafiki in Simba's)
Both have a love interest whom they neglect after their father's death (Hamlet maltreatment of Ophelia and Simba's abandonment of Nala)
Both of the love interest's father figures are annoying advisers to the King. (Polonius is Ophelia's father and Lord Chamberlain while Zazu is nanny to the child Simba and Nala and is the only paternal figure seen for Nala)
Character's Hamlet vs The Lion King
Hamlet= Simba
King Hamlet= Mufasa
Scar= Claudius
Sarabi= Gertrude
Nala= Ophelia
Zazu= Polonius
Rafiki= Horatio
Timon and Pumba= Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
I don't think there is an equivalent for either Laertes or Frontinbras(at least not without stretching the comparison) Though considering the difference between the two stories, their roles aren't necessary in the Lion King (Laertes is pretty much the reason everyone dies at the end of Hamlet and isn't needed if you don't kill everyone and Frontinbras isn't needed if Hamlet isn't dead since he's there to take over).
There are of course some very notable differences, such as Scar being way more evil than Claudius (they even visually make him Hitler (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGj1FHiXOzw)). Also, everyone doesn't die, kinda of a big detail. Sarabi isn't nearly as important to the story as Gertrude, Nala doesn't go mad, Timon and Pumba aren't killed by Simba etc.
In both Hamlet and The Lion King:
The King is killed by his brother who then becomes King and marries the queen (not 100% on that last part for the Lion King but I'm fairly sure Sarabi was still queen during Scar's reign)
The Prince is hesitant in his duties.
The Prince is visited by the ghost of his dead father.
The Prince returns home to a land that he is a stranger to. (Hamlet says he feels a stranger in Denmark and Pride Rock is visibly changed)
Both have two friends from when they were away (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from Hamlet's studies in England and Timon and Pumba from Simba's time in the jungle.)
Both are lead to their father's ghost by a wise childhood friend (Horatio in Hamlet's case and Rafiki in Simba's)
Both have a love interest whom they neglect after their father's death (Hamlet maltreatment of Ophelia and Simba's abandonment of Nala)
Both of the love interest's father figures are annoying advisers to the King. (Polonius is Ophelia's father and Lord Chamberlain while Zazu is nanny to the child Simba and Nala and is the only paternal figure seen for Nala)
Character's Hamlet vs The Lion King
Hamlet= Simba
King Hamlet= Mufasa
Scar= Claudius
Sarabi= Gertrude
Nala= Ophelia
Zazu= Polonius
Rafiki= Horatio
Timon and Pumba= Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
I don't think there is an equivalent for either Laertes or Frontinbras(at least not without stretching the comparison) Though considering the difference between the two stories, their roles aren't necessary in the Lion King (Laertes is pretty much the reason everyone dies at the end of Hamlet and isn't needed if you don't kill everyone and Frontinbras isn't needed if Hamlet isn't dead since he's there to take over).
There are of course some very notable differences, such as Scar being way more evil than Claudius (they even visually make him Hitler (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGj1FHiXOzw)). Also, everyone doesn't die, kinda of a big detail. Sarabi isn't nearly as important to the story as Gertrude, Nala doesn't go mad, Timon and Pumba aren't killed by Simba etc.