Shakespeare, the great playwright of England and now renowned around the world, would be proud of how his plays have been adapted, or at the very least, amused. From West Side Story to 10 Things I Hate About You to the much loved classic, Gnomeo and Juliet, there are plenty modern adaptations or interpretations of Shakespeare's most well-known plays. This practice is not foreign to movie-makers and play-producers.
Scenography is the practice of changing scenic elements to put a play's original dialogue and characters in a new light. In many ways, what Disney and others have done with Shakespeare is this on a more extreme level, changing dialogue and scene, but still maintaining the story line and characters. One of the most fun and striking examples of this is the iconic Disney adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet, taking place on the African savanna and entitled The Lion King. Whether or not you have realized this before, I would like to highlight how uncanny the similarities are and share a few radical takeaways. First let's go through our cast list:
King Hamlet/Mufasa- The dead father of Hamlet is only seen as a ghost in the play, just as Simba has an interaction with the deceased Mufasa. We are able to see, in the movie, the living characteristics of Mufasa's wisdom that parallels how Hamlet describes his father in the play.
Queen Gertrude/Sarabi- Sarabi leads alongside Scar as Gertrude did alongside Claudius. There is animosity or at the very least, she is unsettled. Hamlet/Simba does not feel as if he can talk to his mother about the death of the original King.
King Claudius/Scar- Evil younger brother of King Hamlet/Mufasa. He is power hungry and enlists his enemies to get rid of Simba after he himself kills his brother.
Hamlet/Simba- His uncle kills his father and he is not sure he believes it until later in the story. He deals with depressing thoughts and fear over taking his rightful throne back. He loves Ophelia/Nala and trusts only her and close friends. He eventually realizes his anger at his uncle is justified and confronts him with revenge in his mind.
Ophelia/Nala- She is the girlfriend... or lioness-friend in the story. I believe her madness in the play is mirrored in the movie through her starvation while Hamlet/Simba is away. She goes after Hamlet/Simba and they realize their love again. She is also there when he confronts Claudius/Scar.
Polonius/Zazu- He is servant to both kings and is an overprotective father figure of Ophelia/Nala. He does not trust Hamlet/Simba.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern/Timon and Pumbaa- They are the comedic duo and "college friends" of Hamlet/Simba. In Hakuna Matata, Timon sings "What's in a name?" clearly a reference to Shakespeare's famous quote.
Laertes/Shenzi (hyena)- Prompted by Claudius/Scar to kill Hamlet/Simba. Eventually, Laertes/Shenzi sides with Hamlet and turns against Claudius/Scar. Laertes does not kill Hamlet and instead blames Claudius and Scar is thrown to the hyenas and flames to meet his death.
Voltemand and Cornelius/Banzai and Ed (hyenas)- They are convinced by Claudius/Scar that Hamlet/Simba is bad and Claudius/Scar is good. They don't do much.
Fortenbras/Stampede- Claudius/Scar uses them as the excuse for taking power and the death of his brother. He also tries to kill Simba using their power. Honestly, the Fortenbras could also be the general hyena population as the enemies of lions but Scar's utilitarian friends.
Other soldiers or non essential servants/Other pride land animals, whether they be lions or not
Of course, The Lion King is a Disney movie, and so does not follow the ending of the Shakespearean tragedy. Simba does not kill Zazu (although his pouncing early in the movie might suggest he had considered it). Nala does not drown herself. Simba does not die from his wounds he received from Scar. But, if one were to replace the happy ending with Shakespearean darkness, the early parts of the movie may not need changing to fit the story line. Instead, Disney focused on expanding Hamlet's past by loosely outlining Simba's childhood and showing Scar's evil plotting.
Having seen the similarities, there are two hidden truths about The Lion King you must know. First, Scar married Sarabi. Scar even says when Sarabi confronts her new king, "Long ago, you chose Mufasa over me," revealing his feelings for his brother's wife.
The second realization is much more grave, as it involves the death of my two favorite characters in The Lion King, Timon and Pumbaa. When Hamlet is planning to make his move to kill Claudius, Claudius tries to kill him before he has the chance. Hamlet avoids this by baiting the enemies with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, just like Simba did to avoid the hyenas. Unfortunately Rosencrantz and Guildenstern did not survive. In the movie, Timon and Pumbaa are shown for a split second when Simba is recognized as the king, but clearly this is wishful thinking on behalf of Disney. They were sacrificed for the good of the hero and would not have been reasonably able to escape the hyenas. RIP Timon and Pumbaa.
Have fun watching The Lion King and/or a production of Hamlet with these things in mind!
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