The Lion King

The decade from 1989 to 1999 was called the "Renaissance" period of Disney. During this period, Disney not only got out of the previous box office haze, but also revived Disney's own understanding of animated feature films: animated films are not only for children, but also suitable for adults to enjoy. The Lion King, released in 1994, is arguably the most serious work in Disney history. Stripping off its relaxed comedy elements and the lively cloak of its musical, the core of The Lion King is an ancient and serious story. Film critic Roger Ebert even called it "too cruel for young children to watch".

Although "The Lion King" is known as Disney's first original screenplay, its story draws on Hamlet obviously. The creative team also admitted that Simba's life adventure was inspired by Shakespeare's plays, ancient Greek Shinhwa and even Bible stories. The three main characters in the film: Mufasa, the old lion king, Simba, the little lion king, and Scar, the brother of the old lion king, are all direct replacements of the characters in Hamlet. Simba, like Hamlet, delayed their revenge. For hundreds of years, western scholars have interpreted Hamlet's hesitation in revenge from literature, philosophy, psychology and other aspects. Especially in the 20th century, influenced by Freud's psychological school, special attention was paid to the psychological motivation behind interpreting behavior, which deeply influenced the literary and film creation of later generations. In Shakespeare's time, drama emphasized the behavior of characters rather than the role-building. Shakespeare's genius beyond the times is also reflected in his plays. Through a large number of monologues, the audience can see not only the behavior of characters, but also their psychological activities and motives.

This is in line with the creative principles of modern film and television. In view of Hamlet's revenge procrastination, the Lion King gives a simple and clear but very reasonable psychological interpretation of Simba's behavior: the scar design killed Mufasa, but made Simba mistakenly think that his own fault killed his father, and then exiled himself because of guilt, and grew up in evading responsibility. This adaptation makes the story of The Lion King more reasonable and smooth than Shakespeare's original work.

The scene of Bambi's mother being hunted by hunters in Disney animation Bambi in 1942 was once rated as the saddest movie moment in American memory. In this film, Mufasa, the old lion king, was killed by scar design, which undoubtedly became the "childhood shadow" of the new generation of Americans. Although Mufasa reappeared as a ghost in the second half of the film (a clear adaptation of the ghost of the old Hamlet in Hamlet) weakened the tragic effect of death, it can still be seen that the theme of The Lion King is unexpectedly serious. The film carefully shows complex adult concepts such as "regicide", "death" and "deception" in as harmless a way as possible. The screenwriter's style of writing accurately weaves Disney's concept of right and wrong with good and evil into the complex human nature story of Hamlet. Simba's story focuses not on "revenge" but on "responsibility" and "growth". In the end, although Simba defeated Scar, he did not kill his usurped uncle like Hamlet-otherwise Simba would be turned into a murderer-Scar was killed by a group of hyenas under his command because of his injustice. Unlike Snow White and Cinderella, which are destined to end in comedy, the story of the Lion King is still based on the heavy and ancient theme of "revenge". Even if Simba finally defeated Scar and regained the throne, it could not conceal the cruel fact of flesh and blood. The re-prosperity of Glory Stone was based on killing and anti-killing. This makes the ending of the film different from the happy ending of other Disney classics: Simba at the end of the film climbs the glory stone in the rain with heavy steps, inheriting the devastated country, which is the expression of this kind of imperfect happy ending.

On this main line of ancient Greek tragedy, the film is also interwoven with many subtle themes. The philosophy of life cycle, which was led out by the title music "Endless Life", was told to Simba Jr. through the mouth of Mufasa, the old lion king, and also to the small audience in front of the screen. The Lion King in the title of this film is just a title, which can refer to Mufasa, Simba and even Scar. They were once the Lion King in this African grassland. History is advancing with the change of kings from generation to generation, just like the reinterpretation of Hamlet from generation to generation in history. In fact, the restatement of Hamlet in The Lion King itself embodies the cycle of life.

To a great extent, the reason why classics become classics stems from the fact that these classic story patterns conform to the development of human history and human nature. On the other hand, these classics have shaped people's psychological expectations through word of mouth: people are accustomed to the end of the story: justice triumphs over evil, the princess meets the prince, and the prince regains the throne ... History has become a classic in such numerous restatements and adaptations, exaggerations and imaginations. In fact, looking at the movie history, those movies that are most sought after by the audience often have such a well-known classic story model as a foundation.

Although the box office Shinhwa created by The Lion King was refreshed by the rising 3D animation such as Frozen, the Lion King's perfect and authentic animation style, emotional music and Broadway-style big scene singing and dancing, the balance between serious topics and relaxed bridges, and most importantly, its majestic epic temperament and narration of eternal topics of human beings have made it a monument in the history of western animation, and it is also the absolute Disney animation No.1 in my mind