The Death Of Mufasa In Disney's The Lion King

The death of Mufasa in Disney’s The Lion King compared to the death of King Hamlet changes a few of the overall themes of the William Shakespeare play Hamlet. There are four major themes that are changed. Simba was present to watch his father die while Hamlet was away for school and didn't know how he died until later. Simba was later lied to by his uncle and spent his life believing he had killed his father. Hamlet knew the truth about his father’s death for almost the entire play. Finally, in the end, Simba doesn’t directly kill Scar, so Simba never sinned and rightfully earned the throne, while Hamlet committed the murder of his uncle. These events make the huge differences between the movie and the play. The theme of having a guilty conscience as proof of morals are shown in both movie and play. In the Lion King, Simba watches his father die and as a child, believes it’s his fault for Mufasa’s death. Simba loves his father and knows his actions were wrong. It's here that his morality is shown as he develops a guilty conscience so he runs away to live his life in hiding, “The past can hurt. But, you can either run from it or learn from it.” (Disney). However, when Hamlet witness’s death and commits murder, he shows no sign of guilt for his actions and involvement. He
The fact that Simba had developed a guilty conscience while Hamlet never did is one of the four major themes that changed. Simba being ignorant to the truth worked out better in the end of him than it did compared to Hamlet knowing the truth all along. Finally, Simba staying pure and not seeking revenge allows him to rightfully become King because God doesn't have to punish him, while Hamlet lives a life of sin and thus cannot get the throne. The movie and play have drastically different outcomes because of these themes and how the two main characters reacted to