When Disney studios released The Lion King, it was proclaimed to be the first “original” Disney story—that is, not a remake of a fairy tale, a ballet, or retelling a novel (such as they did with retelling The Once and Future King in The Sword And The Stone.). That isn’t true. The Lion King can be seen as an animalized retelling of the Arthurian cycle.
In both stories the central character is a male. In the Arthurian cycle, the central character is Arthur, the son of King Uther Pendragon. In The Lion King, the central character is Simba, the son of King Mufasa. Both are male sons of a king, princes, in fact, of their realms. Simba and Arthur also had similar childhoods. Simba’s father, Mufasa, was killed, and Simba leaves, disappears from sight until he has grown, taken care of by the surrogate family of Timon and Pumbaa. Arthur, however, was taken away from his father and fostered to Sir Ector Morven, and raised by Sir Ector as a part of his family. Both future kings grew up without the guidance of their birth parents.
However, neither was without guidance. Both Simba and Arthur had someone to help guide them to the fulfillment of their destinies. Rafiki, the wise and somewhat mage-like baboon tracks the young Simba across the deserts of Africa to find him, and uses his knowledge of Simba’s birth and of Mufasa’s hopes and dreams for the young prince to persuade him to come back and assume his throne as King of Pride Rock. Merlin is the wise magician that helps to guide Arthur, uses his knowledge of Arthur’s parentage and of his ultimate destiny to guide Arthur to Excalibur, and after he draws the sword from the stone, he guides Arthur on the throne as his chief advisor. Both princes had wise men to help guide them.
Also, both men have relatives who want their thrones and who scheme against them to get it. Simba must deal with Scar, his father’s brother. Scar is the one who causes Mufasa’s death and who drives Simba away, and who assumes the throne during Simba’s supposed death. With Simba’s return, there is a fight between them, and Scar is killed in the aftermath while Simba ascends the throne of Pride Rock. Arthur, in turn, must deal with Mordred, his son/nephew from an incestuous relationship with his sister Morgana Le Fay. Mordred and Morgana raise an army against an ailing Arthur, but Mordred must face a rejuvenated king after he drinks from the Holy Grail. In a fight to the death, both men are mortally wounded, and Mordred dies while Arthur is taken to the Isle of Avalon, there to wait until the world calls for him again.
There is also a common theme that runs through both stories; “the land and the king are one.” In The Lion King, Pride Rock and the surrounding grounds become a barren wasteland as long as Simba is absent from the throne. When he returns, and triumphs over Scar to take his rightful place again, a healing rain comes, washes the dead things away and Pride Rock blossoms. This theme of the Arthurian cycle is best exemplified in two things... the story of The Fisher King in the Grail Quest and best visualized in the movie Excalibur. With the Fisher King, he is wounded by one of Arthur’s knights, and receives “the Dolorous Stroke,” which causes his castle to fall around him and his land to fall to waste until Galahad finds him in his Grail Castle, and asks the question that heals him, and when he is healed, so are the lands he rules. The same thing happens with King Arthur in Excalibur. After the birth of his incestuous son Mordred, he is in the royal chapel praying, and a bolt of lightning comes and blasts him in the chest, leaving him near death. This, then, can be seen as Arthur's own "Dolorous Stroke." The Grail Quest, or the Quest for the Holy Grail is undertaken, and when the Grail is found (at the healing of the Fisher King in most accounts) it is brought back by Percivale and Arthur drinks. And as he drinks, his health and vitality is restored, as is the land itself restored.
This essay shows that The Lion King and the Arthurian cycle have parallels to one another. Perhaps this means that the Arthurian cycle and influences are becoming more prevalent in our society? Disney has already begun this cycle with The Sword In The Stone, a rewrite of The Once and Future King by T.H. White, and Hollywood has carried it on by making movies and miniseries (Excalibur, Merlin and the Sword, Merlin the recent miniseries, A Kid in King Arthur’s Court). Authors continue to write novels and stories (see Mary Stewart’s novels, and those of Stephen Lawhead), or to include elements of the cycle in their own stories (see Anne Rice’s Taltos). With the continuation of this cycle with the release of The Lion King, the Arthurian cycle lives on.
Cited Sources
- Excalibur. Dir. John Boorman. Orion Pictures, released through Warner Bros., 1981.
- Ferguson, Anne. A Keeper of Words; Legend, The Arthurian Tarot. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1997.
- The Lion King Dirs. Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff. Walt Disney Pictures, 1994
Related Materials
- The Once and Future King by T.H. White
- Le Morte D’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory
- Merlin and the Sword
- Merlin (mini-series)
- Merlin (BBC series)
- The Sword in the Stone (motion picture)
Related Books
Stewart, Mary- Hollow Hills, The
- Crystal Caves, The
- Last Enchantment, The
- Taliesin
- Merlin
- Arthur
- Pendragon
- Grail
The Arthurian Cycle as seen in Disney’s “The Lion King” Kelly R. Digh May 21, 1999
No comments:
Post a Comment