If the most successful Broadway adaptations and perhaps one of the most highly-anticipated remakes serve as any indication, the prevalence Disney’s The Lion King has sparsely faded since its 1994 debut. Heralded as one of the most popular animated films of all time, the classic has permeated generations with a tale as archetypal as it is timeless. To some extent, the film’s success may come as no surprise, citing a bulk of its inspiration to Shakespeare’s quintessential tragedy, Hamlet. Yet, even the source of The Lion King’s narrative is begotten by countless texts detailing the imbalance of society, specifically when its most visible figurehead is compromised.
Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and a myriad of cultural myth detail the attempt to “restore balance” amid of wavering hierarchy. Such stories are less concerned with rebuking or questioning centralized authority but instead finding a way to cure a toxic lack of morality. Unlike the aforementioned pieces, however, The Lion King posits the success of a ruler, and thus their kingdom, is not dictated by human nature, but the natural order itself. A ruler, when virtuous and true, seems reaffirmed by life itself in an ethereal way. When benevolence is usurped or otherwise lost, society follows suit into a crescendo of chaos.
At its onset, the station of every beast in the hierarchy of The Lion King is clear. Herds of gazelles and wildebeest graze, and the carnivores ensure no one species grows too large in number. Though the film shies away from illustrating the violence sustaining the ecosystem (for likely obvious reasons), it does weave such a structure into its discourse. The opening sequence, for instance, alludes to the coronation of an eventual king as the Pride Lands’ current ruler, a lion named Mufasa (James Earl Jones), presents his newborn cub Simba (Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Matthew Broderick) to the animal kingdoms. Despite literally feeding on their subjects, Mufasa reminds his son the lions will eventually become food for worms and empower the rest of the kingdom in a perpetual “Circle of Life.” Mufasa feels the nature of an apex predator should never grow overwhelming, lest the Pride Lands likewise grow uninhabitable.
The inverse of Mufasa, his brother Scar (Jeremy Irons), has grown physically and philosophically twisted by his disposition. In the shadow of the king, Scar grows fixated on the power, obsessing over what it can recklessly allow rather than preserve. Comparably, adjacent to the Pride Lands lies an elephant graveyard, a wasteland infested with scavenging and perverse hyenas. As a cub, Simba is fascinated by the prospect of what his rule can entail, believing lions to be utterly untouchable compared to the rest of the kingdom. During the performance of “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King,” Simba fancies his rule to be unquestionable as if the world is malleable and never fracturing regardless of the nature of his rule. Before Simba can ever exercise such a form of rule, Scar opts to seize the opportunity personally, murdering Mufasa in a herd of wildebeest and unintentionally exiling Simba in the process. Removed from the privilege of hierarchy, Simba comes of age in a realm where his role is far from presumed.
In the absence of entitlement, Simba develops a revised understanding of order, discovering life is not dependent on a constant exercise of power. His mentors, Timon (Nathan Lane) and Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella), instill within him a philosophy of passivity and forgiveness, echoed by the phrase “Hakuna Matata” (or, “no worries”). Under their tutelage, Simba grows to appreciate simplicity, governing nothing but his own faculties. Though he never forgets the power of his inheritance, he grows to accept this responsibility and livelihood of a kingdom is meant for another. Amid his passivity, however, the hierarchy did not disappear but was rather infiltrated by corruption.
For the Pride Lands, some amount of direction proves necessary, but when abused it grows nearly identical to the wastelands neighboring it. Scar opens the domain to an influx of hyenas as an insurance policy to his rule, fearful his ill-gotten authority may be taken. Scar has manipulated the station into one of self-destructive, insatiable hunger, whereas Mufasa and by extension Simba, perceive their place in the kingdom an obligation. Simba, with the encouragement of Rafiki (Robert Guillaume) and his childhood friend, Nala (Moira Kelly), realizes progress is propelled by a sense of obligation; Mufasa was less so a king, but rather a mechanism necessary for the greater Pride Lands to thrive. Even so, Simba cannot assume his role without first reconciling the misconceptions he carried with him as a child, the same misconceptions that led him to grow initially jaded with regard to the kingdom.
Realizing his apathy has in part served to punish the savannah as a whole, especially Nala and his mother, an adult Simba is jarred out of his complacency. At this juncture and with a bit of goading, Simba finds the balance between passivity and aggression. Scar’s tendency to consume and exercise his power, illustrated by the ravenous hyenas, cascades into an utter blight upon the Pride Lands. In Simba’s time away, the notion of authority an obligation is just as tangential as the jungle itself. Pride Rock, the lions’ castle, in essence, overlooks the watering hole, a crossroads bustling with life and where order flourishes. When overtaken by Scar, the rulers’ malevolence has catalyzed a drought, as if his rule has sucked any precipitation from the sky.
Simba’s challenge to Scar and gambit to restore the balance of the animal kingdom is accompanied by a natural force keen to the actions that are about to unfold. Lightning strikes the moment Scar and Simba clash, turning the ground surrounding Pride Rock into an inferno. Fire, nature’s greatest mulligan, intensifies this moment of conflict but also brings a chance to reset the Pride Lands by incinerating the waste Scar has allowed. When Simba finally overcomes Scar, the latter is oversaturated with his addiction to power. Hurled into the precipice of the wildfire and descended upon by his once loyal hyenas, Scar is effectively cannibalized by the aggressive rule he cherished. Shortly thereafter, a much-needed downpour extinguishes the blaze and brings forth a sense of revitalization to the Pride Lands.
When Simba finally assumes his station, he has seen the pitfalls of both inaction and the gratuitous exercise of power. Thus, Simba opts to continue Mufasa’s legacy of minimal, yet visible authority, reestablishing the aforementioned Circle of Life. Though many Disney films will hint at the restoration of balance, few illustrate The Lion King’s didactic as fluidly and succinctly. Similarly, the film reiterates Disney’s tendency to retain systems of authority, arguing any organization may work, provided those at the helm of such an enterprise are morally grounded. Whether or not this virtue is valid, especially as it relates to the billion-dollar conglomerate, is yet to be determined.
