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The Lion of Denmark

eat of an enseamed bed / Stew'd in corruption, honeying and making love / Over the nasty sty " (3.4. 92-95). In fact, the entire Oedipal subplot which so captivated Freud has been dropped right out of the story. Hamlet offers the possibility of a dark side that the Walt Disney company has no wish to explore. Exposing children to sexual taboos is in itself taboo. Sarabi becomes a very minor character, as nurturer (but to a lesser extent than Mufasa himself) and then later as the head of a hunting pride. Other characters include Zazu, the king's bird advisor, whose characterization resembles Polonius, and Nala, who as Simba's childhood companion could be Horatio, but as Simba's adult love interest more resembles Ophelia. Neither Zazu nor Nala meet the tragic endings of their Shakespearean counterparts - since Disney only has one villain, they can only have two deaths: that of Mufasa to trigger the chain of events, and that of Scar to bring justice at the film's end. There does not seem to be any Laertes; again, the film aimed at children can only justify the death of one villain at the end, and further, cannot leave a villain unpunished. Punishment is critical to the establishment of a clear moral in children's stories. This also means that the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern counterparts, the hedonistic Timon and Pumbaa, cannot be traitorous, but are added to the story purely for the comic relief. They could also at times be seen as counterparts to the gravedigging clowns of Act 5 Scene 1, arguing, teasing each other, using foreign words ("hakuna matata"), and taunting Simba. If any characters besides Scar can be considered villains, they are the hyenas who are invited in and allowed to live off the land. Perhaps they correspond with the army of Fortinbras, who are allowed by Claudius to move across the land and take food and supplies. Whether or not Fortinbras himself can be seen as a positive force in Hamlet is debatable. Regardless, thi...

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