s description of the hyenas as the Norwegian army is not quite accurate since they are at Scar's side for most of the film. They do eliminate the need for "bad" characters like Polonius and Laertes as well as the spying Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and Scar is shown raising an army of hyenas from the elephant graveyard right before Mufasa's murder. If we ignore this suggestion of mitiltia, then the hyenas are the unseen courtiers who must have supported Claudius' ascension to the throne.The only character who appears to be problematic to the Hamlet parallel is that of Rafiki, the baboon mystic who urges Simba to meet his responsibilities and return to his kingdom. He represents the archetypal character of the Wise Old Man, and acts as a shaman within the film. This may have been added to lend credibility to the African setting. But Rafiki also links Simba to the ghost of Mufasa. He acts as a voice of responsibility similar to Simba's own submerged guilty conscience. Because Simba cannot deliver any lengthy soliloquies, his inner struggle must be made external, and what better way to do it than to have an all-knowing character confront him with his responsibilities? Rafiki is not the only character who does this - when Nala stumbles across Simba by accident while she hunts far from home, she also accuses him of shirking responsibility and challenges him to become more like Mufasa. No such role exists for Ophelia, but Hamlet could have been reprimanded by a character like Horatio had Shakespeare wished.The characterization of Hamlet as Simba is the most interesting one of all. We still have our Melancholy Prince, but he does not feign madness, and he chooses to blame himself for the old king's death rather than blaming his evil uncle. This difference can be perhaps accounted for by the young age of the protagonist, versus Hamlet's experienced knowledge with regards to violence and hunger for power. When Scar causes the wildebeasts to st...
