Karla Diaz

Topics in British Lit.

Bender

Negative Effects The Lion King has on Children

The beloved stories Walt Disney has brought to screen can be found in many of our living
rooms. These happily ever after stories that are a big hit with children, and sometimes adults,
may seem inoffensive but can actually be quite dark. For example, The Lion King is and
adaptation of Shakespeares Hamlet, even though the film has a happy ending, many of the
scenes are as dark, if not more, as the source text. Disney sells the idea of harmless stories yet in
reality their stories are actually exposing a young audience to mature content.
The male versus female roles is probably the trunk from which all the discord branches of
off. The idea of damsel in distress is present as soon as Mufasa dies and Simba leaves Pride
Rock. Though Sahari is the widowed queen, she does not take charge when Mufasa and Simba
leave. Instead she follows Scars orders; though she disapproves how he reigns she still becomes
his subordinate. Sahari is depicted as a loyal wife but still depends too much on her husband and
son. Without them she has no clear path to follow, which is why she is easily manipulated by
Scar. He clearly wasnt holding her back; she stayed in Pride Rock because she wanted to. Little
girls learn to wait for male authority to run their lives, learning to be loyal to male authority
taking little consideration of their king's true character.
Notice how all the lioness are still following Sahari, the pack seems to be the only true
followers of Mufasa and Simba. They consider Sahari their commander in chief, but even though
theyre united they never think of overthrowing Scar. Yes women are seen as a team of loyal
supporters but it is hardly any good if they keep being oppressed by a male figure. The problem
is not that they cannot overthrow Scar; the problem is that we never even see them try to do so.
Male figures are given the power to either make us feel secure or endangered. The scene
where Scar throws Mufasa off a cliff takes a sinister tone. Watching this scene as a child terror
flooded my mind. In Hamlet, Shakespeare discloses to the audience how Claudius killed old
King Hamlet, experiencing the actual murder hypes up the atrocity of the crime, making it more

Karla Diaz
Topics in British Lit.
Bender

perverse. In fact, most of the scenes in which Scar appears take on a dark tone. His lair, before he
becomes king, is a somber cave filled with an eerie silence, even though there are hundreds of
hyenas around. In another scene, he plays with a skull mocking Mufasa. He is also the only
carnivore, besides the hyenas, who we see eating its prey, at one point going as far as swallowing
Zazu whole. He did not eat Zazu only because Mufasa interfered, otherwise he would have done
so. Scar is cataloged as the villain and nothing else, there is no grey area hes either good or bad.
This can confuse children, because they will also catalog the same way, when in reality no one is
all good or all bad.
Hyper-masculinity is portrayed more clearly in the films Bambi and Beauty and the
Beast, by the hunters and Gaston, but can also be applied to Scar. The Bambi Syndrome (man
killing Mother Nature) appears towards the middle of the film, when Scar commands Sahari, and
the lionesses, to do a better job when it comes to hunting. Sahari tells him that there is nothing to
hunt because the land has become unfruitful and there is no living thing surrounding Pride Rock.
It is because of Scar and the hyenas', gluttony that there is a scarcity of food and life in the
kingdom. Teaching children what being egotistical and gluttonous can do to their surroundings.
The feminine never directly threaten[s] the natural world, but the lionesses by no means
receive praise or glory for doing so. (DoRozario) Ignoring the actions of female characters
makes the act seem trivial.
The tone of the film is alarming when the stampede of wildebeest places Simba in danger.
The audience becomes worried about young Simba, who almost gets torn by the roaring herd.
When Simba is in danger no one but Mufasa, his father, helps him. What does this imply? That
animals, or in our case humans, only care about themselves. We focus on selfishness and not
surprisingly it is Mufasa, a man, who overcomes the obstacle. Mufasa saves Simba, costing him
his life. If the roles had been reversed, would Sahari have done the same? Well never know

Karla Diaz
Topics in British Lit.
Bender

because Disney only gives its audience this version of heroism, where Mufasa is crowned as the
hero, giving another reason for men to feel superior.
Lets not forget Simba's exile. He runs away because he thinks hes committed a crime.
Returning home is a thought he cannot even consider, hes too mortified about the guilt he now
carries. This bildungsroman takes a bit of an extreme approach. Simba has to leave his home in
order to find himself. Yes, children will grow and go off into college thats a perfectly normal
thing. But, do they need to run away from their problems? It creates descriptions of the mythical
child in exile, like the stories of Moses and Jesus. (Gavin) Instead of facing difficulties that
arise in their paths they might think that leaving their home for some time will be all they need to
do to solve them.
Foster mentions the use of other images to represent sex, when Nala and Simba meet
again they have an intimate moment together. Timon and Pumba are with them at the beginning
of the scene but then they leave them alone, which is when the song Can you feel the Love
Tonight begins. The original song was appropriated for the film, easy to guess why. The scene
becomes a private moment between them, where they cleanse themselves and stroke each other
in the neck. Even though a young audience may not be able to see through the allusions in this
scene, they are still receiving the message. They know that Nala and Simba are lovers. Of course
they dont state it like this, instead theyd say something along the lines of they like each other
or so. Conversely, young girls are thus reassured that sex in conjunction with love is pleasant
rather than frightening, consequently leading to the rise of teenage pregnancies. (Ross)
While there are good morals influencing a young audience, we cannot ignore mature
themes lingering in the background. I have just pointed out a few of these instances but the film
is brimming with more examples. The impact that the Disney Corporation has exerted on
domains as varied as entertainment, should make us question how much it can affect the minds
of the young viewers, and whether its effects are positive or negative. (Faherty)

Karla Diaz
Topics in British Lit.
Bender

Works Cited
Artz, Lee. "The Righteousness Of Self-Centred Royals: The World According To Disney
Animation." Critical Arts: A South-North Journal Of Cultural & Media Studies 18.1
(2004): 116-146. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.
Deborah Ross. "Escape from Wonderland: Disney and the Female Imagination." Marvels &
Tales 18.1 (2004): 53-66. Project MUSE. Web. 11 Nov. 2015
DoRozario, R. C. The Consequences of Disney Anthropomorphism: Animated, HyperEnvironmental Stakes in Disney Entertainment. Femspec. March 2006. Vol. 7 Issue 1, p.
51. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.
Faherty, Vincent E. Is the Mouse Sensitive? A Study of Race, Gender, and Social Vulnerability
in Disney Animated Films. SIMILE: Studies In Media & Information Literacy
Education, Vol. 1 (Aug. 1, 2011): pp. 1-8. CrossRef. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.
Foster, Thomas C. "Chapter 16." How to Read Literature like a Professor: A Lively and
Entertaining Guide to Reading between the Lines. New York: Quill, 2003. N. pag. Print

Karla Diaz
Topics in British Lit.
Bender

Gavin, Rosemarie. The Lion King and Hamlet: A Homecoming for the Exiled Child The
English Journal. Vol. 85, No. 3, The Universe of Literature (Mar., 1996), pp. 55-57.
National Council of Teachers of English. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.
Kegerreis, Sue. "Freud And Klein In The Lion King." Journal Of Child Psychotherapy 39.3
(2013): 334-345. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.