The Lion King as a family film musical adaptation of Hamlet

The concept of genre is not unique to film, and helps to classify the arts in all sectors. Chandler (2012) points out that genre means type or class, and “is widely used in rhetoric, literary theory, media theory, and more recently linguistics, to refer to a distinctive type of \\\'text,’” (p. 1). Genre has become pervasive in the film and media industries, to the point where authors or filmmakers generate content specifically to conform to a genre. Genre helps filmmakers from a marketing perspective. In some cases, genre also aligns with other elements of film including the filmmaking modes or techniques. Animation is, for example, a mode, but not necessarily a genre. The Lion King can be classified both as musical and also family film, showing how multiple genres and modes often converge. When Walt Disney Pictures produces animated musicals like The Lion King, the studio typically does fuse technical elements like animation, with the formulaic tropes and conventions of the family movie genre. The Lion King is a 1994 feature film set in Africa and based loosely on the structure and plot of Shakespeare’s Hamlet (Liang, 2017). Protagonist Simba is the heir to his father Musafa’s throne. However, uncle Scar plots to usurp both reigning King Musafa and Simba. Simba is exiled, and Scar does assume power. While in exile, Simba forms strategic alliances and deep friendships with other outcast animals, who help Simba develop the confidence he needs to eventually return home to the Pride Lands and come into his own as King. Simba receives a powerful vision of his father, too, further motivating him to stand up for his rights and to bravely face his fearsome and treacherous uncle. The Disney animated film is punctuated by memorable musical numbers like “Haguna Matata,” and “Circle of Life.” As such, The Lion King blends elements from the two genres of movie musical and animated feature family films. As the story could have been developed for a different audience and appealing to different genre sensibilities, there is nothing inherent in the plot that makes The Lion King either a musical or a family film. The story was based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, which is neither a musical nor a family story, but a tragedy. Therefore, the Disney story does conscientiously combine elements of a Bildungsroman, or coming of age film, with the core features of family movies. A happy ending is essential for the family movie genre, which by definition must appeal both to children and to adults who wish to inculcate positive social values into their offspring. The Lion King does have that happy ending, but not without offering the instructive elements that are critical for a successful family film. Animation is the mode and medium, but not necessary to the development of a family film. A family film can just as well be live-action. However, animation allows The Lion King to introduce viewers to human beings in animal form. Animation enables for a level of magical realism that is mainly impossible in live action format, which is why animation is so popular in family films that take into account complex human emotions but packaged for an audience that is less emotionally or psychologically mature. Genre theory implies an ascription to a formula that either helps the producers market the film more effectively and also helps viewers to comprehend or classify what they are watching for easy digestion (Grant & Kurtz, 2016). Because of these limitations, genre films can be constrained by their tropes and conventions. As successful as The Lion King is, it does follow the conventions of the family film genre, by ensuring that Simba does become the rightful heir to the throne of the Pride Lands. The audience knows that as far as Simba must stray from the Pride Lands that he will eventually return: summed up most obviously in the theme song “The Circle of Life.” Simba is part of the circle of life, and his return to the Pride Lands is inevitable because it completes his circular journey. The Lion King also exhibits some conventions of the bildungsroman in particular, as a sub-genre or hybrid genre within the family film super-genre. For example, when Simba first meets Timon and Pumbaa, they sing “Haguna Matata,” which signifies the carefree innocence of childhood. Nala catalyzes Simba’s growth from childhood to adulthood, through implied sexual maturation. Given the conventions of the family film genre, though, audiences are spared any overt references to Simba’s sexual coming-of-age. Only his self-empowerment and identity development are central to the bildungsroman sub-genre. The vision of his father further prompts Simba to assume the mantle of manhood as he fulfills his destiny.