by Carl » February 21st, 2016, 5:16 am
This was a highly fascinating video. Most people here know I'm a fan of Shakespeare's; in fact his works are a large part of why I studied literature in college, so of course I have great respect for his work and tend to notice its influence. I believe the reason so many people compare The Lion King with Hamlet is because Disney said it began as an adaptation of Hamlet; this will obviously lead people to see the Shakespearian influences much more easily, particularly since most of us, unfortunately, have limited knowledge of African culture. I had not heard of Sundiata, but I will certainly be furthering research on him now that I do know, and will be sure to pass his story along to my cousin whom I assist in raising, so that at least one member of the next generation will know something about it. The kid already loves The Lion King as a franchise, so the interest is there.
As another note, I have maintained for quite some time that no work is completely original, nor does any work draw from a single source only. Everything any person writes draws inspiration from everything that person has experienced through real life and through other stories they have heard from books, movies, plays, TV, music, etc. If I were to write a story based on The Lion King, it would contain elements of everything else I am familiar with, whether that were obvious or not. And yes, that would include more Shakespeare, but it would also include a vast number of other preexisting stories and authors, more of others depending on what direction I took the story in. My point here being that people should already be thinking about what else inspired something, or at least be aware that something else played a role. It's nice to see or read such analyses of a work.