The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 13.2443  Thursday, 19 December 2002

From:           John W. Kennedy <
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 >
Date:           Wednesday, 18 Dec 2002 15:44:36 -0500
Subject: 13.2431 Re: Hamlet! The Musical
Comment:        Re: SHK 13.2431 Re: Hamlet! The Musical

Mike Jensen <
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 > writes,

>John W. Kennedy added nothing new to my understanding of the
>similarities between *Hamlet* and *The Lion King.*

Why then, considering that you wrote:

>Just because a plot has an uncle trying to get a throne does not mean a
>story is significantly based on *Hamlet*.

and I wrote:

>And there's a lot more in common than a plotting uncle.  The king is
>killed by his brother, who assumes the throne and (at least in
>appearance) the queen.  The murder is eventually avenged by the king's
>son, despite his initial reluctance to act.

I must conclude that you either did not read what I wrote, or else, in
your previous message, stated the case to be weaker than you knew it to
be.

While it goes too far to consider "The Lion King" a version of "Hamlet"
in the sense that, say, "Treasure Planet" is a version of "Treasure
Island", the similarities, especially given what may and may not be done
in a main-line Disney animated feature, are great, and were obvious to
me the moment I first saw the film.

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