The movie was widely written by Black South Africans, only 4 years after the release of Nelson Mandela. Many of the writers on the film say that Scar is supposed to represent imperialist interests, Mufasa is the traditional African rule, while Simba represents Nelson Mandela coming back from prison and exhile to rule and overthrow the imperialists and rule their world better. I usually hate looking at author’s intent, but I find it to be essential to understanding the Lion King.
The Hyenas represent the imperial core, starving and doing terrible under the rule, but also having hopes of being as powerful as Scar. Scar is a good representation of facism when you REALLY think about it.
that really seems like a stretch especially as the film far closer follows the themes of macbeth or hamlet or any other propaganda about divine right of kings
the patriachal care along with predation offered by Mufasa is almost exactly the feudal ideological role of the nobility and his speach about the circle of life is the feudal notion of everyone having their assigned role, rights and responsibilities. Scar by killing Mufasa goes against the natural order and thus the entire system is upset. The divine right of kings espouses that when a king is killed or usurped there will be storms and nature will be thrown out of balance - as depicted in Macbeth. Then upon the return of the rightful king the natural balance is restored. So the plot of the film very closely follows the doctrine of divine right of kings
As a metaphor for apartheid it just doesn’t fit very well only so far as Mandela good, racism bad. The film makes great emphasis on Simba personally coming from a royal lineage which really doesn’t fit Mandela. If the plot is about Mandela or apartheid why doesn’t it in any meaningful way touch upon those themes or ideas
^^^^^^this. I’ll write a more detailed response, but this is completely true. I DO NOT like Iran or Russia politically whatsoever, they objectively fucking suck and I’m not willing to debate that. However, much of this board’s support of both of these nations is based in just how destructive the counter-forces are to the rest of the world. I do not believe people on this board saying that Russia invading some of the most economically important parts of Ukraine is just “freeing them from Nazis”. The Russians in Ukraine DO deserve protection, however it’s delusional to think the Russian state is giving protection on solely moral grounds.
However as flawed as Russia and Iran are, even in their overall ideology of what I’m about to praise, they believe in some form of national self determination that leaves the people of Donbass or Palestine infinitely more prepared for succeeding if they win the fight. Supporting these nation’s overall support of national self determination over overwhelming foreign influence is good, even if the people use their self determination for bad.
Where are you getting this council of black African writers from? IMDb say it was written by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton all of which are white Americans.
So people who had nothing to do with the plot or themes, got it. It’s Disney monarchist propaganda regardless of what some minor musical writers thought
I think it’s kinda short sighted to assume that minorities who got lesser credits had no impact on the story. We’re literally talking about a musical, where the music is key to the themes. Lyric writers are essential in musicals.
So yes, they are authors who are able to have an opinion on what their collective work means. It’s art, there is no correct interpretation of it. Their opinions on their own work are worth considering, regardless of how much you want to write off lyricists in a musical. It is a clone of Macbeth, and has all the flaws that come with that, maybe Disney even intended those flaws. But that doesn’t take away from how essential lyrics are in a musical, and how those people can have specific intent for the story.
Do you have a source (or names?) for the claim about the movie being “widely written by black South Africans”, because as others here have noted, the 3 credited screenwriters are all white Americans. I briefly looked up about half of the “Story by” credits, and they all seemed to be white Americans. This feels like an apocryphal story.
The movie was widely written by Black South Africans, only 4 years after the release of Nelson Mandela. Many of the writers on the film say that Scar is supposed to represent imperialist interests, Mufasa is the traditional African rule, while Simba represents Nelson Mandela coming back from prison and exhile to rule and overthrow the imperialists and rule their world better. I usually hate looking at author’s intent, but I find it to be essential to understanding the Lion King.
The Hyenas represent the imperial core, starving and doing terrible under the rule, but also having hopes of being as powerful as Scar. Scar is a good representation of facism when you REALLY think about it.
that really seems like a stretch especially as the film far closer follows the themes of macbeth or hamlet or any other propaganda about divine right of kings
the patriachal care along with predation offered by Mufasa is almost exactly the feudal ideological role of the nobility and his speach about the circle of life is the feudal notion of everyone having their assigned role, rights and responsibilities. Scar by killing Mufasa goes against the natural order and thus the entire system is upset. The divine right of kings espouses that when a king is killed or usurped there will be storms and nature will be thrown out of balance - as depicted in Macbeth. Then upon the return of the rightful king the natural balance is restored. So the plot of the film very closely follows the doctrine of divine right of kings
As a metaphor for apartheid it just doesn’t fit very well only so far as Mandela good, racism bad. The film makes great emphasis on Simba personally coming from a royal lineage which really doesn’t fit Mandela. If the plot is about Mandela or apartheid why doesn’t it in any meaningful way touch upon those themes or ideas
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^^^^^^this. I’ll write a more detailed response, but this is completely true. I DO NOT like Iran or Russia politically whatsoever, they objectively fucking suck and I’m not willing to debate that. However, much of this board’s support of both of these nations is based in just how destructive the counter-forces are to the rest of the world. I do not believe people on this board saying that Russia invading some of the most economically important parts of Ukraine is just “freeing them from Nazis”. The Russians in Ukraine DO deserve protection, however it’s delusional to think the Russian state is giving protection on solely moral grounds.
However as flawed as Russia and Iran are, even in their overall ideology of what I’m about to praise, they believe in some form of national self determination that leaves the people of Donbass or Palestine infinitely more prepared for succeeding if they win the fight. Supporting these nation’s overall support of national self determination over overwhelming foreign influence is good, even if the people use their self determination for bad.
Where are you getting this council of black African writers from? IMDb say it was written by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton all of which are white Americans.
Musicians who also wrote on the Lion King.
So people who had nothing to do with the plot or themes, got it. It’s Disney monarchist propaganda regardless of what some minor musical writers thought
I think it’s kinda short sighted to assume that minorities who got lesser credits had no impact on the story. We’re literally talking about a musical, where the music is key to the themes. Lyric writers are essential in musicals.
So yes, they are authors who are able to have an opinion on what their collective work means. It’s art, there is no correct interpretation of it. Their opinions on their own work are worth considering, regardless of how much you want to write off lyricists in a musical. It is a clone of Macbeth, and has all the flaws that come with that, maybe Disney even intended those flaws. But that doesn’t take away from how essential lyrics are in a musical, and how those people can have specific intent for the story.
Do you have a source (or names?) for the claim about the movie being “widely written by black South Africans”, because as others here have noted, the 3 credited screenwriters are all white Americans. I briefly looked up about half of the “Story by” credits, and they all seemed to be white Americans. This feels like an apocryphal story.
Check the video I posted in my comments, it has the sources.