The Lion King

‘The Lion King’ is a movie produced by Walt Disney Animation and released by Walt

Disney Pictures. The story takes place in a kingdom of lions in Africa. It presents the

adventures of Simba, a lion who had to face the difficulties of life at a very fragile age. He

had to take his father Mufasa’s place and be a king of the Pride Lands. However, Mufasa’s

brother and Simba’s uncle, Scar kills Mufasa. Simba runs away and after he grows older he

come back home and realize that he must revenge his father and stop his uncle from

destroying the Pride Lands. The entire story is based on the evolution of Simba and the stages

he is going through in the pursuit of maturity. ‘The Lion King’ can be analysed and criticised

through psychoanalytic perspectives.

In this essay I will consider ‘The Lion King’ as a cultural artefact. I will elucidate the

psychoanalytic theory presented in the film trough the psychoanalytic concepts of Freud.

Moreover I will criticise ‘The Lion King’ artefact from a psychoanalytic perspective.

The beginning of the movie shows the presentation of Simba to the assembled throne

in front of the whole jungle. A very important symbol is shown from the start, ‘The Pride

Rock’ which is the phallic symbol of masculine power. This is the place where Simba is

shown to the entire jungle. He is the little prince of The Pride Lands or in Freud’s view ‘His

Majesty the Baby’ (Freud, 1914:91). In fact if we analyse deeply, every new born is treated

like a prince or a princess by his mother. The baby benefits from the attention of everyone and

he feels like the centre of the universe. Freud’s point of view was that everyone is the centre

of the universe at their own birth. Moreover, the image from the beginning of the movie

shows that Simba is not only the centre of his parents’ world, but he is adored by the whole

jungle. The presentation of Simba consists in a ritual made by a monkey, the priest of the

jungle. The image of Simba’s family is classical: mother, father and Simba, their baby,
presented in a bright light as good characters. On the other side of the jungle, ‘the dark side’,

Scar is presented with the hyenas in an elephant’s graveyard and a dark place filled by stones.

While Mufasa and his family live at the Pride Rock, Scar lives in a dark cave. They are

described as bad characters and even their appearance is darker than the others. The hyenas

are black, mad, jealous, hungry and wicked. While Mufasa and Simba have orange and red

fur, Scar’s fur is brown and black. Moreover, Scar’s eyes are green, which is considered a

symbol of envy and jealousy. The envy that Scar possesses comes from the inability to

become king. His hopes are ruined the moment Simba is born. Scar is the only one who is not

present to the ceremony and he names Simba ‘head ball’. If Simba were a girl, he could have

been the next king after Mufasa’s death, but that was not the case. Scar is angry and he wants

Mufasa and Simba dead. In the beginning of the film, the plans of Scar are explained trough a

song. The song of Scar sounds like a plan of revenge. His words are 'Be prepared for the death

of the king and Simba too, I will be king, stay with me and you will not be hungry again.'

(The Lion King, 1994) He refers to the hyenas, which are taken by Scar on his side. Scar uses

clever lyrics about power and he needs the hyenas on his side to win. The hyenas are scared of

Scar because he tells them they will have nothing without him. That is why they are forced to

stay with him even if they do not want to. They are too scared to find another way. The

arrogance and sarcasm of Scar can be observed in the moment he makes the hyenas kill

Simba. If he was not that arrogant he could kill Simba himself. He feels like royalty and he

feels that he does not have to do the dirty work. In the end of the film Scar betrays the hyenas

by telling in front of the whole jungle that they are responsible for everything and the ideas

were theirs, not his. He ends up being killed by the hyenas and that is the point when Scar’s

shadow dies because he has been in the shadows throughout the entire story.

At one point, Mufasa takes Simba for a walk and explains him the course of life. He

describes life as 'a delicate balance' (The Lion King, 1994) where lions eat antelopes and
antelopes eat grass. When lions die they become grass and the cycle continues. He shows his

son ‘The Land of Pride’ and he tells him that one day all he can see will be his land. In

addition to that, Mufasa shows Simba the role of the stars. 'Look at the stars, the great kings

of the past look down on us from those stars. So whenever you feel alone just remember that

those kings will always be there to guide you, and so am I.' (The Lion King, 1994) Even if his

father explains to him that one day he will leave, Simba is too excited to think that his father

has to die in order for him to become a king. Moreover, the song ‘I just cannot wait to be

king’ shows Simba’s narcissism. Consciously or unconsciously Simba wishes for Mufasa to

die. Because Simba is a child he does not fully take the conscious in serious. He lives in his

own world of fantasy where he is proud that one day he will be the future king of the whole

jungle. The wish of power is in fact an unconscious wish to push Mufasa away and take his

crown. Simba brags with that in front of Nala and Zazu. Nala is as enthusiastic as Simba but

Zazu tries to take Simba to the real world with the words ‘not yet’(The Lion King, 1994) .

This is the moment when Simba’s super ego shows up. The parental figure of his father, the

king, overwhelmed Simba and his wish to be king is growing. He thinks that when he will

become a king he will be free to do whatever he wants and he will not have to respect others

anymore. The idea that he will have the supreme power is overexciting for little Simba.

Simba feels that Scar is a part of family and he trusts him. Even when Scar treats little

Simba with sarcasm, he calls him ‘uncle Scar’. When Scar kills Mufasa, he makes Simba

believe that he is the reason for his father’s death. In Scar’s words, 'The king is dead, if it

were not for you the king would still be alive. What will your mother think? Run away and

never return.' (The Lion King, 1994), Simba runs away. There is a voice inside Simba that is

stressing his thoughts. He would rather see his father die and run than accept dependency.

Running away is in fact a reaction based on fear. He is haunted by his own fear to face his

mother and the entire jungle. The whole problem can be explained from Freud’s point of
view. This situation is all about the ‘Oedipus complex’ and by running away from the

Oedipus complex he has to forget Mufasa. The Oedipus Complex begins to show from the

moment when Simba sang the song ‘I just cannot wait to be king’. Freud’s theory is based on

the myth of Oedipus, who kills his father and marries his mother. In the present case, the film

‘The Lion King’, Simba does not kill his father but he sees his father die. The shame he feels

for his mother is so deep that he cannot face it. Simba’s running away is a traumatised

reaction to the Oedipal conflict caused. He becomes ‘phobic’ to the Land of Pride and trough

his journey he tries to conceal the memory of Mufasa. From the moment when he is found by

Timon and Pumba he starts a new life with the motto ‘Kakuna Matata’. As his new friends

said, ‘Kakuna Matata, means no worries for the rest of your days' (The Lion King, 1994).

Pumba tells Simba 'these two words resolve all your problems' (The Lion King, 1994) and

Timon approves him. Simba decides to reject his superego and satisfies his identity by

abandoning all his responsibilities. He hides from reality through the new motto and he tries

to adapt his old life to a new one. For example, he starts to behave to differently, he does not

eat meat anymore, the only food he had contained bugs. Furthermore, the Freudian

understanding of ‘Kakuna Matata’ refers to no kids, no wife and no responsibilities. Thus, the

way he finds is easier but he has no future if nothing will change.

After some years, Simba grows and he is not a child anymore. Nala finds him and tries

to convince him that the Pride Land needs him. 'We need you at home, everything is

destroyed. It is your responsibility, you are the only hope.' (The Lion King, 1994) Simba is

afraid to come back home because he thought that his father’s death was because of him. He

knew that Mufasa’s death was only an accident but Mufasa died to protect him. That is the

reason why Simba feels guilty and he cannot face the past and especially his mother. Simba

tries to speak with the stars, as his father told him to do so 'You said you will be always there

for me but you are not.' (The Lion King, 1994) With Nala and Rafiki’s help, he finds the
voice of his father in himself. Rafiki, the monkey priest, plays a very important role in

Simba’s search for identity. He uses a therapy which encourages Simba to learn from the past

and face the past. 'The past can hurt, but the way I see it you can either run from it or learn

from it.' (The Lion King, 1994) Mufasa was not dead, he lived in Simba’s conscience. Mufasa

was the voice he needed and that voice was inside him. While Simba thinks that he is

responsible for his father’s death, he cannot find Mufasa in himself. At this point Simba finds

himself in an emotional struggle because he has to remember who he really is and what his

role in life is. He has to find his own way back to Mufasa’s identity. The words of his father

guide him 'You have forgotten who you are and so you have forgotten me, look inside Simba,

you have to take your place in the circle of life.' (The Lion King, 1994) He finally finds the

reflection of his father in his heart and Mufasa speaks through his son. Even Nala and Sarabi,

Simba’s mother, at first sight thought that Simba is Mufasa. That is because they look alike.

This is another aspect that shows Simba how much he resembles Mufasa and he realises that

he has to follow his father’s thoughts. Simba decides that he has to come back home and

rescue his kingdom but what he cannot picture is the image that Nala describes to him of the

Land of Pride. From the moment Scar was king everything was destroyed. His envy is in fact

a destructive envy because he destroys all the beauty of the Land of Pride and transforms it in

darkness and ugliness. Moreover, that is the reason Nala runs away from home. She wants to

find help because there is no food anymore and all the animals could die. Due to the fact that

Simba had an emotional decline because of his fear of coming back home, now he has to fear

the lies said by Scar.

Trough the entire movie Simba feels guilty because of Mufasa’s death. This guilt has

two origins. One is the need of punishment because he knows how much he wished for

himself to become a king and another one which refers to the fear of losing love. He is afraid

to lose the parental love. Simba thinks that his mother will blame him for his father’s death
and that means that he will lose his mother’s love. This aspect regards the Oedipal complex.

Simba feels attached to his mother and he cannot imagine how life would be if his mother will

look at him in a different way.

In conclusion, ‘The Lion King’ is a film that can be analysed and criticised from many

psychoanalytical points of view. This cultural artefact was elucidated trough the entire essay

with Freudian theories and concepts. Simba’s journey was about achieving the level of

maturity in order to be a king. The main psychoanalytic perspective is the Oedipus Complex

whose stages can be found one by one during the film. Even if Simba runs away from his

home, the Land of Pride, the moment he realises that he has to come back home, he proves

that his level of maturity is that of a king. The ending of the movie is a happy one, where

good wins over evil. Scar dies and the king of the Pride Land is Simba. The final image is

very similar with the one from the beginning of the film where the king and the queen are

presented with a new born. As well as Simba, the new child is part of a ritual for the

ceremony of presentation in front of the jungle on the Pride Rock which is the symbol of

power. The darkness and sadness disappear and The Pride Land looks once more bright and

filled by happiness, in celebration of the birth of the child.

Bibliographic reference:

The Lion King (1994) [DVD]

Lecture notes

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