The Lion King 1 1/2 and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead are both examples of postmodernism and metafiction

There's always been this misconception that The Lion King is based on Shakespeare's Hamlet. I never got that. It seems to have much more in common with Richard III or one of the Bard's other historical plays. After all, where's the whole ghost telling Simba to exact revenge plot that makes up 90 percent of Hamlet's plot? I mean, yes, a brother kills a king and takes over, but that's pretty much it.

The Lion King 1½, however, definitely has a link to a specific play about Hamlet. In this case, however, it's Tom Stoppard's metafictional postmodern masterpiece, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Stoppard's play (RaGaD) takes a look at the happenings in Shakespeare's play from the point of view of two minor, but incredibly important (arguably) characters.

Umm, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

Admittedly, Timon and Pumbaa are more major than Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, but the idea is the same. What is the idea? That everyone is the star of their own story, but play various levels of supporting parts in the lives of others. Sometimes, you may be nothing more than a cameo or a walk-on. Sometimes, you may have an actual co-starring roll.

It all depends on the point of view, see?

The Lion King story is a tragedy. A tragedy about the death of a monarch and the banishment of a rightful heir…guilt…murder…redemption.

So is The Lion King 1½. But the sequel is told through the eyes of different characters. Just like RaGaD. That play pretty much retells the basic points of Hamlet, though by the end "the greatest play ever written" looks more like a Monty Python skit. By the time Timon and Pumbaa finish retelling the story of the death of Mufasa and the return of Simba it no longer quite carries the tragic load it did in the original.

Which do you prefer?

The Lion King is arguably the greatest Disney movie of all time. But there's something about the retelling that is somehow even better. Funnier, of course, but also deeper. Sometimes a tragedy told as a comedy strengthens it. The classic example is Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove.