Keyan Bowes

In keeping with the Shakespearean theme: I had no idea, until recently, that The Lion King was Hamlet, Prince of Denmark with lions and a happy ending.

A few days ago,  I saw the Lion King (in 3-D). I'd never seen the film before for some reason; we even have the DVD, but when I turned it on, I went off and watched the extra bits about how they researched and drew the film. I'd seen the play (or rather the musical) but that's not the same thing.  I was interested to see what they'd done in the retrofit of a 2-D animation to 3-D.

The Lion King was awesome, in a typically Disney way. The wit and wisecracks are constantly amusing, the story-line works, it's got loveable characters.  But it wasn't until Mufasa's ghost said "Remember!" as he fades away, in tones exactly reminiscent of the ghost of Hamlet's father that I had a great aha moment. After that, it was obvious, except that in this version, Hamlet avenges his father, marries Ophelia, and ascends the throne. Young Fortinbras never gets to show up, and the rest wasn't silence, it was actually people clapping.

As for the 3-D? Not much. The angles were wrong, and the animals looked awkward. The retrofit didn't take advantage of the wonderful scenery of the Kenyan plains. Pity, that.