Sundiata Lion King

After reading Sundiata Lion King of Mali, I have to say I understand why some people would claim this is where Disney got their inspiration for their version of Lion King. I have not seen Disney's Lion King in a couple years, however, I do remember the main plot line and I can see some of the similarities between the two stories. Both stories have a main character who is forced out of his respective kingdom at a young age and has to develop elsewhere. Both main characters return with a triumphant victory over the current evil rulers. The similarities stop there, however.  

Sundiata's Lion King focuses more on the up comings of Sundiata while he was still in the kingdom. The story spends a large portion of the reading demonstrating how Sundiata was at a disadvantage since the start. Sundiata was hated by the King's first wife ( Strong resemblance to Hercules which had that part deleted by Disney as well) and was unable to speak or walk for years. Sundiata had to endure being ridiculed despite the love that his father had for him. After the death of his father, Sundiata was driven out of his homeland. Not many details are given about Sundiata's time while he was in exile. In Disney's version of the Lion King, that is the biggest section of the plot. Simba's development from a young lion to a more mature one is the biggest point of the movie and therefore receives the most screen time. 

Disney's Lion king creates scar as a mix of the king's first wife and the sorcerer which takes the throne at the end of Sundiata's version. Scar is Simba's uncle ( related in a way such as Sundiata and the current queen) and takes part in the exile of the up coming king. One part that I found pretty funny was the lack of a love story in Sundiata's Lion King which was of course found in Disney's version. Disney's formula for their movies is so constant among all their story lines and somehow they still manage to make each movie with a small twist that will still attract their audiences back and back again. Disney makes a big emphasis on making sure all their heroes and protagonists are considered to be "good" people, and the easiest way to demonstrate this is to make them have love as part of their motivations. Love is the purest emotion which seemingly cannot be made evil and therefore is the perfect motive for Disney's protagonists. 

I would actually like to explore more deeply Disney's movie formula and maybe dig into why Disney appeals to the emotions that they do in order to create such blockbuster hits. With Disney's acquisition of Fox and Marvel, it will be interesting if Disney's philosophy starts finding its way into movies created by those companies as well. 

Overall I really enjoyed reading Sundiata Lion King of  Mali and have to agree with those who claim Disney gathered inspiration for their Lion King from this story. The main plot of the story is simply too similar to claim otherwise.