Proppian Analysis of The Lion King.

Synopsis:

A young lion prince is born (Simba), thus making his uncle Scar the second in line to the throne. Scar plots with the Hyenas to kill King Mufasa and Prince Simba, thus making himself king. The king is killed and Simba is led to believe by Scar that it was his fault, and so flees the kingdom in shame. After years of exile he is persauded to return home to overthrow the usurper and claim the kingdom as his own thus completing "Circle of Life." [www.imdb.com]

Identified Character Types:

The Villain - Scar (evil uncle of Simba)

The Donor - Rafiki (all-knowing monkey)

The Helper(s) - Timone and Pumba (Friends who discover and look after Simba)

The Princess - Nala (Simba's childhood sweetheart)

Her Father - not mentioned

The Dispatcher - Nala (makes problems in Prideland known to Simba and convinces him to return)

The Hero - Simba (ultimately returns to Prideland and overthrows Scar)

False Hero - Scar (does not try to marry princess but tries to run Prideland)

Analysis of Board Game:

In our board game we identified all of these characters and their character types were shown in the following ways:

- The main image on our board game was of Rafiki in the middle with the words "What will your fate be?" below him, showing that he is the all knowing donor.

- If you land on a square with Scar of the Hyenas, you either miss a go, go back spaces or get hurt, which happens in the film.

- If you land on Timone and Pumba, they take you across a bridge and help you progress through the game, as they do in the film.

- If you land on Nala, she can help you go forward a few spaces and the game ends with the player marrying her.

- Half way through the game you return to the Prideland and must miss a go if you land on a particular square to restore it.

There were a few other outcomes from landing on certain squares but those mentioned above were the most important.

Examples of Functions in Lion King:

- Villain attempts to decieve hero with trickery: Scar leads Simba to believe he is at fault for Mufasa's death.

- Hero decides on counteraction: Simba decides to return and restore Prideland.

- Villain defeated: Simba defeats Scar and returns to thrown.

- True hero recognised: Simba is king.

- Hero marries and ascends throne: Simba marries Nala and is king.

Evaluation of Propp's Theory:

When comparing Vladimir Propp's theory to The Lion King, we found it challenging to identify all of the functions, partly because the theory is so old [20's] and because not all of the character types were identified [eg. Nala's Father] and some character's doubled up as two types of character. [eg. Nala - princess and dispatcher.] Propp's theory is that of a Russian Folk Tale after all and due to the fact that his theory is now outdated, more recent film does not conform to all of his ideas.