The Lion King and Disney's Sequel Curse

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That feel when you watch a video talking about Disney animated sequels that is almost as long as a typical Disney animated sequel.

So I'd always heard the term, "the lion king is just hamlet." But to be so eloquently put, thoroughly and studiously ascertained by the breadsword, and that only being 30 minutes into the video, you've done it again you brilliant bastard!

Ironically, Hamlet has been my go-to example for years of why "originality" or "unpredictability" isn't the highest goal of storytelling. I watch a live staging of Hamlet every few years; in 2021, I staged a reading of it in a park with friends because we all missed live theater. (I was Claudius.) The story doesn't change. Only the telling does--the actors' performance choices, the visual design, the blocking and other direction. But those retellings and reimaginings make a good story infinitely relatable and infinitely readable/watchable. A good Hamlet is always worth watching. My usual closing argument is, "And when somebody gave it a happy ending and called it The Lion King, Disney made a bazillion dollars off it, so don't tell me audiences only want new stuff."

The Lion King 1 1/2 is one of my favorite Disney sequels simply because it has one of my favorite jokes in any Disney movie ever: “We’re going to get old walking across this thing.”

To add to your "Hamlet's father's ghost is the true villain" theory, keep in mind that in the Elizabethan stage that there was accepted portions of the stage meant to be interpreted as heaven (above the stage) and hell (under the stage). And Hamlet's father's ghost when he disappears off stage but is still spooking the night's watch into swearing the vow to Hamlet, knocks and shouts from underneath the stage--per the stage directions. I.E. Hamlet's father's ghost is knocking from hell, not heaven. Also add into this the context that to Elizabethans, ghosts weren't what we'd consider "the souls of the departed"--they were either angels or demons taking the shapes of the departed to influence human action (this is a simplification to make a point). Which is why you needed an university trained person to determine the true nature of a ghost (aka why the Night's Watch have dragged the skeptical Horatio out of bed in the first scene--as a university educated young man, he's supposed to be able to "interpret" whether the ghost is heavenly or demonic. Horatio in that scene is a bit of a stand-in for the Elizabethan audience and their view of ghosts at the time as the skeptical view that "there's no such thing as ghosts". That skepticism was increasingly becoming the opinion of the average educated Elizabethan. As such, Horatio fails at his task--though if you pay attention the ghost flees at the invocation of Christ's name and refuses to answer when it's invoked. Had Horatio paid more attention at the University one might argue, he would have known from that alone that the ghost was nothing good--but alas Horatio was a skeptic scared shitless by having his worldview challenged that he didn't pay attention, and as such the ghost got what it wanted. In other words, in the context of the Elizabethan times: the ghost of Hamlet's father is a demon, come in the shape of Hamlet's father to set Hamlet on a self-destructive path of vengeance that will damn and doom all those around him.

Stopping everything I'm doing to watch this. Thank you in advance Bread Dad.

FINALLY, the validation of my high school rants that if The Lion King is Hamlet then The Lion King 1 1/2 is absolutely Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead has never been so sweet! Also thank you for talking about literally my favorite Disney sequel, this has become SUCH a good day.

I was really not expecting such a deep analysis when I clicked on this video. This is fantastic. I feel like the "video essay" genre has become pretty flooded with surface level recaps, and this was very refreshing

I love the idea that we've been telling the exact same stories in different permutations throughout our entire human existence. We keep thinking of the same ideas, because it's impossible to think of ideas outside of our own human understanding of the world. As a creator, it's almost comforting to know you don't have to create the "next big thing", something so ~original~, to create a memorable story. Creating stories that feel familiar, that borrow from the collective human experience, will always resonate with others.

The warmth that you put into these essays is always so amazing to feel.

Ok so, I nee to say something... There are actually 2 more good Disney sequels out there! There's Cinderella 3, which is actually surprisingly a ton of fun, and Rescuers: Down Under which is LEAGUES ahead of it's predecessor in every possible way.

I see you bready boy. Fight the good fight.

I would honestly say Rescuers Down Under is far more known and memorable than The Rescuers, and that was the first major Disney sequel.

I literally yelled "yoooooooooo" in my room when I saw this video and skipped 2 other videos I had queued up. I love every video essay you release and have rewatched dang near all of them multiple times (videos like tintin and gurren lagan too many times to count) Keep doing what you're doing and bringing your voice to every thing you put out.

Apparently, "Scar" is actually just a cruel nickname and the character's "real" name is "Taka," which can mean "waste" or "desire" in Swahili. Although there is apparently a Disney Jr. cartoon that "establishes" Scar's real name was "Askari," which means "police" or "soldier" or "guard" in Swahili. >sniff< Yup.

I loudly cheered when you revealed this would tackle 1 1/2. This movie means a lot to me and I think it was my first encounter of 4th wall breaking in film and it just amazed me that you could do such a ridiculously cool thing as having characters what their own movie, also it was and still is downright hilarious. A lovely video as always.

I talk about Lion King 1 ½ so often and people always look at me so confused! But I quote it so much more than the original!!

So happy you're still around to keep us entertained with so much knowledge

That feeling when you watch a breadsword video and it makes you laugh, think, and cry all in one condensed analysis.. Now that’s a full video. - Jim Valvano