Illustrating Contrast: A Study of Heroism and Villainy within The Lion King
Jean Eros Taylor
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of Master of Fine Arts in Illustration
at
The Savannah College of Art and Design
August 2012, Jean Eros Taylor
The author hereby grants SCAD permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic
thesis copies of document in whole or in part in any medium now known or hereafter created.
Signature of Author and Date ____________________________________________________________
John Foerster
Committee Chair
Date
Mohamed Danawi
Committee Member
Date
Rihab Bagnole
Committee Member
Date
Illustrating Contrast: A Study of Heroism and Villainy within The Lion King
A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Illustration Department
in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Degree of Master of Fine Arts in Illustration
Savannah College of Art and Design
By
Jean Eros Taylor
Savannah, GA
August 2012
Table of Contents
1. Abstract p. 1
2. Introduction p. 2-3
a. Thesis Statement p. 2
b. Summary of Characters and Story p. 2
c. Introduction of Contrast p. 2-3
3. Color p. 3-7
a. Simba’s Colors p. 4
b. Instincts of Color p. 5-6
c. Scar’s Colors p. 6-7
4. Shape p. 8-12
a. Simba’s Shape p. 8-9
b. Instincts of Shape p. 9-10
c. Scar’s Shape p. 10-12
5. Placement p. 12-18
a. Instincts of Placement p. 12-14
b. Simba’s Placement p. 13-14
c. Scar’s Placement p. 15-18
6. Size p. 18-21
a. Instincts of Size p. 18-20
b. Simba’s Size p. 18-20
c. Scar’s Size p. 20-21
7. Conclusion p. 21-23
a. Stereotypes p. 21
b. Anthropomorphism p. 21
c. Hero vs. Villain p. 22
d. Disney’s Manipulation p. 23
8. Images p. 24-56
9. Bibliography p. 57
Illustrating Contrast: A Study of Heroism and Villainy within The Lion King
Jean Eros Taylor
August 2012
Disney has been a huge influence in the areas of animation, entertainment, storytelling, and
culture during the twentieth century, especially for children. A variety of generations appreciate
the classic Disney films from children watching for the first time to adults reliving their
childhood favorites. As viewers grow older they begin to notice how Disney simplified images
and ideas to provide a quick impact and a clear message to their viewers, especially in regards to
the contrast shown between the hero and villain of each film. It can be argued that Disney’s
manipulation of visual elements subtly disguises deeper subtexts concerning Western culture’s
views about stereotypes. Numerous critics have discussed stereotypes represented in the Disney
princesses but few have explored stereotype implications with the male heroes and villains, more
specifically Simba and Scar from The Lion King. This paper will examine how Disney
emphasizes the contrast between the hero, Simba, and the villain, Scar, through visual elements
such as color, size, shape and placement, and how these formal elements rely on instinctual
human reactions to create assumptions.
1
Illustration is a visual medium with the purpose of communicating an idea or message,
and it relies on formal elements such as color, size, shape, and placement. Disney manipulates
these elements to simultaneously impact viewers’ emotional responses and present a contrast of
positive and negative associations between heroism and villainy. The Disney hero and villain are
the opposing forces within the principal theme of each film, and Disney is known for their
inclination toward oversimplifying appearances to provide clear characterizations for their
audience. The hero is the character that ultimately succeeds and the villain is the character that
inevitably fails. Simba and Scar from The Lion King visually display qualities that foreshadow
their respective success and failure.
The Lion King is an allegorical story about a young lion, Simba, who grows up to learn
about responsibility and staying true to his identity as the king of the African wildlife. When the
story begins, Mufasa is the king of Pride Rock, the rock formation or “castle” where the ruler
resides, the seat of power. Mufasa’s brother, Scar, has always resented Mufasa’s position of
power. Mufasa has a son, Simba, who will succeed him when he dies, meaning that Scar will
never be king. Scar plots to get rid of both Mufasa and Simba so that he can be the king. The Lion
King has often been compared to William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, because of the murder of
Simba’s father, Mufasa, by his power hungry uncle, Scar. Simba, however, does not die, but
escapes and the story is about his journey of growing up and returning home to assume the
responsibilities of his father’s throne and overthrow his greedy uncle, Scar.
The audience will relate or respond to visual elements best when a contrast is presented,
such as the contrast between the hero and villain of The Lion King. This contrast helps viewers to
find patterns of regularity and irregularity.1 In her book, Picture This: Perception and
Composition, Molly Bang presents objects of different colors, sizes, and shapes in order to create
a framework with which to relate each object. Even the placement of objects in relation to each
1
Molly Bang, Picture This: Perception and Composition (Boston, A Bulfinch Press
Book, Little Brown and Company, 1991), 110.
2
other serves to provide context for the viewer. According to Bang, “We notice contrasts, or put
another way, contrasts enables us to see.”2 Without a contrasting element, the monotony of a
single color or a single continuous pattern would lose the viewer’s interest. For instance, the
audience would lose interest in Simba if there were no opposing force threatening the idyllic
world he lived in. As a character, Simba would have no personal growth if everything came easy
to him. The message of responsibility Disney presents in The Lion King would not have an
impact without Scar to demonstrate negligence. Repetition is a part of life, but an endless,
unbroken pattern does not exist in nature because nature is made up of cyclical patterns that are
frequently broken up by irregularities.3 Both human life and art would suffer from living
exclusively in either extreme of perfect patterns or complete chaos. Thus, Disney continuously
presents the contrast of the hero and the villain throughout their films. This paper will examine
how Disney emphasizes the contrast between the hero, Simba, and the villain, Scar, through the
visual elements of color, shape, placement and size.
Bang believes that “color’s effect on us is strong-stronger than that of other picture
elements.”4 It is hard to ignore lighter, more intense, colors because they activate the color
sensors of our eyes. When we look at white, we are looking at the projected combination of all
the colors in the color spectrum. Black absorbs the other colors, so when we look at black, muted
or darker colors our eyes tend to rest because they are not as activated. The viewer will note the
contrast between the light and dark areas of the image before noticing the content of the image,
whether the artist intended it or not. The contrast of the light and dark colors assigned to Simba
and Scar will be the first contrasts that the audience will notice between the characters.
2
Ibid.
3
Ibid.,108.
4
Ibid., 104.
3
Simba, like Mufasa, is a light golden color and when Simba grows up he has a bright red
mane. Bang notes that there appears to be “some sort of gravitational effect” in relation to size
and color: “the larger the mass of color, the more our attention is drawn to it.”5 There is simply
more of Simba’s red mane to look at than Scar’s black mane and the red catches the eye more
easily than the black. Simba’s golden coloring connects him with the sun because of our tendency
to associate colors with certain natural objects (Fig’s. 1 and 2).6 The other animals of the
Pridelands look up to Simba as plants look to the sun for life because not only is he the golden
color of the sun, he will grow to be a wise and fair leader by maintaining the balance of life in the
Pridelands as his father Mufasa did before him (Fig. 3). When Simba, the rightful king, resides
upon Pride Rock, the sun is shining and the land is green with life and the blue sky above (Fig. 4).
When Mufasa dies and Simba is chased out of the Pridelands, the landscape is affected and the
creatures starve, subtly telling the audience that Simba is the essential element to keep the world
of The Lion King in balance, just as the sun is essential to life on Earth. Simba is clearly
associated with daytime and the growth of life. Mufasa teaches Simba that the ruler of the
Pridelands is the one who maintains the balance of life and respects the importance of every
creature, large or small. Simba will grow up to inherit Mufasa’s position of power and respect as
a compassionate character the audience will respond to. Since Simba is the keeper of balance, and
due to his color association with the sun as the provider of light and life, he is obviously the hero.
Naturally, the audience will connect Simba and Mufasa as father and son, and due to the color
connection they will also assume that both characters possess similar virtues. Viewers will
associate similar colors to each other, regardless of the subject matter, and they often have a
5
Bang, 48.
6
Ibid., 104.
4
tendency to generalize and apply qualities to different colors such as white being “pure and black
being ‘nasty.’”7
Alongside these social associations, Bang points out that humans also have instinctive
associations regarding light and dark: “As a result of our inability to see in the dark, black often
symbolizes the unknown, and all our fears associated with the unknown, while white signifies
brightness and hope.”8 Therefore we are naturally drawn to the light and fear darkness. We feel
comfortable and in control during the day and more vulnerable at night. This is an ancient
association that was represented in symbols such as the yin yang (Fig. 5).
The message of the yin yang symbol in Asian philosophy was that opposites in nature
balance each other. The yin yang is made up of two halves that fit together to form a complete
circle. One half is white and the other is black to show the clear difference between light and
dark. The idea surrounding the yin yang symbol in Asian philosophy would be moot if the circle
were completely black or completely white. There cannot be light without dark to contrast it,
otherwise what would light be? The yin yang was a symbol created based on the instinctual
knowledge of existing contrasts: light and dark, night and day, male and female. Yang is the light
“sunny” side associated with the sun and yin is the dark “shady” side associated with night.9 The
sun provides light but also life. The night is a time for sleeping, or a halt from growth, a
temporary death. The balance created by each of these contrasts is indispensable to the system of
nature on this planet. Without the connection between each contrast, there would be chaos or
nothing at all. Over time, these instinctual associations with the yin yang morphed culturally into
more complex societal symbols, which began to have color implications.
7
Ibid., 108.
8
Ibid., 94.
9
Robin R. Wang, “Dong Zhougshu’s Transformation of ‘Yin-Yang’ Theory and
Contesting of Gender Identity,” Philosophy East and West 55 (2005): 211.
5
Humans could not control nature’s contrasts of light and dark or night and day, but it
could control the social associations linked to those contrasting elements. The Chinese theorizer
Dong Zhongshu (179-104 B.C.E.)10 was “the first thinker to interpret human nature in terms of
yin and yang.”11 Yang was considered masculine and yin was considered feminine. Dong
changed the presentation of yin and yang from an equal balance to a system of order and
hierarchy ever since “Dong identified yang with benevolence and humanness and yin with
emotion and greed.”12 The positive connection between yang and light and the negative
connection between yin and darkness began to create an imbalance in the way people perceived
each element. This imbalance also explains why the audience naturally gravitates toward Simba
and away from Scar. Yang began to become associated with compassion and all that is good
while yin was associated with greed and darkness, which connected them to the instinctual fear of
the unknown. Characters with darker colors are automatically perceived as dangerous or naturally
deceptive creatures because, like a predator who waits in the dark, their intentions were not clear.
The audience has no trouble with identifying Scar as the villain. Simba and Mufasa’s
bodies are golden like the sun, which elevates them in the minds of the audience while Scar’s
body is a dark brown, like the dirt in the ground. While Simba and Mufasa’s manes are a bright
red, a color often associated with passion, Scar’s darker coloration and his black mane easily
blend into the shadows, which connects him with death, the night, and the accompanying fears of
darkness and the unknown (Fig. 6). Scar’s dark colors also imitate those of the hyenas he
associates with and their wasteland territory, The Elephant Graveyard. Even the unnatural acid
green of Scar’s irises is reflected in the surrounding mists (Fig. 7).
10
Ibid., 209.
11
Ibid., 210.
12
Ibid.
6
Scar gains control of Pride Rock with subtle manipulation. He lures both Simba and
Mufasa into his deadly traps, without them even realizing it. Scar made sure never to incriminate
himself and used his hyena henchmen to do most of his dirty work for him. He kept his
involvement in Mufasa’s death and Simba’s disappearance “in the dark” from the other characters
within The Lion King. Only the audience is witness to Scar’s betrayal and deception. When Scar
usurps the throne in the twilight after Mufasa’s death, Pride Rock reflects the acid green of Scar’s
eyes and the sinister shadows of Scar’s destructive hyena forces (Fig. 8). Scar’s inner twisted
intentions and outer darkness is reflected in the Pridelands. In his greed for power, Scar allows
the hyenas to gorge themselves on any available prey and in doing so, drives the herds away from
the Pridelands and strips the landscape of any life. Dark clouds obscure the sun, the rivers dry up
and the grass dies so that the only colors remaining are the greys, blacks, and acid green that once
only colored the Elephant Graveyard (Fig. 9). Scar’s negligence and the hyenas’ destructive
hunger have literally transformed the environment to match their negative colors.
It is not until Scar is defeated and Simba rightfully takes his place at the top of Pride
Rock that rain heals the land and the clouds clear to reveal the sky. Life begins anew under
Simba’s reign and the colors of daytime and growth return to the Pridelands as Simba and all the
creatures celebrate the birth of his child, continuing the Circle of Life. Simba’s light colors and
Scar’s dark colors are excellent examples of the contrast found within the yin yang symbol. The
cultural associations connected to light and dark reveal why the audience gravitates more toward
Simba and perceives Scar as the villain. Bang describes these generalizations as color symbolism,
although most of the color associations are completely arbitrary. However, humans still use them
every day from advertising to propaganda, and Disney certainly applied color symbolism in The
Lion King to visually guide the audience’s alliances.13
13
Bang, 104.
7
Associations and context are what aid us in determining the message of an image. While
adults tend to have stronger associations with color, children often have stronger associations
with shapes.14 In her book, Bang presents objects of different shapes, sizes and colors within the
same image to give the viewer a context with which to view the objects. As humans we see
shapes in context to one another and our reactions to those shapes are based on that context.15
When shapes are sharp and angular they appear more dangerous because humans have soft skin
that can be easily penetrated by sharp objects. We tend to associate sharp objects as potential
weapons, while we gravitate toward curved shapes for comfort and protection. From the
beginning, “our earliest and strongest association is with bodies, especially our mothers’ bodies,
and when we were babies, there was no place more secure and full of comfort.”16
The audience feels more secure when they look at Simba because his body is made up of
subtle curves giving the impression that he is soft and inviting (Fig. 10). Simba appears healthy
and well-fed, even as a child, which means he leads a good life in a position of power because he
does not have to fight or struggle for his food. In the animal kingdom, the dominant animal will
eat his fill first before any of the others in the group, which means he receives the most nutrients,
yielding the most energy, which equals power. Having this power makes the dominant animal
secure in the knowledge that he can protect himself and his territory from any threats. This is also
the ultimate masculine ideal among humans, the male who can defend his home and loved ones
against any dangers. Since Mufasa is secure in his authority, he understands that he has a
responsibility to respect the creatures below him, not only as a food source but also as integral
parts of the circle of life that make up his world. Mufasa teaches Simba this responsibility, and in
doing so, passed down his positive qualities of strength, determination, intelligence,
protectiveness, bravery, honesty, compassion, humility and a respect for all life. Simba looked to
14
Ibid., 106.
15
Ibid., 2.
16
Ibid., 98.
8
his father for guidance and comfort and because of Mufasa’s teachings, Simba grows up to
embody the masculine ideal that Mufasa represented.
The concept of shape is related to different cultures’ ideals regarding physical beauty or
ugliness. Both humans and animals base their choice of mate on how strong, healthy and
physically appealing their partner is. This is an instinctual motive to produce healthy offspring for
the future and lose any weak or undesirable qualities by breeding them out. Humans are more
complex than animals in that they can choose compatible partners based on intellectual and
emotional connections as well as physical ones. However, we cannot deny that our attention will
be caught by attractive physical qualities and because of this instinctual response, Disney will
emphasize the beauty and appeal of the hero and exaggerate the ugliness of the villain in order to
influence the audience. In her book, Good Girls and Wicked Witches: Women in Disney’s Feature
Animation, Amy M. Davis points out that Disney is endorsing the assumption that a character’s
outer appearance reflects their inner qualities. This was often seen in the depiction of the Disney
princesses and the female villains: “In general, prior to 2001, a Disney woman’s beauty has been
portrayed as being a reflection of her goodness, and a woman’s physical ugliness has likewise
served as proof of her evil. The beautiful woman was the woman who deserves-and in the natural
order of things obtained-all of the best things in life: love, security, justice.”17 This trend
continues with the comparison between the male lions of The Lion King.
Between the brothers Mufasa and Scar, Mufasa is clearly the choice for king of Pride
Rock. He appears strong and healthy with a full mane, strong jaw, and thick powerful limbs. Scar
is gaunt and angular, with a slinking body and minimal muscle power. Another interesting feature
about Scar is his namesake, the sharp scar that runs through his left eye. While the other
characters have actual names, Scar is named for his physical blemish. Often, especially in western
religions such as Christianity, physical imperfections were considered signs of evil or punishment
17
Amy M. Davis. Good Girls and Wicked Witches: Women in Disney’s Feature
Animation, (UK: John Libbey Publishing, 2006), 232.
9
for bad behavior. Many women were unfairly killed for being witches because people assumed
their odd features such as moles or different colored eyes were signs of the devil or caused by
witchcraft. Physical defects were considered punishment from God, so that everyone could see
the evil inside being reflected on the outside: “For much of the Disney studio’s film history, the
witch has been shown as-ultimately-being ugly, old, and repulsive, and she has always been
punished in the end. In this way, she has been contrasted with the beautiful, young, and attractive
heroines.”18 Simba grows up and his body takes on the same shapes and physical qualities as his
father. Simba is the picture of masculine strength and beauty. He also possesses appealing
humanized features such as his small rounded eyes, human facial expressions and rounded edges.
This is why the audience naturally gravitates more toward Simba because his body is softer and
more rounded when seen in context to Scar, who is very angular with sharp, unnatural features.
Scar has sharper more angular feline features with his sharp claws and catlike slanted
eyes and his slicked back, greasy mane. Scar appears sinister and unrefined compared to the other
male lions. Scar’s features are leaner and more angular (Fig. 11) than all of the other lions, which
gives the impression that he does not receive the lion’s share when it comes to a kill. An animal
that is not well fed is less in control of his instincts and impulses than one who is content. Scar is
the only lion whose claws are long enough to extend out of his paws, emphasizing his sharp
qualities and sense of danger (Fig. 12).
The shape of a character’s eyes will determine the expressions they convey. If eyes are
the windows to the soul, then Scar’s eyes imply dark intentions because they are deep set and
surrounded by dark skin. Scar has longer, slanted catlike eyes in comparison to the rounder, more
humanized eyes of Simba and Mufasa (Fig. 13). Scar’s eyes are more related to those of a cat
because they are “extremely expressive and change shape radically as they convey different
18
Ibid., 232.
10
emotions.”19 Scar’s eyes open wide with false sincerity one moment and close down to a
threatening sliver the next. Bang emphasizes the importance of exaggerating the elements of an
image to make the feeling or message stronger. She points out that when humans are in danger,
our senses are heightened and we see the details of the situation in a more exaggerated light: “the
attacker looks much bigger when we are afraid than when we are not: the teeth or weapons look
much sharper” (Fig. 14).20 If the audience is meant to feel fear during a certain scene “it is more
effective to graphically exaggerate the scary aspects of the threat and of its environment than to
represent them as close to photographic reality as possible, because this is the way we feel things
look.”21 Scar’s threatening appearance highlights his dangerous and unpredictable actions.
Scar’s motivation is power, but he is kept in check by his physical limitations. So Scar
relies on his skill of manipulation and his associations with the hyenas who are banished to the
outskirts of the Pridelands by Mufasa. The hyenas are a destructive force over which Scar has
limited control (Fig. 15). When Scar becomes king of Pride Rock he gives the hyenas free reign
to satisfy their insatiable hunger and soon all of the grazing herds have been devoured or left the
Pridelands, meaning no food for the lions or the still hungry hyenas. He joins forces with them
because of their sheer number and usefulness when it comes to setting up traps for Simba, or for
their use as scapegoats when Scar is in trouble. Scar is excellent at manipulating the naïve Simba
to venture into the Elephant Graveyard where the hungry hyenas are waiting. When his first
attempt at Simba’s life fails, Scar lures Simba into an even bigger trap as the bait for Mufasa.
Scar know he is too weak physically to openly challenge Mufasa for the throne and so he sets up
a trap with the hyenas to start a wildebeest stampede that will crush Simba and Mufasa. However,
19
Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas, The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation (New York:
Disney Editions, 1981), 450.
20
Bang, 38.
21
Ibid.
11
Mufasa manages to rescue Simba from the stampede of sharp wildebeest hooves. Mufasa is
weakened from recusing Simba and clings to a rock cliff for dear life. Only in this position can
Scar effectively kill his brother by throwing him from the cliff to the deadly stampede below.
Scar was not ‘man’ enough to challenge his brother to an equal fight so he arranged the situation
to give himself the advantage. The audience is aware of Scar’s maneuvering of the other
characters while they remain unaware of his actions. The audience is uneasy when they look at
Scar’s sharp features and read his disgruntled expressions because they know his intentions are
negative (Fig. 16). This creates a subtle tension in the viewer that is relieved when the truth of
Scar’s deeds are finally revealed to Simba and the other characters.
Just as the environment shifted it’s colors to reflect the colors of Simba or Scar,
depending on who was in charge, the shapes of Pride Rock and the Elephant Graveyard also
reflect the shapes of the characters that inhabit them. Pride Rock is made up of smooth, large
rocks that form Simba’s home. Pride Rock’s edges are blunt and rounded in comparison to the
sharp angles found in the Elephant Graveyard (Fig. 17). The rocks, edges and bones of the
elephant graveyard are angular, pointy and sharp, which signify it as a dangerous place besides
the obvious dark coloration (Fig. 18).
A character’s placement within the frame of each scene of The Lion King also has a lot to
do with the audience’s perception of him. When a figure is placed in the upper half of a picture,
the audience projects a sense of freedom, happiness and triumph for that character. These
emotions relate back to gravity because “objects that are higher up give a sense of floating or
flying or otherwise escaping the gravitational pull of the earth.”22 The higher placement of the
hero forces the grounded characters to look up to him and see him framed by the sky. When
Simba is at the top of Pride Rock he is above the earth and other animals, and so he appears more
“spiritual” because he is closer to the sky and Disney furthers this idea with the beam of light that
22
Bang, 76.
12
shines down on him (Fig. 19). When the figure is placed within the bottom half of the picture the
audience feels that the character is grounded, sad, heavy, threatened, or constrained.23 When the
character is low or at the bottom of the pictorial space, the viewer will assume they are suffering
either sadness or failure. When Simba leaves Pride Rock he becomes “‘grounded’-more attached
to the earth and less mobile” (Fig. 20).24
Naturally humans look to the sun and the sky to provide life down on earth. The change
in weather from sun to rain will determine if plants and animals remain healthy and strong. It is
only natural then that most religions and cultures were based on a worship of the sun or that the
sky was considered the seat of power for various gods or goddesses throughout different cultures.
Mufasa teaches Simba that the stars in the night sky are the great kings of the past: the previous
rulers of Pride Rock. As an adult, Simba has lost his sense of purpose and is troubled by the
knowledge of Scar’s takeover of the Pridelands. He looks to the sky for guidance and Mufasa
comes to Simba in a cloud formation in the sky to remind Simba that he is the rightful king of
Pride Rock. Mufasa’s placement in the sky gives him a sense of hierarchy as though he were a
deity compared to Simba on the ground. Because of these beliefs about the sky, human cultures,
such as the ancient Egyptians or the Mayans and Aztecs, would place their leaders above the
masses of people; forcing everyone to look up to their leaders as the animals look up to Simba on
Pride Rock. Numerous cultures would build monuments pointing up to the sky in their quest to
reach the heavens, such as the ancient Egyptian pyramids or the Aztec and Mayan pyramids.
Pride Rock is an organic vertical shape pointing up to the sky just as the pyramids of
human culture do. Vertical shapes, “rebel against the earth’s gravity. They imply energy and a
reaching toward heights or the heavens.”25 Vertical shapes, whether organic or inorganic demand
23
Ibid., 78.
24
Ibid.
25
Ibid., 58.
13
a lot of energy to be built, but that also means that they will release a lot of energy should they
fall. Vertical shapes also present potential danger to any characters that could fall from the
highest point. Diagonal shapes create dynamic images because they imply motion or tension26
and lead the viewer either into the environment of the picture or up and down within the picture
plane. Molly Bang brings up an interesting observation that “we tend to read diagonals from left
to right, as though they are going up or descending.”27 This is especially interesting when we
consider that the organic shape of pride rock, the station of power in The Lion King, is always
presented so that the diagonal rock is read left to right as descending, as a possible foreshadowing
of the underlying threat brewing within the lion clan (Fig. 21). The other rock in Pride Rock’s
formation is strictly vertical, to emphasize the energy and power of the kings who live there.
Pride Rock is the highest point presented in The Lion King’s environment which means that the
lion who stands at the edge of the diagonal rock commands the attention of the outside viewer as
well as all of the animals below him because he is in the position of the most energy, movement,
and tension.
When Simba is presented to the world at the edge of Pride Rock he inhabits the upper
half of the picture making him appear lighter as though he were escaping the pull of gravity. The
diagonal beam of light that descends on Simba further emphasizes his importance, as he is the
point between the diagonal of light and the diagonal of Pride Rock. He is in the center of the
Circle of Life, between earth and the heavens and he occupies the center of the picture, which is
the most effective center of attention or the “point of greatest attraction.”28 At the beginning of
The Lion King the world is at peace. The circle of life will continue with the birth of Simba, a
26
Ibid., 62.
27
Ibid., 68.
28
Ibid., 84.
14
new lion to ensure the well being of the environment. His placement at the center of the picture at
this point in the film follows an example brought up by Bang. She points out that meditation art
will focus the “object of meditation in the center of the page, so as to better enable the viewer to
center the mind.”29 The audience will relate the moment of Simba’s presentation to that of a
religious experience. Birth in any culture is a happy and often ceremonious event with the
newborn as the center of attention. A baby represents new life and continuity for the future of the
family which leaves all those present with good feelings of contentment and pride. Everyone that
is, except for Scar, Mufasa’s brother.
Scar spent a limited amount of time in control of Pride Rock but because the environment
matched his dark colors, Scar is only shown standing on Pride Rock at night and there is no
mystical beam of light, only the sharp-edged moon (Fig. 22). Scar himself is elevated but the
other animals are heavy with grief over losing both Mufasa and Simba, and are consequently
positioned at the bottom of the picture plane. They do not look up to Scar as they looked up to
Simba, instead their heads are hung low to the ground as though they were wilting under Scar’s
darkness. The audience’s positive connection with Simba and their instinctual associations with
night will lead them to feel uneasy with Scar’s ascension to power. The audience will identify
with the display of grief and fear of the lionesses instead of feeling elation over Scar’s triumph.
These placements and visual clues communicate to the viewers that Simba is the rightful leader of
Pride Rock.
Although Scar was the brother of the king, he was in a very low position. The infant
Simba had a higher status than Scar. Scar inhabits the bottom or lower position of the picture
whenever he shares space with Mufasa or adult Simba. Mufasa is the dominant brother between
the two lions and when Simba returns to Pride Rock he has grown into the powerful lion that
Mufasa once was, so much so that Scar is afraid that Mufasa has somehow returned from the dead
(Fig. 23). This tells the audience that Scar truly fears Mufasa while he still views Simba as a
29
Ibid., 90.
15
relatively easy target to manipulate. Adult Simba is not only larger than Scar in size but because
of his placement when he confronts Scar before their battle at Pride Rock Simba is visually higher
which gives him greater pictorial weight.30 Scar is physically smaller and crouches low to the
ground in a submissive stance to show that he is fully aware he is not physically capable of
challenging either Mufasa or Simba (Fig. 24). The audience reads the hunched shoulders and low
position of Scar as an expression of weakness or failure. Scar is not physically strong enough to
openly challenge Simba and so he resorts to his only power: manipulation. Since Mufasa’s death,
Scar has led Simba to believe that he was the cause of his father’s death, which appears to drain
Simba of all confidence, therefore weakening him physically as Simba’s body becomes hunched
and drooping with shame.
Scar desires the position of power that is rightfully Simba’s and so he relies on
manipulation and trickery to suppress his opponent. Scar will do and say anything in order to
obtain and keep that position, even if the land is dying around him and there is nothing left to
salvage. The female villains, such as Maleficent, Cinderella’s stepmother, and the Queen in Snow
White, in past Disney films each held a grudge against the protagonists, mostly relating to the
villains’ lack of beauty or natural charm that the protagonist had an abundance of. Scar also has a
personal vendetta against Simba, mostly because of Simba’s father and Scar’s brother, Mufasa,
for being the stronger, more masculine lion who naturally inherited the absolute power Scar
covets. Scar is the threat to the continuing line of kings and he nearly breaks the chain of
command when he kills Mufasa and sends Simba away, thinking the hyenas have killed him. His
past comes back to haunt him when Simba returns. Scar, however, continues to play his
manipulative mind game of guilt on Simba, alluding to the falsehood that Simba was the cause of
Mufasa’s death.
30
Ibid.
16
During their final confrontation in the film, Scar torments Simba with the idea that he
was responsible for Mufasa’s death until Scar has Simba backed upon the edge of Pride Rock and
holding on in the same desperate position that Mufasa was in moments before his death (Fig’s. 13
and 25). The irony is too much for Scar who reveals to Simba that it was he, Scar, who in fact
killed Mufasa. Enraged by Scar’s admission, Simba regains his confidence and with a surge of
powerful adrenaline he jumps from the edge of Pride Rock that he was clinging to and physically
overpowers Scar. Simba then forces Scar to admit his crime aloud to the other lions, which gains
Simba his allies again. In a last, desperate attempt to appeal to Simba, Scar lies once again in
saying that the hyenas were the ones who planned the take-over. At this point, Simba will never
believe another word Scar says and banishes him from Pride Rock forever, using the same words
“Run. Run away and never return,”31 that Scar had said to him as a cub when he left,
demonstrating how their positions have changed and how Simba now has the voice of authority.
In the end it comes down to a final battle between Simba and Scar where for the first time Scar is
seen to physically attack Simba because he has literally run out of options. Even physically Scar
does not fight fair, throwing hot coals from the surrounding fire into Simba’s eyes to distract him.
But Scar’s lies will catch up with him for the last time as Simba deftly throws Scar off of Pride
Rock to land among the hungry hyenas that overheard him betray them to Simba (Fig. 26). Scar
brought upon his own destruction because he lacked the positive qualities of honesty, bravery,
intelligence, determination, strength, kindness, humility and a respect for all life, the qualities that
define the typical Disney hero. In a lot of ways Simba and Scar are opposite sides of the same
coin. They both have high and low periods within the film and they both have to overthrow
someone in order to gain the position of power. Their motivations were different but their
ambition was the same. It was the differences in their color, size and shape that helped separate
31
“The Fight.” Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. The Lion King.
Animated film. Directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. Florida: Disney MGM Studios, 1994.
17
them in the minds of the audience. Scar’s motivation was for absolute power while Simba
understood the responsibilities of his position and held respect for the life under his control.
Size is another important formal characteristic when it comes to evoking Simba’s appeal
as a hero for the audience. As a child, Simba is smaller than most of the other characters and will
evoke sympathy from the audience remembering their own childhood and the vulnerable feeling
of being smaller than their surroundings when they see the world through Simba’s perspective
(Fig. 27). Being smaller than everything, children are forced to look up most of the time,
especially to their elders (Fig. 28). Because children often have larger facial features in proportion
to the size of their head, they appear very innocent when looking up. Child Simba has wide,
rounded eyes that the audience immediately reads as innocence (Fig. 29). This idea goes as far
back as the time of the early Renaissance painters, such as Leonardo da Vinci, who often painted
figures looking up, such as in his paintings: Madonna and Child with a Pomegranate, Madonna
of the Yarnwinder, and the Virgin of the Rocks. Disney continued with this practice: “It is an
accepted tradition for the innocent and the pure, but it does seem to be based on truth and reality.
The artists at the studio have used the attitude repeatedly for cute characters.”32 The character
appears vulnerable, and the audience connects with that character as a result of this formal
manipulation. The innocent character also appears hopeful when looking up which is a motivating
emotion to which the audience favorably responds.
As Simba grows up the audience will empathize with the experience of growing from
childhood to adulthood and the taking on of responsibility. Simba is the character that undergoes
a transformation throughout The Lion King. The audience views two periods of Simba’s life, his
childhood and the beginning of his life as an adult. Mufasa and Scar are established characters
and their positions of good and evil do not change. Simba is the one who must choose between
right and wrong. Everyone at some point in his or her life has had to make a decision between
32
Johnston, 442.
18
doing the right thing or the wrong thing. All humans essentially want to do the right thing.
Having integrity pays off in the end and everyone wants to achieve success in their lifetime.
Simba’s size and physical appearance as an adult leave no question as to his dominance
over the society of animals inhabiting the Pridelands. Just as his father had before him, Simba’s
size conveys his power to the audience because “the larger an object is in a picture, the stronger it
feels” (Fig. 30).33 Bang points out that in general we feel “more secure physically when we are
big than when we are little because we’re more capable of physically overpowering an enemy.”34
When Simba was a child, he was at the mercy of the larger creatures and natural elements
surrounding him. As an adult, Simba was physically more capable of handling any obstacles.
Both Simba and his father, Mufasa, are larger than Scar but also very steady on their feet.
Bang discusses how gravity is a force that affects our understanding of everything we see so
horizontal shapes will naturally make us feel secure because they remind us of the horizon of the
earth which is a constant visual in our lives. Because of this, “smaller horizontal or horizontally
oriented shapes within a picture can be felt as islands of calm” (Fig 31).35 Simba and Mufasa
move and stand in such a way that suggests a natural weight to their bodies, especially since lions
are very large in reality. Andreas Deja, the animator who was in charge of designing Scar’s
character, comments on his drawings of Scar, describing him as “skinnier than the other lions,
somewhat smoother and slicker in his motions, almost caricaturing, catlike” (Fig. 32).36 Scar’s
catlike associations and fluid movements come across as effeminate and delicate in comparison to
33
Bang., 100.
34
Ibid.
35
Ibid., 56.
36
Bob Thomas, Disney’s Art of Animation from Mickey Mouse to Hercules, (New York:
Hyperion, 1992), 139.
19
Simba and Mufasa’s masculine presence and steady stance. This is unsettling to the audience
because Scar appears to operate under a different gravity than that of the other lions (Fig. 33).
The lion’s manes not only show a dramatic color difference but also a substantial size
difference. The pride of a male lion is his mane and humans consider lions to be the “kings” of
the jungle because their manes resemble a glowing halo or crown. To have an impressive mane is
the point of masculine pride for a male lion and it also creates the illusion that he is larger than he
actually is. Humans also base their strength on how impressive their appearance is. The Bible
references a masculine warrior, Sampson, whose super-human strength is based solely upon the
length of his hair. In the story he reveals his secret to a woman, Delilah, who cuts his hair, thus
removing his power and leaving him weak and vulnerable. Scar’s mane is black, and the color
association already marks him as dangerous, but Scar’s mane also has less volume than Mufasa or
Simba’s mane. Andreas Deja talked about how “all the other animators had a certain way of
drawing the lions’ manes. Maybe my lion’s mane could go backward, as if it were greased.”37
Disney animators understood that “hair can be a key to personality, and many times will show
how a character feels. Scraggly hair gives an unkempt, irritable look. Smooth and sleek fur is soft
and feminine.”38 Scar’s mane is definitely smooth and sleek in comparison to Simba and
Mufasa’s full-grown manes.
Scar relies upon manipulation to get what he wants, which has historically been viewed
as a negative weapon. Both Mufasa and Simba are viewed as honest and honorable and willing to
face their opponents on equal ground. This can be seen in Mufasa’s open physical challenge in
response to one of Scar’s snide, sarcastic comments. The audience knows they can trust Simba
and do not expect any sudden surprises from him. Simba is secure in his physical power and his
birthright as king of Pride Rock. Scar is not the rightful heir and is not as physically capable of
37
Thomas,139.
38
Johnston, 340.
20
openly challenging Simba for the throne. The best way for Scar to gain power would be to remain
as subtle as possible by means of deception and manipulation. Scar makes Mufasa’s death and
Simba’s disappearance appear like a natural accident, having the hyenas do most of his dirty work
for him. Though Simba was initially misled, he has the strength and bravery to face his
responsibilities and restore order to his world. In the end, Scar does not possess the moral or
physical strength to retain his power.
Stereotyping is a simple form of communication, so is anthropomorphism and Disney
uses both within The Lion King to identify the hero and the villain. It must be visually clear to the
audience who is the good guy and who is the bad one. The hero will have instant appeal while the
villain must appear dangerous. This explains Disney’s tendency toward presenting their
characters with positive and negative stereotypical human characteristics and physical identifiers.
The stereotypes may be handled with more subtlety in the anthropomorphized villains but they
are still present.
Anthropomorphism is often used as a way of communicating these undesirable qualities
without the uncomfortable presentation of open discrimination. A Brahmin teacher from the third
century B.C., Vishnu Sharma, believed that “a human could assimilate more about their own
habitually unflattering behavior if it is disguised in terms of entertainingly configured stories
about supposedly less illustrious beasts than themselves.”39 The same thought goes for identifying
and categorizing characters based on positive and negative visual stereotypes. While adults
understand to take such portrayals with a grain of salt:
young children are only beginning to learn that what they are watching is only “makebelieve”. Furthermore, and unlike adults, children are very likely to incorporate the things
they see in movies into their play, thereby repeating, analyzing, and incorporating into
their subconscious the ideas and themes they take away from films. The degree to which
39
Niken Ayumurti Hartomo, “Fabulous Animal Fable, An Investigation of Fascinating
Animal Illustrations in Children’s Books” (master of fine arts thesis, Savannah College of Art and
Design, 2009), 4.
21
they do this is a matter of some debate amongst experts on children, the media, and child
psychology.40
Within The Lion King, Disney has employed anthropomorphism as the screen behind which
reside subtle stereotypes.
Scar represents isolation, greed and destruction, the negative qualities that humans do not
desire. Scar is not honorable in the way he pursues his goals and manipulates the creatures around
him. He is weak and therefore incapable of retaining his temporary success or the respect of his
allies. Scar has no loyal friends because he is not a loyal friend himself. He kills his own brother
and betrays his only allies, the hyenas. Scar is power hungry and surrounded by characters that
fear him, instead of respecting him as they do Simba. Scar is isolated by his greed and unpleasant
personality, which is reflected in his unpleasant appearance. Scar’s dark colors, his smaller size,
his sharp and angular shape, and his lower positioning are the visual elements that manipulate the
audience’s feelings toward him. The human audience does not wish to connect to Scar because he
is not visually inviting or comforting. Disney’s manipulation has succeeded in establishing Scar
as the devious but weak villain. Viewers recognize these weaknesses of character and tendency
toward deception as negative qualities.
Simba embodies the qualities of the ideal hero. Throughout the course of the film he
obtains inner moral strength as well as physical strength. Honesty, bravery and determination
present the message of never giving up on goals and never giving in to the temptations of the
villains. Kindness, humility and respect for all life are qualities that win the hero friends. Simba’s
friends are loyal and helpful to him on his journey, just as friends are necessary to live a happy
human life. The reason Simba connects with the audience is because of his basic human desires to
be loved by others, to find his purpose in life and to achieve success. Simba becomes the symbol
of success.
40
Davis, 27.
22
Simba’s appeal was essential for the success of The Lion King. Disney tries to imbue
every one of their heroes with “anything that a person likes to see, a quality of charm, pleasing
design, simplicity, communication, and magnetism. Your eye is drawn to the figure that has
appeal, and, once there, it is held while you appreciate what you are seeing. A striking, heroic
figure can have appeal.”41 Likewise for the design of the villains, which are often considered:
the most fun of all characters to develop because they make everything else happen. They
are the instigators, and, as Chaplin has pointed out, always more colorful than the hero.
They may be dramatic, awesome, insidious, or semicomic, but inevitably they will be
rich in unusual personality traits. Even before we know for sure how we want them to
look, we know the role they are to play in the story and are fairly sure of the effect we
want them to have on the audience.42
These impressions are best communicated through mediums of entertainment such as the
feature films that Disney provided in the twentieth century and continues to provide to this day.
“Disney’s films are important in cultural terms because Disney himself was probably the closest
thing the twentieth-century produced to a teller of national (and international) folk stories.”43
Disney, as one of the most creative pioneers of the medium of animation, was able to create a
new tradition of storytelling that will remain influential not only within the twentieth century but
for generations to come. “The fact that many of these films have achieved classic status, that they
are continuously referenced by other films and animated works, that they are deemed to warrant
scholarly attention, and that they continue to be measurably popular with audiences, shows that
these films play an important cultural role.”44 This is why it is so important to examine what ideas
Disney focused on and how the themes were presented within his films because they represent the
larger ideas and perceptions of the culture they were created for.
41
Johnston, 68.
42
Ibid., 417.
43
Davis, 10.
44
Ibid., 15-16.
23
Fig. 1. Production Still (Finch, Christopher, The Art of The Lion King, 8).
24
Fig. 2. Production Still (Finch, Christopher, The Art of The Lion King, 1).
25
Fig. 3. The Animals Gather in the Shadow of Pride Rock. Concept Painting by Gregory Drolette.
(Finch, Christopher, The Art of The Lion King, 20).
26
Fig. 4. The Pride Lands. Color Keys by Don Moore. (Thomas, Bob, Disney’s Art of Animation: from
Mickey Mouse to Hercules, 140-141).
27
Fig. 5. yinyang, Art (Encyclopædia Britannica Online, accessed February 14, 2012, http://0www.britannica.com.library.scad.edu/EBchecked/media/54229/The-yin-and-yang-symbol-suggeststhe-two-opposite-principles.)
28
Fig. 6. Simba Visits Scar. Workbook Drawing by Andy Gaskill. (Finch, Christopher, The Art of The
Lion King, 36).
29
Fig. 7. Production Still. (Finch, Christopher, The Art of Walt Disney from Mickey Mouse to the
Magic Kingdoms and Beyond, 285).
30
Fig. 8. Scar’s Hyena Allies Arrive at Pride Rock. Background Color Key by Richard Sluiter. (Finch,
Christopher, The Art of The Lion King, 94-95).
31
Fig. 9. Background painting by Don Moore, based on a layout by Tom Shannon. (Finch,
Christopher, The Art of The Lion King, 136-137).
32
Fig. 10. Production Still. (Thomas, Bob, Disney’s Art of Animation: from Mickey Mouse to
Hercules, 138).
33
Fig. 11. Model Sheet by Andreas Deja. (Finch, Christopher, The Art of The Lion King, 109)
34
Fig. 12. Production Still. (Finch, Christopher, The Art of The Lion King, 87)
35
Fig. 13. Workbook drawing by Andy Gaskill. (Finch, Christopher, The Art of The Lion King, 86).
36
Fig. 14. Animation drawing by Andreas Deja. Cleanup drawing by Kathy Bailey. (Finch,
Christopher, The Art of The Lion King, 86).
37
Fig. 15. Story sketch by Chris Sanders. (Finch, Christopher, The Art of The Lion King, 153)
38
Fig. 16. Scar toys with a mouse he has caught. Story sketch by Lorna Cook. (Finch, Christopher,
The Art of The Lion King, 29)
39
Fig. 17. Production Still. (Finch, Christopher, The Art of The Lion King, 32)
40
Fig. 18. Layout drawing by Lorenzo Martinez. (Finch, Christopher, The Art of The Lion King, 73)
41
Fig. 19. Production Still. (Finch, Christopher, The Art of The Lion King, 190-191).
42
Fig. 20. Simba under the stars. Story sketch by Andy Gaskill. (Finch, Christopher, The Art of The
Lion King, 128).
43
Fig. 21. Production Still. (Finch, Christopher, The Art of The Lion King, 191)
44
Fig. 22. Scar ascends Pride Rock. Workbook drawings by Andy Gaskill. (Finch, Christopher, The
Art of The Lion King, 97).
45
Fig. 23. Story Sketches by Chris Sanders. (Finch, Christopher, The Art of The Lion King, 143).
46
Fig. 24. Production Still. (Finch, Christopher, The Art of Walt Disney from Mickey Mouse to the
Magic Kingdoms and Beyond, 289).
47
Fig. 25. Above: Story sketch by Brenda Chapman. Top and Center: Story sketches by Chris Sanders.
(Finch, Christopher, The Art of The Lion King, 147).
48
Fig. 26. Story sketch by Chris Sanders. (Finch, Christopher, The Art of The Lion King, 157)
49
Fig. 27. Drawing by Andy Gaskill. (Finch, Christopher, The Art of The Lion King, 62).
50
Fig. 28. Production Still. (Finch, Christopher, The Art of The Lion King, 36).
51
Fig. 29. Story sketch by Andy Gaskill. (Finch, Christopher, The Art of The Lion King, 59).
52
Fig. 30. Scar cowers. Story sketch by Chris Sanders. (Finch, Christopher, The Art of The Lion King,
155).
53
Fig. 31. (Finch, Christopher, The Art of Walt Disney from Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdoms
and Beyond, 281).
54
Fig. 32. Andreas Deja, Concept Art of Scar (Thomas, Bob, Disney’s Art of Animation: from Mickey
Mouse to Hercules, 139).
55
Fig. 33. Bottom left and right: Story sketches by Chris Sanders. (Finch, Christopher, The Art of The
Lion King, 144).
56
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