Traumatic Experiences, Evasion, and Overcoming Trauma
Both The Lion King (1994) and Frozen (2013) share a core narrative. The young heir to a kingdom suffers a traumatic experience related with their family. The Lion King’s Simba feels guilty because he believes he has killed his father, and Frozen’s Elsa feels guilt and shame for hurting Anna.
These feelings of guilt evolve into a deep trauma to both characters, which consequently leads to their evading their problems by moving to a different setting. Elsa flees the kingdom and builds an ice castle for herself, and Simba runs away from the Pride Land to the jungle. However, this isolation and avoidance is not a proper resolution to their problems. Later, they realize the negative consequences of their running away, and overcome their trauma to take back their place on the throne and bring order back to the kingdom. Although both Elsa and Simba overcome their traumas, the virtues that help them to do so is where they diverge. Simba resolves his psychological problems by reflecting on his past and his duty, which leads to his developing a sense of responsibility and the growth of his inner self. On the contrary, Elsa overcomes her trauma when Anna sacrifices herself for her sister, leading to Elsa realizing Anna’s love for her, and consequently she learns to control her powers and end Arendelle’s winter.
Transitional Song
Both movies feature a prominent song which presents the protagonists’ process of transitioning into their new lifestyles, which expresses their psychology as they flee from their problems. Lion King’s ‘Hakuna Matata’ and Frozen’s ‘Let it go’ show Simba and Elsa going through similar emotional processes. But songs have a distinct sound, mood and effect.
‘Let It Go’ expresses Elsa’s thoughts and emotions. The song has a structure that revolves around her emotional narrative arc. When the song reaches its peak, all the instruments are featured together in a grand harmony, which contrasts with the beginning of the song played only with a piano. In addition, the chorus of the song becomes impressive with an emotional outburst of Elsa, and it delivers a feeling of emancipation which resonates with the audience.
Don’t let them in, don’t let them see// Conceal, don’t feel, // And the fears that once controlled me can’t get to me at all// Here I stand and here I’ll stay// Let it go, let it go Can’t hold it back anymore
The lyrics tell us about Elsa’s trauma and how she tries to fix it by evading her problems and running away. It is ironic that she sings about her freedom and happiness with such strength and vitality when in reality, she has yet to properly overcome her problems, which conveys that the positive emotions in this scene are superficial, and not profound.
‘Hakuna Matata’ features humorous lyrics sung by Timon and Pumba, which leaves the impression that it’s fun to live in their way. The song is written so that it is easy to sing along to, which leads us to feel that Simba, too, is easily singing along and accepting ‘Hakuna Matata’ as his lifestyle. The vibe ’Hakuna Matata’ creates is rhythmical and cheerful.
It means no worries For the rest of your days It’s our problem-free philosophy
In the same sense as ‘Let It Go’, the lyrics to ‘Hakuna Matata’ don’t help Simba overcome his troubles, instead telling him to avoid them and to not ponder over them. This attempt consequently fails, which ends in anguish for the character.
Environmental Message
The films also share the plot point that because the royal heir to the throne runs away, the kingdom falls into environmental chaos. However, they differ in how they represent this aspect of the story. The Lion King is more focused on the natural order of nature and the ‘circle of life’. Mufasa specifically teaches Simba about this, and Scar is negligent about it. Thus, the movie emphasizes the importance of keeping with the balance of nature. The dis-balance of nature is expressed through mass starvation, which is in accordance with the global focus of time the film was being made (1990s), in which starvation was a key point of public interest.
Contrastively, Frozen portrays the disruption of the natural order through an ‘eternal winter’. This is reflective of global warming caused directly by people, which is a more modern global problem which is under the public eye. Also, Frozen does not mention the balance of nature itself, instead focusing on how the actions of an individual caused the never-ending winter, as it is Elsa’s actions and powers that directly cause the environmental problems.
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