The Character Construction of Simba in The Lion King

黃婷婷

【Abstract】The Lion King（1994）told the story of little lion Simba who experienced growth，death，love and responsibility，and finally overcame himself and the enemy and got the throne of the king of the forest，and became the hero of lion herd.As the soul character of the movie，Simba plays a very important role to the whole story.This paper examines Simba's personality features，through analyzing the function of character design and plot in construction of character，and attempts to explore how the heroic character Simba is constructed step by step.

【Key Words】character construction； character design； plots； dialogues

1.Character Design

1.1 Leaders.To construct a role in a film，firstly，a character must be designed，that is the hero himself，who must exist by a dependent one in the film.Secondly，one of the main reasons that Simba must be a king is just because he is the son of the old king----Mufasa，he has to inherent the responsibility and mission of his father.That's why the character Mufasa exists and takes a very basic place in the story.To audience，it is also a fact that can be acceptable.As the leaders of the forest and the lion herd and the ruler of the prairie，they have special and difficult things to do，and this is the basic of the construction of the heroic role ----Simba.

1.2 Enemy.The construction of a role is connected closely with what he does，especially the heroic things.Whenever we talk about a heros heroic things，we must talk about his enemy and its strong power.

In this movie，Mufasas brother Scar is a very cunning，black and insidious guy.There is a sentence that he tells to the little mouse he catches “Well I，I shall never be king”.From this sentence，we can know that he really wants to be king.He kills Mufasa by his dirty work，and then he drives Simba away and gets the king crown himself.From then on，the prairie looses its peace，harmony and hope，and put the Pride Land in darkness.

1.3 Vulnerable Group.In the Lion King，the vulnerable group refers to the female lions.In the lion herd，female lions take the responsibility to care baby.The male lions get out to find food，the female lions are forced to found food，the audience can know that they never did that before.

1.4 Military Counselor.In The Lion King，Rafiki is a military counselor of Simba.He is important for Simba，because there are three times that are important in Simbas life.The first time is the birth ceremony of Simba which means Simba will be the king，that is Simba's future.The second time is when Simba leaves home，Rafiki ereases the picture of Simba on the wall.The third time is when he finds that Simba is alive，he encourage him.He helps Simba find himself back and be brave.

Simba decides to come back home is just because his two counselors in his life who give him direction and guide him to be a true lion king.

2.Plot

2.1 Birth of Simba.From the very beginning of this film to the scene 0：04：35 is the song circle of life and it also tells us about the born of Simba.The prairie is full of hope and life，with the rising sun，Simba was born.When Rafiki hold Simba high，it means that the new lion king was born.In the meanwhile，Simbas birth shows that the dream to become the king of Scar faded away.And the heros birth became a basic of the development of the story and the construction of Simba.

2.2 Danger of Simba.In the movie，Simba didnt listen to his fathers warns and took Nala to the limited area，this is a very wonderful part of the whole story.In the most dangerous time，Mufasa appeared and saved Simba and Nala.This risk shows both Simbas understanding of a king is superficial and his personality of innocent.In the meanwhile，when Nala fell down，Simba tried to help her even if it is very dangerous，and this shows both his braveness and his kindness.And this is another basic of the construction of Simba，because braveness is the characteristic that a king must have.

2.3 Homeless Time.If a hero wants to change he must get through some sufferings and trials，so as the construction of a character，he must beat himself and know the meaning of his existence.

The homeless Simba lived with a hopeless life.At the beginning he was very pain，but with time passing by，he forgot his fathers teaching and his responsibility.He just thought that he could live like that forever until the appearance of Nala and Rafiki.They made Simba take his courage and responsibility.

2.4 Get Back the Throne.Simba decided to go back home to realize his promises to his father，and to take his responsibility that he should take.This part is the end of the whole movie，and it also means that Simba who experienced a lot and suffer a lot became the lion king eventually.In the meanwhile，it showed that the accomplishment of the construction of Simba.

References：

[1]程瑜瑜.陽光下的哈姆雷特—后現代主義觀照下的《獅子王》[J]文藝評論，2011.7.