Nazis and The Lion King

In this scene, Scar is rallying the hyenas to join him in his quest to kill Mufasa and Simba, making Scar king. The manner in which this scene is presented is reminiscent of Adolf Hitler speaking to the Nazis.

Nazis Marching (Source: Goose Step)

Now, as a young kid, this completely went over my head. I had seen enough films to recognize the militaristic manner in which the hyenas were marching together to understand that this was Scar’s army. Yet after studying Adolf Hitler and his role in Germany I was able to recognize that Scar was in the same position as Hitler in pre-Nazi Germany and that throughout the film, Scar’s regime holds many parallels to Hitler’s. Disney is effectively using the technique of mimicking others to provide another layer of intertextuality to the film. As quoted in lecture, mimicking others requires the creator to “use language and forms that seem to echo certain ways of communicating or other types of documents” (Lecture #5). The form that this scene follows between the characters, the manner of speaking and the relationship between Scar and the Hyenas is a clear mimic of Hitler and the Nazis. Scar’s will was law, his power given to him by the ‘people,’ just as Hitler’s  “personal power was unlimited and his will was equated with the destiny of the German nation” (Germany).

When Scar takes up the throne, he says to the lions, “Mufasa’s death was a terrible tragedy; but to lose Simba, who had barely begun to live… For me it is a deep personal loss. So it is with a heavy heart that I assume the throne. Yet, out of the ashes of this tragedy, we shall rise to greet the dawning of a new era… in which lion and hyena come together, in a great and glorious future!” (Memorable). Hitler would speak to the crowds and move audiences to such a degree that they would follow him in any direction. As we can see as a result of his leadership, extreme results were had. So it was with Scar that the hyenas followed him, when they had no other beacon of hope, into a world of desolation, desperation and starvation.

Seeing the sorry state of Pride Rock (Source: Image Archive)