In this lesson we were put in groups to draw a narrative structure that is typical in a film. We chose to do The Lion King as our Pixar film. We discussed the narrative structure, the characters’ roles and the themes within this film. The images below are our narrative structure poster which describes the narrative from left to right and also includes a poster which distinguishes the different characters’ roles and some of the conflicts within the narrative.

The Narrative Structure 

The narrative for The Lion King follows a traditional narrative structure. It begins with the equilibrium at the beginning, this is where the narrative is ‘normal’, there is no disruption at this point and everything in the kingdom is perfect as Mufasa has just become a father to Simba.

Then comes the disruption, this is where chaos comes in which disrupts the equilibrium. Scar pushes Mufasa off a cliff which ends up killing him as he wants to take his throne. Scar tells Simba that the death of his father was his fault and in doing so he tells Simba to run away far from the kingdom. Simba takes his advice as he believes that the death of Mufasa was his fault. Here we can see that Scar is the antagonist of this narrative.

The disequilibrium/climax of the narrative is when Simba is running away from the hyenas who are trying to kill him as scar ordered them to. Here we see another antagonist which are the hyenas. Later Simba meets Timone and Pumbaa who he spends most his life with growing up teaching Simba the ways of life.

Next comes in the revelation, this is where Simba returns to his rightful kingdom with the help of Nala and challenges Scar to take back his rightful place on the throne. Simba ends up killing Scar in the same way that Scar killed his father which implies to us how much revenge he really wanted.

And lastly comes the new equilibrium, this is where Simba has finally taken back his place as king of the kingdom and is together with Nala and is now a father too with Nala’s daughter.

The Characters

Simba – he is the main character of the narrative, the narrative is based around him as he fights back for his kingdom. We see him grow up right from the very moment he was born going on a long and difficult adventure. He is the protagonist of the narrative.

Mufasa – he plays an important role in the narrative as his death affected Simba really badly. He is a very wise and caring character but also very strong physically and mentally. He is seen as the doner of the narrative as when Simba is at his lowest after Mufasa’s death, he is seen talking to Simba and helping him get on the right path.

Timone and Pumbaa – these two characters are very alike and they are seen as the helpers of the narrative as when they find Simba as a young cub they stick with him and teach him their ways of life right up until he is an adult and takes back his kingdom. They stick with him till the very end.

The Princess – the princess of the narrative could be seen as pride rock as the kingdom is what needs to be saved in this narrative as whilst Scar was reigning the kingdom, he turned it into a dark place where there was no light.

The Dispatcher – the dispatcher of the narrative is definitely Nala as she is the one who convices Simba to return to the kingdom and fight for what is rightfully his. Without her Simba may have never returned.

The False Hero – the false hero is with no doubt Scar. He killed his own brother in return for being the king of the kingdom and also orders the hyenas to go and kill Simba so that his place as king would be guaranteed until he died. He also lies to Simba and tells him that the death of Mufasa is his own fault. These events like lying, killing and more are all typical signs of a false hero in a narrative.

The Themes 

In my opinion I think that the following two themes are the most relevant conflicts within this narrative.

Protagonist vs antagonist – this is very obvious as the two characters who are seen battling at the end during the revelation are Simba and Scar.

Loss and discovery – this conflict is seen when Simba realises that his father has died and runs away, at that moment he has lost everything even himself and just doesn’t know what to do however later we see Simba rediscovering himself and what his purpose really is.