The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride
The lion king 2 begins with this beautiful song titled, "He lives in you." Enjoy this clip and pay attention to the lyrics of the song, specifically the chorus, then, scroll down for a discussion of it's similarity to ideas suggested in the Old testament.
The chorus of "He Lives In You" states:
He lives in you
He lives in me
He watches over
Everything we see
Into the water
Into the truth
In your reflection
He lives in you
He lives in me
He watches over
Everything we see
Into the water
Into the truth
In your reflection
He lives in you
"He Lives In You," like in The Old Testament, makes a clear distinction between the creator and the created, the saviour and those needing saving. The lyrics, "He lives in you," can be seen to represent two different aspects of The Old Testament: 1) That God is immanent, and all knowing; he is a part of everything, because we are the created and He is the creator; and. 2) The significance of "He (God) lives [with]in [us]," because we are made in the image of God; this idea is reiterated with the line "In your reflection / He lives in you." Reflect on the first chapter of Genesis, when God creates man, the Bible states, "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:27). Man is made in the image of God, this idea of being made in the image of another and the immanence of God is full=heartedly expressed in the lyrics of the opening song, "He Live In You."
Below we see three images, all taken from Google images; In order, we see a photo of Vitani (Kovu's sister), Vitani and Nuka (both of Kovu's siblings), and finally Nuka (Kovu's Brother).
Below we see three images, all taken from Google images; In order, we see a photo of Vitani (Kovu's sister), Vitani and Nuka (both of Kovu's siblings), and finally Nuka (Kovu's Brother).
Another interesting element that is correlated between The Old Testament and Disney's The Lion King (this element is evident in the first and second film) is the element of sibling rivalry, specifically the battle of brother against brother.
One of the most well known stories of sibling rivalry is that of Cain and Abel, that takes place in the book of Genesis; Cain is the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, and Abel is the second born son. Cain is known to work with soil (vegetation) and Abel is known to flock the sheep (agriculture); when it comes time for both to make an offering to God, God is more impressed by Abel's fatty meat-filled sheep than he is the fruit that Cain bears from the soil. God advises Cain to reman out of sins grasp, but Cain, out of jealousy, leads Abel off into a field and murders him.
A second well know story where brotherly rivalry is present is exemplified in the book of Genesis, and it is the rivalry found between Jacob and Esau, two sons of Isaac. In the twenty-fifth chapter of the book of Genesis the Bible reads: "When the time came for her (Rebekah) to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau's heel; so he was named Jacob" (Genesis 25.24-6). Jacob is shown grasping Esau's heel as if to pull him back into the womb, so he can be born first; this grasp does not cease as time passes on, Jacob eventually forces his brother, Esau, to choose between primogeniture or food; then, he tricks his blind father, Isaac, into consenting the exchange of primogeniture. This manipulation and rivalry displays for a second time, in only one book of the Bible, the repetitive theme of sibling rivalry, particularly brother against brother.
These two examples, Cain and Abel, and, Jacob and Esau, demonstrate to the reader the troubles of sibling rivalry and brother competitiveness; these elements are heavily prevalent throughout Disney's The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride. We see this brotherly competitiveness between Kovu and Nuka, and similarly to it's Biblical comparatives the envious nature is one sided. Nuka clearly distinguishes his malcontent for the adoration and affection that Kovu receives from their mother, he is jealous of his brother and tries to make the attention focused on himself, versus Kovu and others, whenever he can - ultimately, until his demise. I think it is arguably purposeful that these elements are synonymous, if it was not purposeful Disney could have established a rivalrous relationship between Kovu and Vitani; by specifically making the competitiveness between brother and brother, in a trilogy that already focuses on so many Old Testament topics, it is hard not to discern that Disney purposefully created a correlation between brotherly rivalry in The Lion King Trilogy; In the first movie the rivalry is between Scar towards Mufasa, and in the second it is Nuka towards Kovu.
One of the most well known stories of sibling rivalry is that of Cain and Abel, that takes place in the book of Genesis; Cain is the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, and Abel is the second born son. Cain is known to work with soil (vegetation) and Abel is known to flock the sheep (agriculture); when it comes time for both to make an offering to God, God is more impressed by Abel's fatty meat-filled sheep than he is the fruit that Cain bears from the soil. God advises Cain to reman out of sins grasp, but Cain, out of jealousy, leads Abel off into a field and murders him.
A second well know story where brotherly rivalry is present is exemplified in the book of Genesis, and it is the rivalry found between Jacob and Esau, two sons of Isaac. In the twenty-fifth chapter of the book of Genesis the Bible reads: "When the time came for her (Rebekah) to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau's heel; so he was named Jacob" (Genesis 25.24-6). Jacob is shown grasping Esau's heel as if to pull him back into the womb, so he can be born first; this grasp does not cease as time passes on, Jacob eventually forces his brother, Esau, to choose between primogeniture or food; then, he tricks his blind father, Isaac, into consenting the exchange of primogeniture. This manipulation and rivalry displays for a second time, in only one book of the Bible, the repetitive theme of sibling rivalry, particularly brother against brother.
These two examples, Cain and Abel, and, Jacob and Esau, demonstrate to the reader the troubles of sibling rivalry and brother competitiveness; these elements are heavily prevalent throughout Disney's The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride. We see this brotherly competitiveness between Kovu and Nuka, and similarly to it's Biblical comparatives the envious nature is one sided. Nuka clearly distinguishes his malcontent for the adoration and affection that Kovu receives from their mother, he is jealous of his brother and tries to make the attention focused on himself, versus Kovu and others, whenever he can - ultimately, until his demise. I think it is arguably purposeful that these elements are synonymous, if it was not purposeful Disney could have established a rivalrous relationship between Kovu and Vitani; by specifically making the competitiveness between brother and brother, in a trilogy that already focuses on so many Old Testament topics, it is hard not to discern that Disney purposefully created a correlation between brotherly rivalry in The Lion King Trilogy; In the first movie the rivalry is between Scar towards Mufasa, and in the second it is Nuka towards Kovu.
Moreover, similarly to the first page that focuses on The Lion King, The Lion King 2 portrays many parallels between the film and The Old Testament, these motifs are:
- The Problem of Good and Evil: this element is revisited in the second film; again, this aspect is repetitive throughout the Old Testament because God is considered to be perfection thus, how does evil exist? It exists because of human nature's tendency to sin, which is noted in our next motif. The Lion King 2 exemplifies the issue of good versus evil through the divide of lion prides. There are two prides: Scar's followers, Kovu's family, who are 'the enemy' and Mufasa's followers, Simba's family, who are 'the good guys.'
- The Fall/Temptation/Tendency to Sin: Just like her father, Kiara, deliberately disobeys her father's wishes to remain within his sight, and remain in the boundaries of Pride Rock. Her disobedience reminds the reader of man's nature to sin, and to fall from grace. In the Garden of Eden, “Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2.9). God made one rule, and that was that no man or woman was to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil; but after Eve is tempted, like Kiara is to explore, they both disobey and fall from grace due to temptation.
- The Problem of Good and Evil: this element is revisited in the second film; again, this aspect is repetitive throughout the Old Testament because God is considered to be perfection thus, how does evil exist? It exists because of human nature's tendency to sin, which is noted in our next motif. The Lion King 2 exemplifies the issue of good versus evil through the divide of lion prides. There are two prides: Scar's followers, Kovu's family, who are 'the enemy' and Mufasa's followers, Simba's family, who are 'the good guys.'
- The Fall/Temptation/Tendency to Sin: Just like her father, Kiara, deliberately disobeys her father's wishes to remain within his sight, and remain in the boundaries of Pride Rock. Her disobedience reminds the reader of man's nature to sin, and to fall from grace. In the Garden of Eden, “Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil” (Genesis 2.9). God made one rule, and that was that no man or woman was to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil; but after Eve is tempted, like Kiara is to explore, they both disobey and fall from grace due to temptation.
