Scar

**Scar** is an animated character who appears in Disney's *The Lion King* franchise, and serves as its primary antagonist. He was created in 1989 by screenwriters Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton, and animated by Andreas Deja. The Pride Lands' reclusive heir presumptive, Scar is introduced in the first film as Simba's uncle and Mufasa's younger brother. Originally first-in-line to Mufasa's throne until he is suddenly replaced by Simba, Scar decides to lead an army of hyenas in his plot to take the throne by killing Mufasa and exiling Simba, ultimately blaming his brother's death on his nephew. Loosely based on King Claudius, the main antagonistof William Shakespeare's play *Hamlet*, Scar's villainy was additionally inspired by Adolf Hitler. As the character's supervising animator, Deja based Scar's appearance on that of original voice actor Jeremy Irons himself, as well as the actor's Academy Award-winning performance as Claus von Bülow in *Reversal of Fortune*(1990). Before Irons was cast, the directors had considered offering the role to actors Tim Curry and Malcolm McDowell. Chiwetel Ejiofor voices the photorealistic version of the character in the CGI remake of the 1994 film.

As a character, Scar has garnered widespread acclaim from film critics, who greeted Irons's vocal performance with equal enthusiasm. However, Scar's violence, dark color palette and allegedly effeminate mannerisms were initially met with mild controversy, perceived by some as racist and homophobic. Nevertheless, Scar continues to be revered as one of Disney's greatest villains by various media publications, topping *The Huffington Post*'s list and ranking within the top ten of similar lists published by Yahoo! Movies, the *Orlando Sentinel*, E! and CNN. He has also been ranked among the greatest villains in film history by *Digital Spy*and *Entertainment Weekly.*

## Development

### Conception and influences

*The Lion King* was first conceived in 1988.[1] The film was eventually pitched to Disney executives, one of whom was among the first to observe similarities between author Thomas M. Disch's treatment and William Shakespeare's play *Hamlet*.[2][3] Although first citing these similarities as initially unintentional,[4] director Rob Minkoff always felt it was essential "to anchor [the film] with something familiar".[5] As directors, Minkoff and Roger Allers aspired to create "an animal picture based in a more natural setting,"[6] describing the film as "More true-life adventure than mythical epic."[7] Although not the first Disney film to have been inspired by Shakespeare's work,[8] *The Lion King*remains the studio's most prominent example[9] due to close parallels between its characters and *Hamlet*,[10] while both stories revolve around main characters who struggle to come to terms with the reality that they must confront their treacherous uncles and avenge their fathers' deaths.[11] Scar is based on King Claudius.[12] According to *Slate*, while Claudius is mostly "a second-rate schemer ... consumed by anxiety and guilt," Scar very much "delight[s] in his monstrosity;"[13] both characters are motivated by jealousy.[14] Meanwhile, *The Week*observed that although both characters ultimately die, Claudius is killed by protagonist Hamlet while Scar dies "at the hand of his former hyena minions, and not Simba himself."[4] Additionally, the character shares similarities with Iago from Shakespeare's play *Othello*; both antagonists are skilled in exploiting their victims' fears.[15]

The original plot of *The Lion King* revolved around a rivalry between lions and baboons.[16] A baboon himself, Scar was their leader.[17] After this plot was abandoned, Scar was re-written into a rogue lion lacking any blood relation to both Mufasa and Simba.[18][19] The writers eventually decided that making Scar and Mufasa brothers would make the film more interesting.[20] An abandoned character, at one point Scar owned a pet python as a sidekick.[16] Because the film was originally intended to be much more adult-oriented, Scar was to have become infatuated with Simba's childhood friend and eventual love interest Nala, wanting the young lioness to rule alongside him as his queen[21] and consequentially banishing the character[16] when she refuses.[22] This concept was to have been further explored during a reprise of Scar's song "Be Prepared",[23] but both the idea and the song were ultimately completely removed from the film because they were deemed too "creepy". In addition to that, there was an ascend in which Scar was originally going to defeat Simba, and throw him off Pride Rock, before they are both engulfed by flames. This ending was cut for being far too dark for young viewers.[21] To further emphasize the character's villainy and tyranny, the writers loosely based Scar on Adolf Hitler.[24] According to *The Jerusalem Post*, Scar's song "Be Prepared" "features goose-stepping hyenas in a formation reminiscent of a Nuremberg rally."[25] This idea was first suggested by story artist Jorgen Klubien.[25]

According to the directors, "[a] patronizing quality" was vital to Scar's role in the film.[26] Minkoff told the *Los Angeles Times*, "When Scar puts the guilt trip on Simba, that's an intense idea ... probably something that is *not* typical of the other Disney pictures, in terms of what the villain does."[26] Additionally, Scar serves as a departure from previous Disney villainsbecause they "came off at least as buffoonish as they were sinister".[26] Because Scar is the film's main antagonist,[27] supervising animator Andreas Deja believed that "villains work really well when they're subtle", explaining, "to see them think and scheme and plot is much more interesting than showing them beating somebody up."[26] By blaming Mufasa's death on an innocent Simba, Scar ultimately triggers "a cycle of guilt, flight, denial and redemption, as the hero goes into self-imposed exile before finally reconciling with his father's memory, returning to face his wicked uncle and generally coming of age."[26] The character's first line in *The Lion King* "essentially summarizes the entire film, providing foreshadowing". It reads, "Life's not fair is it? You see I—well, I ... shall never be King. And you ... shall never see light of another day, (chuckles) and you ... ," subtly revealing the plot as well as "the reason why [Scar] decides to murder his own brother."[14] (This line is given minor edits for the 2019 remake: "Life's ... not fair. ... Is it, my little friend? While some are born to feast, others spend their lives in the dark ... begging for scraps. The way I see it, ... you and I are exactly the same: ... we both want to find a way out.")