Kids and most adults, as well, love Disney movies and many people see a parallel between them and Shakespearean plays and other classical works.
The Lion King for example, is similar to Hamlet. There is the evil uncle who kills his brother and steals his throne. The backstabbing Claudius becomes the evil Scar, the comic relief of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern become the funny Timon and Pumbaa, the guilty Gertrude
In Gargoyles, Disney’s animated featured film series, many characters from Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, including Oberon, Titania, and, don‘t forget Puck. In Beauty and the Beast, Belle and Beast read the first and last lines of William Shakespeare’s most famous play, “Romeo and Juliet.” Gnomeo and Juliet: guess which plays this one is based on.
The Jungle Book was inspired by the stories about the feral boy Mowgli from the book of the same name by Rudyard Kipling. Alice in Wonderland is based primarily on Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, (which was a political satire of the times), with a few additional ideas mixed in from Through the Looking-Glass.
In Bambi, the film was based on Bambi: A Life in the Woods, written in 1926 by Felix Salten, and played a key role in shaping American attitudes about and understanding of deer, woodland life and for some, negative feelings about hunting.
Very few people who have seen some or all of Disney’s animated films are not, years later, still influenced by something that stuck with them. Since most of Disney’s films are anthropocentric (seeing animals and inanimate objects and things in human terms, especially judging things according to human perceptions, values, and experiences), Disney individualized perceptions of animals and things like talking teapots that seemed at the time, to mean that all things are possible. All things ARE possible, aren’t they?
I didn’t know Gnomeo and Juliet was actually a Disney production. Disney is always able to capture the timelessness of these classics and transform them into something magical and truly unforgettable. They create treasure pieces that will be remembered by all generations.