Search results for "tale"

Once upon a time . . . as a merchant set off for market, he asked each of his three daughters what she would like as a present on his return. The first daughter wanted a brocade dress, the second a pearl necklace, but the third, whose name was Beauty, the youngest, prettiest and sweetest of them all, said to her father: "All I'd like is a rose you've picked specially for me!" When the merchant had finished his business, he set off for home. However, a sudden storm blew up, and his horse could hardly make headway in the howling gale. Cold and weary, the merchant had lost all hope of...

Always on the lookout for their next meal or an innocent victim to taunt, tease or terrorize, Banzai, the male hyena, and Shenzi, the female, talk and joke while Ed, the third troublemaker, only laughs. When they're not arguing, these three punks can be found doing Scar's dirty work-- which is no laughing matter. Shenzi (the female leader of the pack of hyenas), Banzai (the male), and the moronic Ed are old enough to have terrorized the Pride Lands back in the days of Ahadi, according to A Tale of Two Brothers. In Scar's youth, the trio struck a pact with the younger lion prince...

Rafiki, the wise old baboon, is like a tribal medicine man or an ancient shaman. Rafiki travels his own road, sings his own songs and knows what he knows. After anointing newborn Simba, Rafiki wanders off on his mystical way. He returns again to guide Simba back to the path he was meant to follow. Nobody knows where the old mandrill Rafiki came from, but his quests in search of the secrets bound up in the land and its plants and animals drew him to the Pride Lands in the days of Ahadi, as told in A Tale of Two Brothers. His role in advising the young Mufasa against mischievous plots by his ...

Mufasa's trusted advisor, Zazu is a prim and proper hornbill with a strong sense of personal dignity. Although Zazu's feathers can be easily ruffled, he is dedicated to Mufasa. The honorable hornbill would give his right wing for the lion king and stays with the pride through good and bad times. Zazu is the steward and majordomo to the King of Pride Rock, as his family has been since the time of Ahadi, when (as is told in A Tale of Two Brothers) Zazu's mother Zuzu was recommended by Rafiki to the king's service as a lookout and carrier of messages keeping the king informed o...

As Mufasa's brother, Scar was next in line for the throne until Simba's birth, and he is obsessed with the need to possess it. Although Scar hides his plot with concern for Simba's safety, this evil, cunning betrayer is really Simba's and Mufasa's enemy-- a fact which the great-hearted Mufasa realizes too late. The younger brother of King Mufasa and second son of Ahadi and Uru (as told in A Tale of Two Brothers), Scar was known as Taka until an incident in which he ran afoul of some Cape Buffalo (in a botched attempt to embarrass his brother Mufasa) and was struck on the...

Regal, commanding and majestic, Mufasa is a great king with a kind, generous heart. Concerned with teaching his son Simba to be a wise, responsible adult and king, Mufasa can seem a bit stern at times, but it's only because he loves Simba and wants to keep the youngster on the right track. Mufasa's lineage is known only through A Tale of Two Brothers, a children's book published at about the same time as the original 1994 release of The Lion King. In this book, Mufasa's father is named Ahadi, his mother is Uru, and his brother Scar has the cubhood name of Taka. As a king ...

Ariel, the "little mermaid" in the Disney® film, is much more than a fairy tale for little girls. Rather, she is a powerful metaphor for the plight of the "Sacred Feminine" over the last several thousand years of western civilization. Since Mary Magdalene, the "Lost Bride" in the Christian story, is a "carrier" of the Sacred Feminine, (in fact, a composite of Aphrodite, Athene, and Demeter, not to mention similarities with Isis, Inanna and Astarte--and the Holy Sophia!), this discussion is relevant especially to her. She was to have been the Lady of the Age of Pisces as Christ was its Lord, fo...