By G.R. Nanda
It’s interesting that Hans Zimmer has worked on soundtracks for stories about male protagonists/heroes who were born into families of privilege and power, but after a tragic death of the protagonist’s parental figure(s) and a subsequent destabilization of the hero and his family’s position in the setting they once had a reign over, the hero goes through a transformative journey that will culminate in them claiming their family’s inheritance and fulfilling their role in their setting. We see this in not only The Lion King, but also in The Dark Knight movies, Batman V. Superman and in the story of Dune, the book which is getting a soundtrack by Hans Zimmer for the 2021 film adaptation. Simba, Bruce Wayne and Paul Atreides all have a LOT in common. Perhaps Hans Zimmer’s gravitation towards these kinds of stories has at least a little to do with his own father’s tragic death when Zimmer was just a young boy.
G.R. Nanda 