It is well-known that the Disney classic The Lion King is based at least in part on Shakespeare's Hamlet. This has been thoroughly documented and is readily admitted to by the movie's creators. In fact, producer Don Hahn referred to the movie in its production phase as a sort of "Moses and Joseph meet Hamlet and Elton John in Africa." And with its tale of two young lovers from warring families falling in love it has been surmised that The Lion King II: Simba's Pride was based largely on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Once the precedent had been set that "Lion King movies" would be based on "Shakespeare plays" there was speculation as to what a third Lion King movie would be based on. Knowing that there was a play (Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead) by a modern playwright (Tom Stoppard) that just so happened to be based on the same Shakespeare play that The Lion King was based on and tells the story of Hamlet from the perspective of its title characters I wondered if a future Lion King movie could be based on that "off-Shakespeare" play. When the public got "wind" of the fact that the third Lion King movie would center on the characters Timon and Pumbaa and tell the story of the first movie all over again but from their perspective I wondered if it was just a happy coincidence but the liner notes for The Lion King 1½ confirm that it is indeed based on Rosencrantz & Guildenstern.