June 15, 1994: "The Lion King" Premieres

June 15, 1994: Disney's animated film The Lion King premieres. This rewrite of William Shakespeare's foremost play, Hamlet, becomes their highest-grossing film ever. (Though, with inflation factored in, it's still topped by the 1937 version of Snow White.)

It's not an exact copy of Hamlet. The father, Mufasa (voice of James Earl Jones) is still alive for the beginning of the film. The usurping uncle, Scar (Jeremy Irons), doesn't marry the widowed queen, Sarabi (Madge Sinclair). The son (Matthew Broderick) doesn't stay, going into exile, before going back. He doesn't taunt his love interest, Nala (Moira Kelly) into insanity and suicide, and she joins him in his crusade. It isn't the son who directly causes the uncle's death. The son is still alive and on the throne at the end. And there's no equivalent to the hyenas in the original.

The film was successful enough to spawn a sequel, a Lion King 1 1/2 with the story told from the perspective of Timon (Nathan Lane) and Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella -- or, if you prefer, Rosencranz and Guildenstern), a live-action version, a live-action prequel about Mufasa, a video game, and an elaborately staged Broadway musical that premiered in 1997 and, as of June 15, 2022, is still running.

Let me close with this: Before we get on the Walt Disney Company for ripping off Shakespeare, let's note that they're far from the only ones:

* West Side Story is Romeo & Juliet, except that Juliet lives.

* Kiss Me Kate and 10 Things I Hate About You are both The Taming of the Shrew.

* Akira Kurosawa's Throne of Blood is Macbeth, moved from Scotland to Japan.

* The 1949 Edward G. Robinson film House of Strangers, set in what was then the present day, and the 1954 Western Broken Lance with Spencer Tracy are adaptations of King Lear.

* The 1983 version of Scarface is Richard III.

* The 1956 science fiction film Forbidden Planet and the Star Trek episode "Requiem for Methuselah" are both The Tempest. And Trek has gone to the well of Shakespeare many times. Star Trek: The Next Generation star Patrick Stewart got his start with England's Royal Shakespeare Company, and among his Shakespearean roles have been Shylock in stage productions of The Merchant of Venice in 1965 and 2011, Oberon in a 1978 stage production of A Midsummer's Night Dream, Claudius in film versions of Hamlet in 1980 and 2009, Prospero in 1995 and 2006 stage productions of The Tempest, the title role in a 1997 stage production of Othello, John Lear in the 2002 TV-movie King of Texas, Mark Antony in a 2006 stage production of Antony and Cleopatra, Malvolio in a 2007 stage production of Twelfth Night, the title role in a 2007 stage production and a 2010 TV-movie of Macbeth, John of Gaunt in a 2012 TV-movie of Richard II, and Shakespeare himself in a 2010 stage production of Bingo: Scenes of Money and Death and the 2011 animated film Gnomeo & Juliet.

And Shakespeare himself ripped off a lot of people. Most of his plays were based on previous writings.

*

June 15, 1994 was a Wednesday. Football was out of season. The Stanley Cup was awarded the night before, when the New York Rangers won Game 7 of the Finals over the Vancouver Canucks.

Game 4 of the NBA Finals was played at Madison Square Garden. The New York Knicks beat the Houston Rockets, 91-82.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles, 8-4 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. The O's scored 5 runs in the 8th inning to win the game. Don Mattingly went 2-for-4 with 3 RBIs. Cal Ripken went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 1-0 at Shea Stadium. Bobby Jones pitched 8 innings of 4-hit shutout ball, and John Franco pitched a perfect 9th, to outpitch Mike Williams. The only run came in the bottom of the 6th, when Todd Hundley singled Jones himself home.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 13-2 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-5 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Colorado Rockies, 4-0 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. John Smoltz pitched 7 1/3rd innings of 4-hit shutout ball, followed by Mike Stanton allowing a hit in finishing the 8th inning, and Steve Bedrosian allowing a hit in the 9th.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-3 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland. Jim Thome won it with a home run in the bottom of the 13th inning.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-5 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago. Rickey Henderson went 4-for-5, but had no stolen bases or RBIs.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Detroit Tigers, 11-7 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The Florida Marlins beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 13-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the California Angels, 4-3 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers, 5-2 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Ken Griffey Jr. hit a home run.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres, 5-0 at Jack Murphy Stadium in Chicago. How many Cubs does it take to pitch a 7-hit shutout? This time, 4: Steve Trachsel, 5 hits over 7; Dan Plesac, 1 over 2/3rd of an inning, José Bautista pitched to 1 batter and got him out, and Jim Bullinger 1 hit in the 9th. Tony Gwynn got 2 of those 7 hits.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the Houston Astros beat the San Francisco Giants, 7-2 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Barry Bonds went 2-for-4.

May 29, 1942: The Death of John Barrymore

May 29, 1942: John Barrymore, perhaps the finest American actor of his generation, dies as a result of the damage that alcoholism had done to him. He was 60.

A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly attempted a career as an artist. But he appeared on stage together with his father, Maurice, in 1900, and then his sister Ethel the following year. He began his career in 1903, and first gained attention as a stage actor in light comedy, then high drama, culminating in productions of Justice in 1916, Richard III in 1920, and Hamlet in 1922. His portrayal of Hamlet, among other roles of William Shakespeare, led to him being called the "greatest living American tragedian."

After a success as Hamlet in London in 1925, Barrymore left the stage for 14 years, and instead focused entirely on films. In the silent film era, he starred in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1920, and Sherlock Holmes in 1922. During this period, he gained his nickname, the Great Profile. His stage-trained voice proved an asset when sound films were introduced, and he starred in Grand Hotel in 1932, Dinner at Eight in 1933, and Twentieth Century in 1934.

Barrymore's personal life has been the subject of much attention before and since his death. He struggled with alcohol abuse from the age of 14, was married and divorced four times, and declared bankruptcy later in life. Barrymore's biographer, Martin Norden, considers him to be "perhaps the most influential and idolized actor of his day."

Supposedly, his last words were, "Die? I should say not, dear fellow. No Barrymore would allow such a conventional thing to happen to him."

His siblings Lionel (who lived until 1954) and Ethel (who lived until 1959) were also great actors. His son John Drew Barrymore (1932-2004), less so. But John Drew's daughter, Drew Barrymore, has upheld the family legacy: Though it looked for years like she might follow her grandfather's path to destruction, she's now fully recovered, and producing more than acting.

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May 29, 1942 was a Friday. This was also the day the movie Yankee Doodle Dandy premiered. I have a separate entry for that event. And hockey player Pierre Bourque and actor Kevin Conway were born.

These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 16-1 at Yankee Stadium. Lefty Gomez went the distance for the win. Joe DiMaggio, Joe Gordon and Buddy Hassett hit home runs.

* The New York Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers, 3-1 at Ebbets Field. Babe Young batted in the top of the 10th inning, hitting a ground ball to shortstop Pee Wee Reese, who makes a bad throw, allowing 2 runs to score.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Boston Braves, 2-1 at Braves Field in Boston.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 14-2 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Ted Williams went 3-for-4 with 2 home runs, a walk, and 7 RBIs.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 14-3 at Briggs Stadium (later renamed Tiger Stadium) in Detroit.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Joe Beggs walked Dom Dallesandro with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the St. Louis Browns, 12-8 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.

* And the Pittsburgh Pirates and the St. Louis Cardinals were not scheduled.

April 14, 1900: The Exposition Universelle Opens in Paris

April 14, 1900: The Exposition Universelle opens in Paris. It was the 17th World's Fair in Paris, and the 5th known as the Universal Exposition, but it became the best-known of them, the dawn of a new century.

The Fair was held to celebrate the achievements of the past century, and to accelerate development into the next. It was held at the esplanade of Les Invalides, the Champ de Mars, the Trocadéro, and at the banks of the River Seine between them, with an additional section in the Bois de Vincennes. It was visited by more than 50 million people.

Many technological innovations were displayed at the Fair, including a ferris wheel (an idea that had debuted at a previous World's Fair, the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893; a moving sidewalk, the 1st regular passenger trolleybus line, escalators, diesel engines, electric cars, dry cell batteries, electric fire engines, talking films, a magnetic audio recorder, and matryoshka (Russian nesting) dolls.

One film that did not "talk" was the 1st version of William Shakespeare's Hamlet ever filmed, a brief recreation of the sword duel between Hamlet and Laertes. Hamlet was played by a woman. Not just any woman, but the woman then considered the world's greatest living actress: Sarah Bernhardt. Hamlet is usually depicted as a young man, around college age. "The Divine Sarah," as much the pride of France as any of its citizens then living, was 55 years old.

It also brought international attention to the Art Nouveau style. Additionally, it showcased France as a major colonial power, through numerous pavilions built on the hill of the Trocadéro Palace. The Palace, an auditorium and museum, was demolished in 1937, to make way for the Palais de Chaillot.

The Métropolitain, or Métro, Paris' subway system, opened on July 19, and was able to service the Exposition.

Many international congresses and other events were held within the framework of the exposition, including the 1900 Summer Olympics. Those Games were awarded to Paris as a tribute to the founder of the modern Olympic Games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin. But they were easily the lamest Olympics ever, with only 26 countries participating. There weren't even Opening or Closing Ceremonies. It did, however, mark the debut of women competing.

The fair closed on November 12. Paris would also host World's Fairs in 1925, 1931, 1937 and 1947.

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April 14, 1900 was a Saturday. Baseball season was 5 days away, and no other sport was then in progress in North America. In English soccer, Woolwich Arsenal, the South-East London team that would later become the North London team Arsenal, and later still a team I began to support, went to Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire, and lost to Grimsby Town, 1-0 at Blundell Park.