2019’s live-action The Lion King was one of the biggest movies of that year at the global box office, so it was a no-brainer that a sequel would follow. However, instead of a standard sequel, Disney decided to go the prequel route instead with Mufasa The Lion King. So, was it worth the wait? Read on to find out.

Circle Of Life

As someone who grew up with Disney, I have fond memories of watching The Lion King 2 Simba’s Pride, the straight-to-video animated sequel to the original The Lion King. It still holds up until today. The only thing that Mufasa The Lion King took from that underrated animated sequel is the name of Simba’s daughter, Kiara. Mufasa The Lion King is both a prequel and sequel to 2019’s The Lion King. How it works is that it’s Rafiki telling and recounting the story of Mufasa’s childhood and rise to become king to Kiara while they’re all waiting for Simba and Nala to return home from somewhere.

The majority of Mufasa The Lion King is focused on being a prequel, featuring the life of Mufasa from his time as a cub until his ascension as a (lion) king. While this is something new that we’ve never seen explored before, is it a story worth telling? It’s not easy for a prequel to be as thrilling as a sequel because the stakes often feel lower because we already know what will happen in the future. What Mufasa The Lion King offers is essentially the origin stories of not just Mufasa, but also Scar, Rafiki and Sarabi (Simba’s mother).

Unfortunately, the story mostly plays it safe and the narrative feels predictable. Sure, there are a few highlights, such as seeing how Mufasa and Scar’s relationship and dynamic develops and changes from being close brothers to what it would eventually become, as well as the love story between Mufasa and Sarabi, which genuinely feels like a better and more natural relationship than the one between Simba and Nala.

Overall, Mufasa The Lion King feels improved in certain aspects compared to 2019’s The Lion King. The movie still features photorealistic CG but this time around, the improvements include better facial animations and expressions. Obviously, the biggest issue remains that they look too realistic to be able to be as expressive as animation would be, but Mufasa The Lion King feels a bit less hollow and empty compared to 2019’s The Lion King. There are still the occasional blank stares but it feels like they’re able to convey more varied expressions and emotions in this movie. Visually, Mufasa The Lion King is just as much of an achievement of photorealistic graphics as 2019’s The Lion King, although it’s sometimes difficult to distinguish some of the characters in this movie, especially Mufasa and Taka (young Scar).

Lin-Manuel Miranda is the one responsible for the songs in Mufasa The Lion King and they’re all brand new and original songs. Sorry, The Lion King 2 Simba’s Pride fans. 2019’s The Lion King has the advantage of simply adapting the iconic songs from the original animated movie but Mufasa The Lion King doesn’t. Sadly, the new songs are just decent at best and they are not particularly memorable or as catchy as anything from the original The Lion King. The highlights are being able to hear Mads Mikkelsen sing the villain song as Kiros and the love duet between Mufasa and Sarabi (though it doesn’t hold a candle to the classic Can You Feel The Love Tonight? by Elton John).

Line Of Kings

Ultimately, Mufasa The Lion King doesn’t truly feel like a story that needs to be told. Instead, a full direct sequel in the vein of The Lion King 2 Simba’s Pride would likely have been a better choice. It improves on some aspects of 2019’s The Lion King (more expressions and emotions) but Lin-Manuel Miranda’s music doesn’t feel up to his usual standards in this one.

FINAL SCORE: 70/100

We attended a press screening of Mufasa The Lion King courtesy of The Walt Disney Company Malaysia. Mufasa The Lion King premieres in Malaysian cinemas on 19 December 2024.

Check out our interview with Mufasa The Lion King director Barry Jenkins below: