Mufasa – The Lion King: Disney’s Most Ambitious Film of 2024

This is probably one of the most complicated, expensive and maybe also one of the most successful movies of the year 2024 – but few people are on their radar: “Mufasa – The Lion King” tells the story behind Disney’s animated hit and accompanies Simba’s father Mufasa as he rises to king

On Monday (April 29), Disney released the first teaser trailer for “Mufasa” online. Hundreds of thousands of fans immediately clicked on the video – and after seeing the first scenes from the new film, an instant message ended. The audience immediately noticed one detail.

New “Lion King” movie about Mufasa

The animated classic “The Lion King” was released in 1994, won two Oscars and is considered by many who grew up with it to be the best animated film of all time – also because of Hans Zimmer’s excellent music, Elton John and Tim Rice.

Due to its success, Disney released the film again in 2019 as a photorealistic 3D animated film. Despite poor reviews, the “Lion King” remake grossed an estimated $1.663 billion worldwide – the ninth highest grossing film of all time! No wonder people want to build on it.

But instead of remaking the sequel “The Lion King 2: Simba’s Kingdom” (1998), Disney now goes in the other direction and instead tells the backstory of Simba’s father Mufasa, how he rose to kingship – and perhaps also his difficult relationship with his brother Scar, who becomes a villain in “The Lion King” and kills Mufasa out of a desire for power.

Again, the photorealistic 3D technology from the 2019 remake is used here. The music comes from “Hamilton” and “Moana” composer Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Disney comes up with a new story

Disney has to create a completely new story for “Mufasa” – according to the trailer, for example, Simba’s father is not a prince from a noble family, but a young lion from a distant country who must fulfill a prophecy. Famous characters like Rafiki, Timon and Pumbaa also appear in the prehistory – and the legendary sounds of “The Eternal Circle” can be heard at the beginning.

But one thing immediately catches the viewer’s eye: the faces of the animals!

Has Disney learned from this?

A major point of criticism of the 2019 remake was the fact that director Jon Favreau wanted to make the film look as realistic as a documentary about real lions in the Savannah – the -faces of Simba, Nala and Co. Disadvantage, if you want to tell an adventurous story at the same time with musical transitions, in which the animals laugh, cry, sing and dance.

But things look different in “Mufasa”. This time there is a new director behind the camera, Barry Jenkins (his film “Moonlight” won the Oscar for Best Film in 2017) – and apparently Disney has learned something new.

Excerpt from the comments below the trailer for “Mufasa: The Lion King”:

• I’m actually surprised. The landscapes look more beautiful and colorful and the animals have more feeling and life in them.
• I admit: This time you really make the animals alive and lively. It seems they have learned their lessons.
• I’m glad they listened to the fans and gave the characters a chance to show more unique facial expressions.
• I appreciate them taking care of them and giving them a face this time.

Disney’s “Mufasa – The Lion King” opens in German cinemas on December 19, 2024.