Nobody Actually Wants Mufasa: The Lion King
I grew up with The Lion King and constantly watched and rewatched my family’s VHS copy. But even with all of my nostalgia for the original movie, the trailer for Mufasa: The Lion King doesn’t get me excited in the slightest. As a prequel to an underwhelming live-action version of the original, with a seemingly more serious tone, there’s just too much working against the film.
Mufasa: The Lion King will be a prequel to the 2019 live-action remake of The Lion King, which will be made in the same style. While the remake wasn’t offensively bad, it stuck too close to the original story and felt superfluous. By expanding the universe of a movie I didn’t feel needed to exist in the first place, Disney is trying to build on a questionable foundation.
Even if Disney were to make Mufasa: The Lion King an animated prequel to the 1994 movie, it would be a tough sell. Prequels often suffer from trying to over-explain inane details that make those story elements less interesting in the process. Prequels also have to overcome the inherent lack of tension created by audiences knowing how most story elements will turn out before the movie begins, making them a little harder to pull off than sequels.
I’m also struck with the feeling that Mufasa: The Lion King is a soulless cash grab.
Mufasa is also a terrible Lion King character to give a solo movie, particularly as a prequel. His role in the original story is almost mythological in nature as a perfect king and father who teaches his son responsibility even from beyond the grave. The more detail the audience has about him, the more grounded he becomes and the less he functions as the idealized archetype he was originally written to be.
The trailer for Mufasa: The Lion King didn’t help its case. It looks even more self-serious than the remake, which isn’t what I want as a fan. Even the remake is a little too serious for my tastes. With no jokes or moments of levity on display, the trailer makes the prequel look dry and overly dramatic.
In its seemingly blatant financial motivation and thin story premise, Mufasa: The Lion King reminds me of the straight-to-video sequels of my childhood.
I’m also struck with the feeling that Mufasa: The Lion King is a soulless cash grab. The remake’s use of new CGI and experimentation with visual effects gave it some degree of artistic legitimacy, even as a direct retelling. The prequel feels like it exists not for any story reasons or to explore new film techniques but because the 2019 Lion King made $1.6 billion.
Even if Disney were to make Mufasa: The Lion King an animated prequel to the 1994 movie, it would be a tough sell.
In its seemingly blatant financial motivation and thin story premise, Mufasa: The Lion King reminds me of the straight-to-video sequels of my childhood. Every successful Disney movie of my childhood, from Aladdin to The Lion King, was followed by a slough of these sequels, which, even as a child, often left me disappointed. Mufasa feels like a higher-budget version of the same principle at play.
I’ve been surprised by Disney’s live-action adaptations before, with The Jungle Book remake being a surprisingly interesting and nuanced take on the original. Perhaps Mufasa: The Lion King will win me once I see it. But as of now, my expectations are low, and even as a huge Lion King fan, I don’t see myself going out to theaters when it comes out on December 20.
