Before The Lion King, there was Mufasa: What do we know about the Disney movie centered on Simba’s father?

In 2019, 25 years after Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff’s animated film, director Jon Favreau returned to Savannah with a new version of The Lion King, broadcast tonight on M6. With $1.6 billion at the international box office, the Jon Favreau film ranks seventh in the top 10 biggest hits of all time.

So Disney quickly announced a second installment called Mufasa. Directed by Barry Jenkins, who won an Oscar in 2017 for Moonlight, the feature film will be a prequel centered on the story of Simba’s father.

The film will not be a “live” adaptation of the animated film The Lion King 2, which followed the adventures of Kiara, Simba and Nala’s daughter, but a prequel to Mufasa’s youth. However, the feature film should still allow us to discover the young lion, as Mufasa’s story will be told by Rafik, Timon and Pumbaa to Kiara. Simba’s friends tell his daughter about the rise of one of the greatest kings of the land of lions.

The feature film, written by Jeff Nathanson, who is already working on a previous version of The Lion King, will be presented in the form of flashbacks and will allow us to find out who Simba’s father was and where his brother Scar’s jealousy was born.

Mufasa and Scar wouldn’t really be brothers

In 2022, during D23, Disney’s annual convention, the studio released a short sequence of Mufasa. We saw a young lion cub that got caught in the rain and was taken away from its family. The latter was then taken away by a mysterious lion.

This excerpt raised many questions among viewers. Could the missing lion cub be Mufasa? So wouldn’t the latter be the legitimate son of King Ahad and Queen Uru? Which explains why Scar is so angry with him… Barry Jenkins’ film will therefore allow us to better understand the complicated relationship that exists between Scar and Mufasa since the beginning of The Lion King.

The same energy as the Lion King

At the launch of his film, Barry Jenkins confided in us that Miss Mufasa will have the same energy as his illustrious predecessor.

“It will be different from The Lion King, but it will have the same energy. Mufasa tells us how Simba’s father became the king. We tell his story from childhood to the birth of his son. In the original film, Mufasa represents greatness. We admire his royalty, his leadership, we think he has it all, Because he was born well…

But in this prequel, we explore how his friends and family made him who he is. We discover his journey. “Mufasa means a lot to me and I think it’s a movie that kids and their parents who grew up with the Disney classics will enjoy watching.”

As for the original voice cast, Billy Eichner, Seth Rogen and John Caan will return and reprise their roles as Timon, Pumbaa and Rafik. Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer – who worked on The Lion King Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff 1994 and its 2017 remake will also return.

Is Mufasa’s release delayed because of Moana 2?

Mufasa: The Lion King Announced to hit our theaters on December 18, 2024. But that date is yet to be confirmed, as last week the big-eyed studio pulled off a surprise announcement that the Moana sequel would be a Christmas Disney hit.

Therefore, there is little chance that the studio will release Moana 2 on November 27 and Mufasa two weeks later. Since no pictures have been released, it is highly likely that the Barry Jenkins feature film has been delayed.