It says a lot about Jon Favreau’s photorealistic CG-animated remake of “The Lion King” that it’s frequently, and inaccurately, called the “live-action” version. The 2019 blockbuster is more impactful as a technical exercise than it is as a feature film. Yes, those do indeed look like realistic cats. No, they do not look like they’re acting. Favreau’s painstaking effort to transform a vibrant animated classic into a staid, simulated nature documentary where the animals sometimes warble out an awkward song was a dull, drab, drastically inferior version of the original.
It wasn’t a waste of money though. The CG-animated “The Lion King” is now one of the highest-grossing movies in history (not adjusting for inflation), so a follow-up was inevitable. But instead of remaking the unexpectedly beloved straight-to-video sequel “The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride,” Disney decided to enlist Oscar-winner Barry Jenkins — the director of “Moonlight” and “If Beale Street Could Talk” — to tell the origin of Mufasa, the heroic king voiced by the late James Earl Jones, whose tragic death in the 2D animated film scarred millions of children for life. (I can’t even look at a wildebeest stampede anymore.)
The idea of a brilliant, once-in-a-generation filmmaker dedicating years of their life to a Disney sequel or prequel is, to some, a discouraging thought. Jenkins does, however, seem to have been the right person for the job. “Mufasa: The Lion King” is an enormous improvement on the 2019 remake, using visual techniques Favreau pioneered but abandoning the pretense of absolute realism. The characters in “Mufasa” look plausible, but more expressive. The camerawork takes full advantage of the animated medium, flying across the screen with energy and wonder instead of limiting itself to what might have been possible in real life. The lighting is bright and vibrant, not dim and stodgy, because Jenkins would rather the audience be able to see his film than accurately reflect how dark it actually looks at night.
Indeed, it’s hard to look at the film’s first big musical number — “Milele,” a ballad about seeking an idyllic paradise — as anything but a rebuke of the previous film’s whole philosophy. Young Mufasa and his parents are seeking fertile lands to make their home, but their reality is bleak and arid, so Mufasa is told to use his imagination. Suddenly the landscape becomes colorful, the world becomes malleable, and the possibilities aren’t arbitrarily limited. It’s a promise, and frankly a relief, that Jenkins isn’t going to let reality get in the way of a pretty good story.
That story follows Mufasa, voiced as a young adult by Aaron Pierre (“Rebel Ridge”), who is separated from his parents by a great tragedy. He floats downriver and is rescued by Taka (Kelven Harrison Jr., “Chevalier”), the prince of another pride of lions, whose father Obasi (Lennie James) is a paranoid, lazy, selfish ruler. When they are attacked by a pride of evil white lions led by Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen), Taka is separated from his own parents by a great tragedy, and the two of them flee to find a new home: the fabled Milele, the promised land Mufasa’s family was seeking all along.
Along the way they’re hunted by those evil white lions. They also pick up a bunch of new friends. There’s Sarabi (Tiffany Boone, “Hunters”), who was separated from her parents by a great tragedy. There’s Rafiki (John Kani), a mandrill and guru who was separated from his own family by their ignorance and hatred, which is itself a great tragedy. Pretty much every character in the “Lion King” series has the same backstory, come to think of it.
Pretty much every character in “Mufasa” also has the same main story (mane story?), which will be familiar to fans of Don Bluth’s 1988 classic “The Land Before Time.” A group of orphaned misfits run from a despicable predator, and run towards the protagonist’s missing family, who may be alive or dead in verdant paradise that may or may not exist. Jenkins’ film can’t keep up with Bluth’s vivacity or bracing sense of imminent danger, but it’s satisfying in its own way. The characters are interestingly developed, for the most part, and the inevitable rift that forms between Mufasa and his adopted brother, who will eventually come to be known as Scar, is fittingly theatrical (even though 2024’s other animated prequel, “Transformers One,” tackled a similar story with more grace and complexity).
“Mufasa: The Lion King” is told as a bedtime story to Kiara, voiced by Blue Ivy Carter, the daughter of Beyoncé Knowles (who returns for a brief cameo). Kiara’s parents have gone off to have another child so Rafiki babysits her along with Timon and Pumbaa (Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen), who frequently interrupt the film to ask why they’re not in it more. Nothing in “Mufasa” plays more like a desperate studio note than these comic relief characters, who inject self-aware jokes and gross-out humor in a shameless attempt to entertain immature audience members who can’t focus on a well-told story without constant reassurance that they’re being pandered to and the filmmakers haven’t forgotten about “Hakuna Matata.”
None of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s songs in “Mufasa” hold a candle to the original “Lion King” soundtrack, but unlike “Moana 2,” they’re all serviceable and tell the story effectively. The standout song is “Bye Bye,” a cheeky villain number about murder. Mikkelsen (and God knows how many character animators) do a fabulous job with Kiros, a larger than life do-badder who harkens back to the lithe, canny, diabolical Scar of the original 2D animated classic. The whole cast does a fine job, but in classic Disney fashion it’s the bad guys who have the most to work with, and have the most fun.
“Mufasa: The Lion King” is a satisfying, enjoyable flick. It’s in little danger of becoming a classic but it’s gratifying to know that Barry Jenkins made this film his own, telling a fine story with genuine emotion and visual aplomb. Who could have predicted that using photorealism to add a little plausibility to the fantastical, instead of draining the fantastic of all its charm and wonder, would have made for a better movie? Oh right, almost everyone. Well, at least Disney finally listened.
“Mufasa: The Lion King” opens exclusively in theaters on Dec. 20.