1 of 5 | Young Mufasa gets separated from his parents in "Mufasa: The Lion King," in theaters Dec. 20. Photo courtesy of Disney
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Mufasa: The Lion King, in theaters Friday, is less egregious than the 2019 Lion King remake because at least it tells a new story. New is relative, though, because it's still derivative of its predecessor and the standard Disney archetype.
Simba (voice of Donald Glover), the king of Pride Rock, is going to the birthing grounds to help Nala (Beyonce, with three lines in the movie) give birth to their second child. Their first, Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter), stays behind with Timon (Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa (Seth Rogen).
Rafiki (John Kani) tells the trio the story of how Simba's father, Mufasa (Aaron Pierre), came to rule Pride Rock. The film is dedicated to the late James Earl Jones, the original voice of Mufasa in the 1994 and 2019 films.
Even before The Lion King, the Disney animated formula was that a rebellious hero is exiled from his family, but finds a chosen family and returns to take his or her place. That is obviously Simba, but also Ariel in The Little Mermaid and Belle in Beauty and the Beast.
One could say it applies to Snow White and Pinocchio, too. It's a perfectly fine Joseph Cambell worthy hero's journey, if it can be told with enough unique flare and nuance.
Given that there's already been a story of a lion cub who loses his family and becomes king, putting Mufasa through the same paces feels tired.
In this film, a storm separates young Mufasa from his parents. While trying to find his way back home, he is rescued by Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and accepted by his tribe, though reluctantly by Taka's father, King Obasi (Lennie James). When they're older, Osabi sends Taka away with Mufasa to find a legendary lush meadow.
So Mufasa loses two families in his version of the prototypical story. Also, in their quest, they meet Sarabe (Tiffany Boone), who also lost her tribe. Everyone's losing their families, so they can return to claim their rightful place in the kingdom.
The story hints at some promising themes, like Mufasa denying his own natural leadership because he's not of royal blood, and Taka feeling entitled to status because he is. It just all happens so fast, the film hardly explores those themes.
By the time Mufasa inevitably unites all the species of Africa, as Rifiki confirmed that's where this story is going, those animals weren't characters before the climax of this film. It's a good message about everyone playing a role in the circle of life, but it's sloppy and arbitrary.
The film occasionally cuts back to Timon, Pumbaa and Kiara commenting on the story with some cute meta jokes about the Broadway play and catchy songs from the original film. This is also derivative of the straight-to-video Lion King 1 1/2 where the original Timon and Pumbaa do the same thing.
Kiara knows who Taka becomes, which the audience should easily ascertain since they keep saying they're brothers and Mufasa had a very different brother in The Lion King. Obasi also predicts Mufasa will betray Taka, so who's the Lion King character who wrongly feels betrayed by his brother, Mufasa?
The Lion King remake includes all the Elton John/Tim Rice songs from the 1994 version, plus one new Beyonce number. Mufasa has all new songs written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, but most feel like blatant copies of the original classics.
"When I Am King" is the new version of "Just Can't Wait to Be King" from the melody to the sentiment. "Bye Bye" is the villain song just like Scar's "Be Prepared" in the original, and the lyrics "make you go bye bye" are a real stretch compared to Scar warning of his evil plans.
"We Go Together" is less directly "Hakuna Matata," but arrives in the same spot in the story and shares a similar tempo. "Tell Me It's You" is "Can You Feel the Love Tonight."
Dave Metzger wrote the musical score, but whenever he quotes the original Hans Zimmer Lion King themes, they do the work of making it feel majestic.
Still, The Lion King remake ruined what was previously established as a great story. Mufasa only ruins its own derivative story, so it's not as bad.
Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.
