If you grew up watching Disney, a movie you might be familiar with is “The Lion King.” Most people know the story of Simba, who lost his father and his way before coming back to claim his throne of the Pride Lands, as this movie was first released on June 24, 1994. Thirty years later, on Dec. 20, 2024, “Mufasa” was released, telling the story of Simba’s dad becoming king of the Pride Lands. I saw this movie on Christmas day and personally loved it. If you are a fan of “The Lion King” just like me, I would definitely recommend “Mufasa.”
The movie starts with Simba and Nala leaving because Nala is giving birth to a new lion cub and leaving their daughter, Kiara, at Pride Rock. Then Rafiki, Timon and Pumbaa come to visit Kiara, and Rafiki starts telling Kiara the story of her grandfather, Mufasa. The story then jumps back to when Mufasa is a cub and he gets lost and meets another cub named Taka. Mufasa and Taka become brothers and grow up together. They run into some trouble with other lions, which leads them to running away and meeting Rafiki and Sarabi. They continue to run away from the other lions, which leads them to the Pride Lands. At the Pride Lands, a series of events happens that show how Mufasa becomes king and Taka gets that nickname that we all know him by: Scar.
One of my favorite parts of this movie was the live action. I like how we could see the animals and they aren’t animated. The setting of the movie being so real also makes the movie better. It’s almost as if you are in Africa. This was how it was throughout the entire movie, which made the movie so much better and made it seem real. I haven’t watched the live action of “The Lion King,” but if I were to take an educated guess, if you loved that version you would also love this one.
While the live action part made the movie more real, so did the casting of the actors. The director, Barry Jenkins, did a good job at casting actors that fit the animals. After watching the movie and talking about it with classmates, I found out that all the voice actors were British, but I couldn’t even tell throughout the movie, even though they speak with accents, because I was so focused on the plot and climax.
Another part of this movie that I loved was the plot. The story of an orphaned cub becoming a great king was very heartwarming to watch. The fight scenes were very entertaining, and there were plenty of plot twists that added suspense to the end.
The one thing about this movie that I was up in the air about was the singing. In the movie when Taka and Mufasa are growing up, they sing a song called “I Always Wanted a Brother.” It’s not that I didn’t like the song, I had just heard it so many times on TikTok that I was kind of over it once I saw it in theaters. But the other songs I loved; they were all super catchy, and it helped not hearing them so many times. My favorite song would be “We Go Together,” which is sung by Mufasa, Taka, Sarabi, Rafiki and Zazu, a bird who is helping them when they are running away. I loved how the song talks about the importance of friendship and how important it is to work together.
Overall, I loved this movie for a few reasons, one being the rising action leading up to the climax, another one being the plot, and lastly the live action aspect of the movie. This movie helps viewers better understand “The Lion King” and how Simba ended up becoming the next king of the Pride Lands. It also helps us understand the background of Taka and why he did the things he did. So grab your family and friends and head to your local movie theater to watch “Mufasa.” You won’t be disappointed, especially if you enjoyed “The Lion King”!