Disney released their new movie “Mufasa” on December 20, 2024. Unexpectedly, it was probably one of the most emotional movies I’ve seen. The movie producers chose an amazing cast, starring Aaron Pierre as Mufasa, Kelvin Harrison Jr as Taka/Scar, John Kani as Rifiki, Blue Ivy Carter as Kiara, Seth Rogan as Pumba, and Billy Eichner as Timmon. This production showed the backstory to how Mufasa became the Lion King. It begins with Mufasa as a young cub, happy to be with his family, but a flood destroys their home, causing Mufasa to be separated from his family. As he floats down the flood stream alone, he meets a cub by the name of Taka. Taka and his mother take in Mufasa as one of their own, however Taka’s father believes Mufasa shouldn’t be a part of their family.
Mufasa was raised by Taka’s mother, Eshe, and was only allowed to run with the pack of female lions. Later on, a pack of white lions known as the “outsiders” are out seeking revenge on Mufasa for the murder of the King’s son. Eshe and Taka’s father, Ahadi, send the brothers far far away to find a new home to be protected from the outsiders. On their journey, they meet a special baboon by the name of Rifiki, you could say he’s one of the most wise characters throughout the movie. His role is very essential to the movie, as he is the story teller. Then, the lions meet a lioness by the name of Sarabi along with her pet bird Zazu, both main characters in the original movie. While the group is headed to find a fable land called “Milele”, the Outsiders cause them great obstacles while they are trying to escape. A turn for the worst happens when Taka feels betrayed by his brother as Mufasa joins the Outsiders. Take and Mufasa were forced to physically fight this altercation out. The king of the Outsiders slashes Taka’s eye, giving him the name Scar as punishment for betraying Mufasa.
This movie was extremely well done. I did have some doubts for the live action version as, in my opinion, Disney doesn’t really do the best job with keeping the original story lines in their new live action movies. When the flood came and wiped out their land and killed off Mufasa’s father, I lost it crying. I’m not one to enjoy movies with musical scenes, but the songs were actually really good and the actors did a great job singing. Aaron Pierre was the perfect choice for Mufasa, he did an amazing job playing the character and had amazing emotional appeals throughout the movie. Lin Manual Miranda did an incredible job creating the catchy songs. Toward the end of the movie when they switch it to Kiara, Simba, and Nala, I had no idea Beyonce voiced Nala until I heard her voice and was very surprised.
Seeing this movie made me want to watch the live action “Lion King” released back in 2019. If you’re a fan of the “Lion King” and Disney, I highly recommend seeing this movie. The audience seemed to enjoy the movie as everyone clapped at the end and a few others also started crying. I was glad I wasn’t alone! I give this movie an 8/10. The CGI was extremely well curated and the storyline itself was unique and memorable.
