Mufasa: The Lion King serves as the sequel and prequel to 2019’s The Lion King, the remake of the 1994 classic animated film. It follows the origin story of Mufasa and his rise to becoming the king of Pride Rock, as told by Rafiki to Timon, Pumbaa, and Kiara, the daughter of Simba and Nala.
Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton) is no stranger to composing music for Disney. He has written songs for Moana including “How Far I’ll Go” and “You’re Welcome,” and he was responsible for composing the songs for Mufasa: The Lion King. The musician knows making music for a new Lion King movie would be daunting due to the legacy of Elton John’s music.
“The Lion King – that original ’94 soundtrack is an immortal soundtrack,” Miranda said during the press conference for Mufasa: The Lion King. “It’s like no skips from Elton John and Tim Rice, and then Hans Zimmer’s incredible score. But if it had just been that first movie, I think I would have been very intimidated, but there’s been an entire world of Lion King music.”
There has been more music in the world of The Lion King including the Broadway musical, Beyonce’s The Gift, and more. This has made it less intimidating for Miranda. Plus, he had a secret weapon to help him.
“And then my secret weapon was Lebo M., who is the first voice you hear in that original film,” he said. “I knew his choral arrangements and his incredible choir were going to raise whatever I wrote to the next level. And working with him and Mark Mancina, who I worked with on Moana, I knew I had incredible talent in my corner that would help us get to that Lion King level.”
2024 is the year for Aaron Pierre, who was the lead in Netflix’s Rebel Ridge and was cast as John Stewart / Green Lantern in DC Studio’s Lanterns series. He portrayed Malcolm X in the fourth season of Genius with Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Martin Luther King Jr. The two actors are in another project again in Mufasa: The Lion King, with Pierre as Mufasa and Harrison Jr. as Taka (later known as Scar).
“So, this particular picture was the first time that Kelvin and I had the opportunity to work together,” Pierre said. “And beyond that point, we had the great privilege and honor of portraying heroes of ours, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X (el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz). But interestingly, on both of these projects, we didn’t spend an enormous amount of time in the same room, so our friendship and our brotherhood, the foundation and the roots of that actually developed 90 percent of that outside of the context of work. And that’s what we engaged with and that’s what we drew from to find the brotherly bond and sort of the familiarity that these two, of course, brothers, would have.”
The origin story for Mufasa in the 2024 film is different from what fans may know. Mufasa told his son, Simba, about how they are part of the kings of the past in the classic animated film. In Mufasa: The Lion King, the titular character is separated from his family and finds a new family.
“When I first read the script, I realized, ‘Well, wait a second, Mufasa grew up with a found family the same way that I did,'” Director Barry Jenkins said. “Or if I told you I have a movie about a child who has a biblical event that involves water, and then he’s cast away from his family and has to build a new life with a new family, I could be talking about Moonlight or talking about Mufasa.
“I was able to see myself in Mufasa through this telling of the story. And something about that made me feel like I was taking these really raw, beautiful feelings of encountering this story as a child and expanding them, with the complexity, I will say, of 25 additional years of life. Or 30 years of additional life in the case of people who encountered this in 1994. I think just not separating myself from someone who I believe was gonna have that experience, but being one of those people. I think it was the key to figuring out how to make this film.”
About Mufasa: The Lion King
Synopsis: Mufasa: The Lion King enlists Rafiki to relay the legend of Mufasa to young lion cub Kiara, daughter of Simba and Nala, with Timon and Pumbaa lending their signature schtick. Told in flashbacks, the story introduces Mufasa as an orphaned cub, lost and alone until he meets a sympathetic lion named Taka—the heir to a royal bloodline. The chance meeting sets in motion an expansive journey of an extraordinary group of misfits searching for their destiny—their bonds will be tested as they work together to evade a threatening and deadly foe.
The film stars Aaron Pierre (Mufasa), Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Taka/Scar), Tiffany Boone (Sarabi), Kagiso Lediga (Young Rafiki), Preston Nyman (Zazu), Mads Mikkelsen (Kiros), Thandiwe Newton (Eshe), Lennie James (Obasi), Anika Noni Rose (Afia), Keith David (Masego), John Kani (Rafiki), Seth Rogen (Pumbaa), Billy Eichner (Timon), Donald Glover (Simba), Blue Ivy Carter (Kiara), Braelyn Rankins (Young Mufasa), Theo Somolu (Young Taka), Folake Olowofoyeku, Joanna Jones, Thuso Mbedu, Sheila Atim, Abdul Salis, Dominique Jennings, and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter (Nala).
The film is directed by Barry Jenkins (Moonlight) and written by Jeff Nathanson.
Mufasa: The Lion King releases in theaters on December 20, 2024.
