Mufasa: The Lion King is now showing in cinemas as a Disney Christmas 2024 offering. Coming on the heels of the great late November success of Moana 2; this expansion of the Lion King universe has a lot of Box Office ‘hope’ riding on it. While some may question whether, after the original 1994 animated feature and the 2019 photorealistic animated version, we even needed this origin story of Simba’s father, I was more curious to know if some years from now, we get a full animated version of this Mufasa film, or it evolves into an animated TV series. We could even call it, ‘Mufasa, And How I Met Your Mother’, or ‘Mufasa and Scar, the Wonder Years’.

If you’re one of those who feel Disney has been guilty of flogging a dead horse or squeezing entirely squeezed lemons, you’ll sympathize with the gentle sarcasm of the previous paragraph. But on the other hand, if you’re one with the millions who’ve trooped to and enjoyed these reboots and expansion of the IP universe of successful franchises, then this origin story of Mufasa, a prequel to the Lion King we know and love, is meant for you.

The background to this won't be new territory for anyone who’s enjoyed all the iterations of The Lion King. But I will give credit to the writers and Director Barry Jenkins for turning this Mufasa screenplay into something dramatic, even Shakespearean, and vying for epic. It’s got family, betrayal, loyalties, retribution, justice, and flirting with Fate. The friendship between Mufasa and Taka, starting when they were lion cubs, is at the core of this film. And that even as a young cub, Taka speaks with a clipped British accent should be the most obvious of clues as to who Taka will become when older.

Orphaned cub Mufasa, separated from his parents and their territory, ends up befriending Taka, heir to the royal bloodline of a pride where Taka’s father, Obasi, rules. Aaron Pierce voices Mufasa while Kelvin Harrison Jr. takes on Taka. Today, we have Pumba and Timon looking over Kiara, the daughter cub of Simba and Nala. Old Rafiki (John Kani) goes into storytelling mode and brings us the Mufasa tale.

There are no spoilers here, but I can say that what invests this film with texture and depth is how we also get the origin story of Rafiki, himself an outcast from his tribe of baboons and mandrills, and that of Zazu. The young versions of these well-loved characters from The Lion King connect this prequel effectively with the established audience. As can be expected, the lush cinematography of landscapes and vistas of Nature in the wild, are stunning and help make the moments watching slip by - even when the storyline becomes somewhat predictable.

What is unfortunate here though, is the uninspired musical score. The Tim Rice - Elton John songs from the 1994 film were golden. Here, even with Lin Manuel-Miranda on board, only the duet song of Mufasa and Sarabi had me smiling and thinking this song was a keeper.

There is much to like and enjoy in this Mufasa outing, it may have too many notes that echo the original film, but I can see kids loving this and the parents wistfully remembering their first brush with the 1994 film. Hard to believe, but that is 30 years ago now!