Mufasa:The Lion KingReview: The Disney Prequel Is a Roaring Adventure — with Great Vistas!

Mar. 15, 2025

Mufasa is about to be swept away in a floodl.Photo:Disney

Disney

Disney’s money-spinningLion Kingfranchise will probably keep on going and going, right up until its lion dynasty descends into the decadent chaos that’s toppled royal families throughout history. Someday we may reach the bloody story of Scar’s great-great-nephew, a deranged, poison-fanged, thick-furred Caligula who manages to kill off all his relatives before being eliminated himself. At that point the elephants, peaceful, placid and wise, will rise to power, and from them will rise an even greater Broadway musical.

There’s nothing quite like the circle of life.

ButThe Pachyderm Prince(or whatever it’ll be called) won’t need to go into development for some time, not if the studio manages to turn out films like the visually intoxicating new CGI prequel,Mufasa: The Lion King, which deserves to be a family-oriented holiday smasheroo.

Even so, Mufasa is allowed to pal around with Obasi’s heir, Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), a cheerful good sport. Unfortunately, when put to the test, Taka shows less courage than Mufasa in rescuing Eshe from an invading tribe of white-gray lion brutes. You can anticipate how this will ultimately lead to Harry vs. William tensions.

What a man! The post-adolescent Mufasa (Aaron Pierre) with Rafiki the mandrill (John Kani).Disney

These lions spend more time underwater — a deep, peacock-blue aquatic world — thanEsther Williamsever did. The moody skyscapes, the slanting sunlight and the close, tall grasses are especially pretty, and Mufasa’s brave but dangerous journey toward the lion paradise known as Malelee takes you up into dynamically high mountains dressed in frigid white snow.

To be honest, it’s a nice distraction from the company of lions, mandrills and red-billed hornbills. Nature isn’t all animals.

Jenkins puts all this across with sensitivity and what feels like a gentle confidence. But the film fumbles occasionally, much as you presume the three-leg zebra known as Steve trips up. We don’t get to see this Steve — he’s mentioned in the jokey, show-biz banter of warthog Pumbaa (Seth Rogen) and meerkat Timon (Billy Eichner). But really: In Jenkins’ encompassingly lovely vision of a wild kingdom, do we really want to waste time with a meerkat who seems to have studied comedy under Billy Crystal?

Losing the hog and the meerkat would have made for a better, faster film.

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‘Mufasa: The Lion King’.Disney

Mufasa: The Lion Kingis in theaters Dec. 20.

source: people.com