The King of the Savanna 🦁

If you plan to see Mufasa, be careful with how far down you scroll. Some of my perspective could be considered a spoiler.

Coming Soon!

Before we get to Mufasa – here are the Previews we saw and my initial thoughts:

Dogman – The kids are going to love this! I can’t wait to see it. Probably not big enough for me to go see it in theatres but I am still excited to see it. Fun Fact – I saw Dogman was available for meet and greet at Universal Studios!

Paddington in Peru – Hard Pass. Synopsis: A family member gets lost, and Paddington must find them. I’m not interested; the kids didn’t look interested; not sure anyone in the theatre expressed an interest. The most interesting part was the sign in the movie theatre lobby. Review edit: The kids told me they want to see this….kind of.

The Unbreakable Boy – this is going to be a tearjerker for sure. This kid is going to be inspiring. If you are going to the theatre to see this, bring a box of Kleenex. If you choose to use movie theatre napkins you can expect to have a sore nose the next day. You have been warned. I’ll have to watch this one at home. I’m not going to let people see me cry in public.

How to Train Your Dragon (Live Action) – This is a must see and the timing of release is impeccable. Right in time for the grand opening of Epic Universe.

Elio – The graphics on this cartoon look incredible. It appears very vibrant and exciting. The preview gave me a good laugh and I think this will be an enjoyable movie. Most likely I will want the couple of months for it to be on Disney+.

Snow White (Live Action) – I’ve heard a lot of negative press in regard to this movie, however, the preview looked good. I’ll likely catch this when it is free on Disney+.

Lilo & Stitch (Live Action) – Yes!!!!! This is going to be an awesome preview….. Wait, no preview? Just a release date. That was disappointing but I can’t wait to see this movie. Who doesn’t love Stitch?

Wolf Man – from Blumhouse. Close your kids’ eyes. Do not bring the kids to the theatre for this one.

Feature Presentation

As with any great Disney movie, something traumatic must happen within the first 15 minutes. Do you remember watching up and trying to hold back tears? Yes, there were a lot of tears in the audience. Some would call this emotional damage. But without the tragedy there is no movie.

Story/Plot

Mufasa gets separated from his parents as a young cub (in a very traumatic way) and is found and saved by Taka. Mufasa is adopted by Taka’s mother Eshe. As an outcast no one else in the pride wants Mufasa there or respects him. Flash Forward to adulthood. There is a traveling group of Lions trying to become the ruler of all the land by destroying all other lion prides. Taka and Mufasa now separated from their pride must find their own way and battle to the finish with this rival Lion Pride.

Mufasa: The Lion King is the prequel to The Lion King. The story is original, with some solid foreshadowing and character development. I recently saw this movie in theatres, and I was captivated and very interested to see where the story went. Due to my intake of popcorn and refreshments, I was fearful I may have to take a bathroom break and miss something interesting. Usually you would just walk away during a boring part, but there really wasn’t one for me in this movie.

Throughout the story you will witness the characters’ development align with their personalities in The Lion King. There will be choices that shape them, for instance there are a couple times that Mufasa is hanging on for dear life and Taka is faced with the decision to save him or let him fall to his ultimate demise. Taka digs his claws into Mufasa’s dangling arms. What choice will he make? The scene is reminiscent of Scar grabbing Mufasa’s arms the day he murdered Mufasa in the stampede and blamed Simba 😲

I would have enjoyed a fun intro to Shenzi, Banzai and Ed but I completely understand that Mufasa had his hands full in this one. Maybe they could have teamed up and almost become friends. That would have been wild.

Rating

This movie is rated PG which means Parental Guidance and is considered suitable for children of all ages with the advisement of adult supervision under 8 as they may not fully understand themes, mild violence or language. Do I agree with the rating? Yes. However, I will say this, if this was a movie about humans and not animals it would not have been a PG rating. Young kids will not understand the killing and destruction of certain animal families.  It wasn’t graphic murder scenes, but it was the plot. With that being said, young kids likely won’t notice this part. If you don’t want to explain this type of topic to your child maybe wait until it is on DVD or Disney+ so you can fast forward.

Visual Effects

The experience is visually stunning. I felt like I was there. CGI has gotten so good that I didn’t even question if these animals were actually talking to each other. It felt like Disney captured actual mannerisms and behaviors of each animal species.

Oh, and by the way, there is nothing cuter than the baby lion cubs.

Music

The music was just ok, sometimes a little meh. It felt like they were trying to compete with The Lion King. There is no competing with the songs from that movie. Some of the songs in Mufasa ran too long. I get it, the lyrics help tell the story. Just because it helps tell the story does not make it catchy or a classic. Obviously, if a bunch of lions walked around talking to themselves that would just look ridiculous, and people wouldn’t believe it. Singing their inner thoughts is the way to go.

Let’s meet the characters

Obasi – King of the Pride. Taka’s father. Not accepting of others. Needs some training from Human Resources. Probably not well liked by his peers.

Eshe – Taka’s mother. Genuinely cares about others and sees the best in them. She is a great mother.

Taka – He’s the jealous type. You saw good in him, and you were rooting for him to not be a turd but he’s a coward.

Mufasa – He’s a bit of a people pleaser but will he develop into a leader who can restore order and balance in the Circle of Life?

Sarabi – Easily trusts the men in her life.

Nala / Simba – disappeared for most of the movie leaving unfit animals to take care of their child 😒

Kiara – daughter of Simba and Nala. Young and curious. Acts like a kitten and that’s cute.

Rafiki – Always full of insight. Everyone goes to him with questions. It’s fun to hear his thoughts.

Zazu – Annoying as you would expect. I’ll be surprised if he makes it to The Lion King.

Pumbaa – Naturally funny. He makes me laugh. Note: he does not wash his hoofs after using restroom. Eww. 🤢

Timon – Thinks he’s the life of the party. Tells a great story how he and Pumbaa defeated Scar.

Kiros – Ghostly White Lion (Main bad guy, leader of the Outsiders Pride) – Super aggressive, can’t control anger, needs therapy. Willing to kill his own pride. Better off caged up in a zoo.

Final Verdict

The story does a fantastic job as a Prelude to The Lion King and could potentially set up a larger Lion King franchise. There are opportunities in both directions of The Lion King. They can continue the story of Mufasa as king prior to Simba being born and there are opportunities to make sequels to The Lion King with Kiara and Kion. Mufasa: The Lion King has grossed over $600M worldwide with a budget of over $200M. It may not have been as successful as other movies in The Lion King Franchise but still seems like a profitable movie. The competition when it was released was incredible with Wicked, Moana 2 and Sonic 3 also in theatres.

I would recommend the movie. I believe everyone in the family can enjoy this movie. Older generations will enjoy throwbacks and nostalgia. It will also set up the new generation to enjoy the old Lion King movies. For kids that grew up with The Lion Guard, they may be excited their childhood version might be the next big screen movie.