Do you remember The Lion King (1994) from your childhood? Maybe even The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride (1998) or The Lion King 1 1/2 (2004) were your entry into one of Disney’s most recurring IPs. The most recent entry in the Lion King franchise is the live-action The Lion King (2019). In Disney’s attempt to “make old films more appealing to modern viewers” The Lion King was one of the many classic films to get remade into a live-action adaptation.
There have also been a handful of TV shows and short films added to the Lion King franchise over the years. Some followed the misadventures of Timon and Pumba. Others covered what happened after the original film, expanding Simba’s family and the drama that keeps shows and films entertaining. In spite of all the time the shows have covered, none have gone before the original film’s time.
In September of 2022, Disney announced that they were making a prequel to The Lion King (live-action) in their new film, Mufasa: The Lion King. The story would explore how Simba’s father came to power and “give us a better understanding of the character.”
While we haven’t had a prequel explaining the background of the Lion King universe, the sequels have gone out of their way to give us more details about the different characters and their pasts. The most notable in this would be The Lion Guard (2016-2019).
The Lion Guard follows Kion, the son of Simba and the inheritor of “the roar of the elders.” Traditionally, the host of “the roar” is the leader of The Lion Guard, a group specifically made to protect the Pride Lands where the king cannot or is too busy. Throughout the show there is more and more learned about the past of the Pride Lands and the past lion kings.
One of the main revelations that the show gives us is the origin of Scar and Mufasa’s dissent. Scar befriends a lion from the Outlands, the land outside of Pride Rock’s borders, and is betrayed and injured. When he returns, now with his iconic slash across the face, Mufasa teases him and gives him the nickname “Scar” that we know him by for the rest of the franchise.
I personally have only seen a few episodes of The Lion Guard, but it seems like the show has done a good job of expanding the world while striving to be consistent with the rest of the established lore. The show even includes Kiara, Simba’s daughter and future queen as of The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride, and finds a way to sideline Kion to keep the show within the constraints of said sequel.
We don’t know much about the new prequel coming out December 20th to theaters near you. But the little we do know seems to vary from the already existing lore by a wide degree. The current synopsis on IMDb tells us that Mufasa is a lot cub that wanders upon a pride and befriends the prince. Supposedly the prince is unhappy with his lot and wishes not to be as burdened with his place in life.
Now, my guess is that the unnamed prince is Scar, and that Mufasa will be adopted into the royal family and for whatever reason be named and the crown prince. That would give Scar his reason to despise Mufasa while creating a way to give Mufasa some form of development.
The issue with that plotline, assuming it somewhat resembles what I’ve guessed, is that it would completely rewrite Mufasa and Scar’s stories and reasons for their dispute. Granted, the current lore comes from a kids show, but all of these movies and shows are supposed to be made for kids.
I think this is the problem that most Disney movies, especially the live-action ones, are suffering from. They don’t respect the source material and tell their own story with no regard for the stories that the people before them have told. They use the trust that others have built on a franchise and tell their new stories with no regard for the damage they do to that trust. Then when a fanbase turns and stops caring about the said IP, they blame the fanbase for reasons usually unrelated to the actual problem.
Do I think that Mufasa: The Lion King will be good? Not particularly. And I’m getting very tired of live-action retellings and stories that nobody asked for.
Cianan’s Content 