Disney’s “The Lion King” (1994) was a staple of an entire generation’s childhood, creating a whole new world of beloved characters that spanned several movies, short films, television series, video games, a Tony-Award-winning musical and a live-action remake — starting from the original’s release in 1994 to 2019.
This December, five years after the release of the live-action remake, a new live-action prequel has made its way into theaters. Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” follows Simba’s father, Mufasa, before he was king of Pride Rock.
The whole movie is set as a flashback/visualized story, as Rafikki, with interjections by Timon and Pumba, tells Nala and Simba’s young daughter the story of how her grandfather, Mufasa, became the king that audiences saw in the original movie.
As a cub, Mufasa is separated from his parents and eventually found by another cub named Taka (Theo Somolu), who excitedly takes Mufasa in as his brother, despite his father (Lennie James) — the king — being vehemently against any lion who is not from within their pride.
When a vicious pride of white lions, led by the ruthless Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen) attacks, Mufasa and Taka are forced to go out on their own to find a new home: “Milele,” a place that many of the animals think is nothing but a myth.
The movie is directed by Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight”) and features fun new songs written by Lin Manuel Miranda (“Hamilton”) and a sweeping score composed by Dave Metzger. But the film stands out because of its animation.
Moving from cartoon animals to CGI-ed realistic animals is already a risky jump for many audience members, one that Disney has been attempting to push within the past few years. While any human-like characteristics of an animal are going to be seriously hindered when using the images of real animals versus stylized cartoon versions, the characters in “Mufasa” do have a bit more range in visible expressions than their 2019 predecessors. This gives the animals back some of the personality that live-action remakes seem to take from sentient non-human characters.
The performances by various vocal actors within the film’s cast also help to bring these characters, both the new ones and old ones, to life. When the audience first meets Mufasa, he is a young cub voiced by budding actor and Atlanta resident Braelyn Rankins (“Doom Patrol”).
Rankins comes from a family that has been embedded in the film industry for as long as he can remember, and the young man is no stranger to “The Lion King” franchise. During a recent roundtable interview with the Technique, Rankins talked about playing Young Simba in a stage production of “The Lion King” when he was little. He said, “I’ve always liked ‘The Lion King,’ [and] that was a performance art school, so that’s really where I got most of my inspiration for acting [and] to join the industry in the first place. So the fact that… one of the first acting experiences I had [was] ‘The Lion King,’ and now I get to be in ‘The Lion King’ the film, is a great call back.”
Despite being quite different from the character that has already been established and loved for years, Rankins’ portrayal of a young and playful Mufasa adds another layer to the future (or past) king. When asked what it was like to try and channel a character that had already been done several times over, he replied, “It was like creating a whole new thing since we’re seeing Mufasa from such a different perspective. There wasn’t a whole lot to go off of, as far as the original ‘The Lion King,’ because at that point, he’s fully evolved and he’s Simba’s dad…. So, playing him as a young cub [when] he’s so scared and getting separated from his family and [is] first introduced to Taka and everything. So it was kind of like creating a new version of the character.”
The movie truly did show a different side of Mufasa than older audience members are used to: one filled with youthful energy and ambition as opposed to the regal maturity he showed in “The Lion King.”
Though much of Rankins’ time as the titular character is characterized by childlike wonder, he said that his favorite part of working on the film was “definitely the more intense scenes…It was kind of awkward for me, to be honest, at first, just because acting like you’re in a place behind a microphone by yourself while hundreds of people are watching you on the Zoom camera is kind of awkward, but it was really fun. And I think when I saw the scenes play out on the screen, I was really, really proud.”
After seeing “Mufasa” in theaters, audiences are bound to understand that pride, as Rankins’ performance as the young Mufasa portrays a wide range of emotions that people have yet to see from the character. The final product is a film that may not have been the most anticipated film of the year but certainly is one of Disney’s better live-action continuations in a long time.