18-year-old Ashley Solace reviews the prequel to The Lion King, which shows the tragic relationship between Mufasa and Scar
Marking the 30th birthday of the world-famous Lion King, a prequel to the original movie was released by Disney in December 2024. Mufasa: The Lion King tells the story of the childhood of brothers Mufasa and Taka, who would become known as the villain Scar in the future.
The photorealistic animation received controversial feedback full of conflicting feelings – from hate to amazement. The film grossed $719m worldwide, but is it worth that sum?
I’ve been to the cinema and am ready to express my opinion.
Harbingers’ Weekly Brief
Written by teenagers for teenagers, delivered every Friday afternoon to your inbox, with what’s best from the world’s youngest newsroom and its publisher, the Oxford School for the Future of Journalism
![author_bio]()
![author_bio]()
The technological aspects of the movie are on an undeniably high level. The scenery is beautiful and the effects are realistic — watching in 3D feels like being transported to the savannah. However, the 2D version is equally beautiful.
With the song ‘My Brother’ becoming quite popular on TikTok, it’s safe to say the songs are memorable, though arguably not the best of Disney productions – personally, I prefer those from Aladdin. Most critics don’t outright dislike them, but note that they are “made to appeal to modern trends and to align with what is currently popular in music”.
The new tunes by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Dave Metzger are fairly catchy, but incomparable to the music from the original, which has stayed in the minds of multiple generations since its release in 1994.
The Lion King’s Oscar-winning score by Hans Zimmer – with songs by Elton John and Tim Rice including ‘Circle of Life’, ‘Hakuna Matata’ and ‘One of Us’ – is in many ways the reason the original remains a classic after all these years. It’s what made it so special and has also set the bar so high, it’s almost impossible to match.
As for the new film’s characters, most of them are well known, like Mufasa or Scar, but there are also some new additions: lions Kiros, Eshe, Obasi, Nala and Zazu. While all are fascinating, a large number of them can lead to confusion. It’s worth mentioning that while the original movie featured different animals, such as the famous Timon (meerkat) and Pumbaa (warthog), the new version focuses mostly on lions.
On top of that, I feel I should point out the specificity of the prequel. It’s aimed at a particular audience – mainly the generations raised on the original Lion King. I highly doubt that today’s kids who haven’t seen the 1994 film will fully get the atmosphere and the tragedy of the movie.
Those who grew up with ‘Hakuna Matata’ are likely to have teared up in the cinema while watching the childhood of Mufasa and Taka, knowing what’s to come. That was exactly what happened to me.
However, besides all the great things the prequel has to offer, I feel it really points to a major issuethat Disney is facing right now – lack of originality. In 2024 alone, Disney released two sequels (Moana 2 and Inside Out 2) and a prequel (Lion King). There was also Frozen 2, and Zootopia 2 has recently been announced.
It seems that in recent years, Disney has adopted a marketing strategy based on nostalgia. That’s a safe bet: by taking already successful stories and complementing them with sequels and prequels, they create a sense of belonging for those who were raised on these films, ensuring a decent number of sold cinema tickets. Even if the audience ends up disappointed, it will still bring in a lot of money.
Don’t get me wrong, who doesn’t love a continuation of a beloved story? I certainly do, though sometimes it feels like too much. Every once in a while, it’s worth coming up with something new and completely original.
I was very impressed by how the touching story of Scar marvellously concludes the relationship between two brothers. It was worth telling his story to understand the reasoning behind his future actions – the weight he had to bear and how unfair life can be.
His past doesn’t justify his actions, but it helps us understand the complexity of his character. Though tragic, Scar’s character arc is finally complete and it’s undoubtedly beautiful.
For me, it was truly heartbreaking to watch Scar and Mufasa become best friends and call each other brothers. The misfortune of their story will move even the hardest of hearts.
Edited by:
© 2025 The Oxford School for the Future of Journalism