Disney’s photorealistic musical, Mufasa: The Lion King, serving as both a prequel and sequel to Jon Favreau’s take (2019) on the 1994 original animated classic, has received glowing first reactions from critics.
With such highly positive early reviews, the forthcoming Barry Jenkins movie seems destined to roar at the box office.
Unlike Favreau’s project, Mufasa: The Lion King boasts a completely new origin story of the titular protagonist and his adoptive brother, Scar. Emerging talents such as Aaron Pierre and Kelvin Harrison Jr. have voiced these popular characters, respectively.
First critical reactions towards the prequel are overwhelmingly positive, with Jazz Tangcay from Variety calling it “a perfect prequel.”
Popular movie critics praised the film’s “blood-thirsty” tone, cinematography, and visuals. However, he called the songs “subpar.”
#MufasaTheLionKing is an unexpected blood-thirsty prequel w/ stunning visuals and cinematography but contains subpar songs that don’t advance a contrived story. It’s fine for those interested learning about Mufasa and Taka’s origins. At least the humor provides laughs and levity. pic.twitter.com/VOdj8WUvwE
— iammichaeljlee.bsky.social (@IamMichaelJLee) December 10, 2024
John Nguyen from Nerd Reactor believes that the prequel has outdone the 2019 photorealistic remake in every possible way.
#Mufasa is a fantastic prequel that outdoes the first photorealistic The Lion King movie by a mile with an original and engaging story, better facial animation, and fun songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda. It ties nicely to the previous film's story and you get to see how it all started. pic.twitter.com/JNxVdW6FPS
— John Nguyen (@JohnSpartan300) December 10, 2024
LaughingPlace.com also praises Mufasa but points out that it also “suffers from a bout of prequelitis.”
Be prepared! #MufasaTheLionKing occasionally suffers from a bout of prequelitis, but otherwise this movie functions as pleasantly diverting (though semi-tragic) family fare for the holiday season, with just enough drama, adventure and laughs to fill its slightly overlong runtime. pic.twitter.com/KFMxgC0fiy
— LaughingPlace.com (@laughingplace) December 10, 2024
Chris Killian from ComicBook is singing praises about the project’s beautiful animation and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “infectious” songs.
I’ll be the first to admit that a Lion King prequel was not something I was asking for, but the animation is incredible, the songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda are infectious, and the vocal performances make #Mufasa - dare I say - better than the 2019 version of Lion King. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/7osrCByx2E
— Chris Killian (@chriskillian) December 10, 2024
Critical reception seems to be in Mufasa’s favour, which would certainly help it become one of the highest grossers of 2024, ending the year on a fantastic note for Disney.
The Walt Disney Studio undoubtedly marked a triumphant and record-breaking return to form this year. Its box office struggles persisted until Inside Out 2, which minted over $1.7 billion globally, followed by Moana 2, which has grossed over $606 million worldwide so far. This momentum will easily take Mufasa over $1 billion.
Apart from Pierre and Harrison Jr, Mufasa: The Lion King stars John Kani, Billy Eichner, Seth Rogen, Donald Glover, Tiffany Boone, Mads Mikkelsen, Thandiwe Newton, Blue Ivy Carter, and Beyonce Knowles-Carter. Stay tuned for more updates.