Mufasa: The Lion King will open with a tribute to James Earl Jones, who died in September 2024. Jones voiced Mufasa, Simba's father in Disney's 1994 Oscar-winning animated musical classic, The Lion King, the prequel, and its 2019 live-action remake. Aaron Pierre is set to voice the role in the upcoming Mufasa prequel, which follows an orphaned lion as he becomes the king of the Pride Lands.
In an interview with Variety, director Barry Jenkins confirmed that Mufasa: The Lion King will open with a tribute to Jones. The director reflected on the impact of Jones' work and saw characters like Mufasa as "a stand-in" for "father figures."When Jones died, Jenkins felt like "we had lost a patriarch" who "meant so much," so it didn't feel right for a movie about a role Jones helped popularize to not honor him. They decided to "do it at the very front" with something "very clear and powerful." Check out what Jenkins said:
When I think about what James Earl Jones means, not even just to me, but to global audiences — people know this — I grew up without a father figure, and you go in, and you watch this art, you watch these films, sometimes these fathers in these movies become a stand-in for that. They become these father figures.
It felt like we had all lost a patriarch. We had
all
lost this man who meant so much. It felt like there was no way you could sit in this movie – go through an hour and 40 minutes — and not honor him in some way. You would be thinking about the ways in which you wanted to honor him, so it felt like we had to do it at the very front. The studio agreed right away, and we tried to find something that was very simple, but also very clear and very powerful.
What This Means For Mufasa: The Lion King
Mufasa: The Lion King Also Taps Into The Present Time
Mufasa opens with Jones' voice and a title card that reads, "In Remembrance." In the same report, the film's red carpet premiere in Los Angeles also reveals that Jones' voice was used in a way to resemble "the voice of God" speaking from above. While the story of Mufasa focuses on the titular lion king's early years and his younger brother Taka (Kevin Harrison Jr.), aka Scar, the film also features the return of many familiar voices and characters from the 2019 Lion King remake.
Mufasa: The Lion King retconned Mufasa and Scar's relationship, and the 2019 Lion King remake changing these lines proves this was always the plan.
Donald Glover is set to reprise his role from the 2019 film as Simba, while Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen will return as Timon and Pumbaa. Beyoncé Knowles-Carter returns as Nala while her daughter Blue Ivy Carter is making her feature film debut as Kiara, Simba and Nala's daughter. As teased in the final trailer for Mufasa: The Lion King, the film opensin the present time of the remake before diving into past events, linking the prequel and the 2019 film together and telling a multi-generation story.
Our Take On Mufasa: The Lion King
Mufasa: The Lion King Tackles Identity And Community
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Jenkins has previously teased about the themes in Mufasa being similar to Moonlight, which tells a coming-of-age story about a boy finding himself through three phases in life, from growing up as a neglected child to an angry adolescent to finding peace in adulthood. The prequel would tackle highly relatable themes, like identity and community, and tell a meaningful story like Moonlight.
The director also indicates that Jones' role in the original animated film would serve as guidance in the new story about Mufasa, who is finding his identity and grows into the role of a father figure and a patriarch despite his upbringing. By bringing back voice actors from the 2019 The Lion King live-action remake, Mufasa: The Lion King shows that it's built on the previous works instead of deriving from them.
Mufasa: The Lion King is a prequel to the live-action remake of the original Disney animated film, The Lion King. The film will follow Mufasa in his early days; further plot details are currently under wraps. The film will likely explore Mufasa and Scar's relationship and how it became as strained as it did. In the film, Timon and Pumba will return, with Billy Eicher and Seth Rogen reprising their roles.
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