This week, Disney released the first teaser trailer for the upcoming movie, “Mufasa: The Lion King,” which is a prequel to the classic movie, “The Lion King” and explores the unlikely rise of the beloved king of the Pride Lands.

The upcoming movie sees Rafiki relaying the legend of Mufasa to young lion cub Kiara, daughter of Simba and Nala, with Timon and Pumbaa lending their signature schtick. Told in flashbacks, the story introduces Mufasa as an orphaned cub, lost and alone until he meets a sympathetic lion named Taka—the heir to a royal bloodline. The chance meeting sets in motion an expansive journey of an extraordinary group of misfits searching for their destiny—their bonds will be tested as they work together to evade a threatening and deadly foe.  

This new movie has an all-star cast with Thandiwe Newton, Mads Mikkelsen, Aaron Pierre, Seth Rogen, Donald Glover, and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter.

“Mufasa: The Lion King” is going to be directed by Barry Jenkins, who has previously directed “If Beale Street Could Talk” and won an Oscar for his direction of “Moonlight“.  Following Barry sharing the teaser trailer on Twitter, some fans started to criticize the filmmaker for doing a mainstream movie, which one fan called “Soulless”, to which he replied:

“There is nothing soulless about ‘The Lion King.  For decades children have sat in theaters all over the world experiencing collective grief for the first time, engaging Shakespeare for the first time, across aisles in myriad languages. A most potent vessel for communal empathy.”

Another fan called out Barry for being a shill for Disney, to which Barry said:

Bruh what kind of logic is that?

Ever since the movie was announced, Barry Jenkins has been very vocal about his love of the original film and based on his previous work, hopefully he will prove the doubters wrong with the release of “Mufasa: The Lion King”, when it hits cinemas on December 20th 2024, before arriving on Disney+ in 2025.

Are you looking forward to watching “Mufasa: The Lion King”?  Let us know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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