Disney recently came out with a prequel to “The Lion King” called “Mufasa,” and it was a fun movie to watch with a catchy soundtrack that will leave you singing for weeks. Throughout the movie, Mufasa goes through many ups and downs that lead up to the events right before “The Lion King.” There were many fun surprises throughout the film, especially toward the end, and it was cool seeing many original characters like Pumbaa and Rafiki return. Characters such as Taka, the adoptive brother of Mufasa, were introduced to the franchise and they were really interesting. The film teaches the audience that your childhood doesn’t define who you are and you can instead grow from it like Mufasa did.

There were many great things about this film, which include character development and growth. You watch Mufasa grow and become his own character while being known as a “stray”. He always had competition and grew from it. It got very emotional, especially at the end with everything coming together to set things up for the original film. Another positive was the soundtrack, and although it wasn’t as good as the original film, it was still catchy and it had me turning on “I Always Wanted a Brother” right as I left the theater.

Although there were many positives in this film, it lacked emotions for the younger audiences. The emotions of Scar and Mufasa fighting can be too deep or confusing for some ages. The main characters had good development but they lacked development with secondary characters. If you’re a longtime fan, the movie could also seem too familiar because of the similarities between the plots of “The Lion King” and “Mufasa.”

Overall, the majority of the film was balanced with its strengths and weaknesses. The OG Lion King is definitely better, but I enjoyed this movie too. They had the same structure which makes both likeable. The film not only continued, but gave more lore to “The Lion King” lineage and was a backstory nobody knew they needed.