'Mufasa' film puts classic lions into more complex storylines

Director Barry Jenkins believes it was essential to revisit the Disney DIS.N classic "The Lion King" with the prequel "Mufasa: The Lion King" so that audiences could understand that the protagonist, Lion Mufasa, was never perfect and the villain, Scar, was not always evil.

"For 30 years, we've been living with this idea of Mufasa as unimpeachably great and good, and Scar is like the full embodiment of evil," Jenkins told Reuters.

"In this story, we go back and show that no one is born good or evil. You'll get a result of all these choices you make, good parenting, bad parenting, nature versus nurture," the "Moonlight" director added.

Jenkins found that introducing a more complex look at the classic characters was key to the story.

The film, written by Jeff Nathanson, uses photorealistic animation and serves as a prequel to the original animated 1994 "The Lion King" and a sequel to the 2019 remake, which Jon Favreau directed.

"Mufasa: The Lion King," distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, arrives in theaters on Friday.

The movie includes the voices of leads Aaron Pierre as Mufasa, the lion who grows up to be the king and father to Simba, along with Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Taka, who's eventually known as the antagonist named Scar, a prince and Mufasa's adoptive brother.

Taking place in the Pride Lands of Tanzania after the 2019 "Lion King" film events, "Mufasa" follows Mufasa and Taka, who become friends and eventually adoptive brothers until a series of devastating events threaten their bond.

The voice cast also includes multi-Grammy winner Beyonce Knowles-Carter, who reprises her role from the 2019 film as Simba's mate, Nala, and the "Texas Hold 'Em" singer's daughter, Blue Ivy. She also makes her film debut voicing Simba and Nala's daughter, Princess Kiara.

It was important for Pierre to pay homage to the late James Earl Jones, one of the most renowned actors in Hollywood and the original voice of Mufasa.

"He really, for me, is just top level," the "Genius" actor said.

For Pierre, Jones was his guiding light that extinguished his fear about the iconic role.

"I managed to use that (his fear) in the adolescent version because it doesn't have it all figured out," he added.