Barry Jenkins’ Mufasa Leans On “Big Feelings” & Its Breakout Cast. The Result Is Magical

Barry Jenkins knows people were skeptical about his decision to direct Mufasa: The Lion King, a live-action prequel to the beloved franchise. This is the guy who gave us Medicine for Melancholy and Moonlight, two seminal indie texts on romance, self-discovery, and intimacy. He gave us If Beale Street Could Talk, one of my favorite movies of all time; a film that heartbreakingly unravels the ways in which love can heal us and systems can break us. Jenkins’ filmography may not have been able to predict his pivot to helming a Disney blockbuster, but if you know his work, you could have anticipated one thing: Mufasa would be bursting with emotion and, as I put it to Jenkins himself when I got to interview him in San Diego for the movie’s press day, “big feelings.” 

“I just love big feelings,” Jenkins told me while sitting beside Lin-Manuel Miranda, acclaimed director, musical genius, Broadway legend, and Mufasa’s composer. “I didn't realize how potent a vessel for big feelings a musical is until I was knee-deep in making one. I'm pro-musical, pro-big feelings.” When you really think about it, Jenkins’ style of storytelling — delving into longing, vulnerability, and tenderness — lends itself perfectly to the musical genre. And yet, he is aware that when the project was first announced, people couldn’t wrap their heads around the idea. “I'm excited for people to see the film,” he said after acknowledging the backlash, but refusing to engage: “No reaction to the reaction,” he said with a smile. “What [people] are reacting to if they haven't seen the film is this idea of big feelings, your words, which I love. I just tried to rush in and fill this movie with as many big feelings as I possibly could, using a whole new tool set. The tool set's the only thing that's different. The feelings are the same.” 

As someone who has seen the film, I agree. Mufasa will make you feel, even if you were skeptical after watching Jon Favreau’s The Lion King (2019), which took a bit of the soul out of the 1994 original version we grew up with. The photorealism of the animals fell flat, stripping the magic and wonder from the story we know and love. Mufasa benefits from not having an original to compare it to, and from the technological advancements since 2019. The animals are more expressive, the cinematography is stunning, and Jenkins’ direction is full of heart. Plus, his cast delivers performances that aren’t overshadowed by the visuals. In fact, the impressive tech of the film works well with the commitment each voice actor brings to their characters. Aaron Pierre and Kelvin Harrison Jr. are Mufasa and Taka (before he becomes Scar) and both young men continue to earn their statuses as Hollywood’s breakout stars and certified Internet Boyfriends by backing up their good looks (have you seen these men!?) with undeniable talent. 

Mufasa is an origin story of how a lion cub becomes king and about how a precocious kid becomes a villain, but mostly, it’s about legacy. The story goes like this: Mufasa is separated from his parents in a gutting opening sequence of a flood that washes him over to Taka’s royal family and he’s adopted by them. Taka’s dad is a king who believes power is built through deception. Mufasa clings to the lessons his parents taught him and Taka’s connection to their brotherly bond severs as soon as jealousy gets in the way. And of course, at the center of their conflict is a girl: Sarabi (Tiffany Boone), who goes on to be Mufasa’s mate, but Scar saw her first. The plot thickens. The story is told to Kiara (Simba and Nala’s daughter, voiced by Blue Ivy Carter who is really good in this role) through Rafiki (John Kani) and Timon and Pumbaa (Billy Eichner and Seth Rogan respectively and respectfully, the duo’s screen time should have been cut in half). As the story unfolds, it’s clear that both Mufasa and Scar are fighting for their place in the world and each thinks their own path is the right one. So when I talked to Pierre and Harrison Jr., I asked them to defend their characters’ perspectives. 

“At the end of the day, I was the rightful heir. I was a prince!” Harrison Jr. said passionately. “I tried to invite you to my home. I let you win a whole race, and then you want to sit there and do what you did. I ain't gonna say what he did, but you know what you did…. What goes around, comes back around. Pretty sure Beyoncé said that,” Harrison Jr. said with a laugh. Pierre went a more diplomatic route and discussed the scene in the film where Mufasa tries to talk to Taka about his relationship with Sarabi. “ We attempted to have a conversation about said subject matter, but the conversation didn't end up coming to a reality. We didn't end up having that conversation. And as opposed to waiting for that moment to have the conversation, somebody retaliated, instead of being patient and waiting for that moment where we could have wrapped about it, but it's okay,” Pierre said, speaking on behalf of his character. “I love [Taka], and I celebrate him, and I always will uplift him.” See, big feelings! 

The chemistry between Pierre and Harrison Jr. (who also played Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. in the Genius: MLK/X series this year) shines through on screen and adds to the dynamic between Mufasa and Taka. There’s a push and pull between loving brothers and competitive foes. “We just had a lot of fun doing it,” Pierre said about building the rapport with Harrison Jr. He also shed more light on how Harrison Jr. got into his character’s headspace. “One of my favorite moments was one of our first read-throughs of the script. And I think at that time, Kelvin was deep into Chevalier — which is a beautiful film, by the way — and he had his locs and everything, and he had all the physicality of Scar. He imagined this perch. He had his shoes off, and I just loved seeing that. I'm always drawing inspiration from my brother here.” 

One of my favorite moments in the film is watching Taka, through his hurt and suspicions of betrayal, become Scar. His voice deepens and flickers with mischief. His stance lowers menacingly. He slowly transforms from a naive wannabe prince following his brother around into the Scar of “Be Prepared” (the song Jeremy Irons turned into a classic and Chiwetel Ejiofor expertly took on in the remake), a petty lion hungry for power. It’s exhilarating to watch and it proves that even behind all the theatrics of live action photorealist technology, Mufasa is able to show the subtle progression of a character with depth and nuance. It was a tall order and I know the reviews will be mixed, but I think they pulled it off.  

“Yes, there's a lot, a lot of pressure,” Boone, who plays Sarabi, told me about taking on such beloved characters steeped in nostalgia. “We're people who grew up obsessed with this film and loving these characters. So there's pressure, but it's such a great honor. And I think we all felt like we were in safe hands with Barry [Jenkins] so that we were able to do the best that we possibly could and bring this to a new generation of children. And so yes, pressure all day, every day, but here we are. We made it. You know, 30 years later, we made it, and it's in the world. It's not my business no more,” she laughed. 

Boone brought up a few points I loved and think are important to consider: one, that this is a children’s movie, and two, that how it’s received is none of the cast (or creators’) business. When critiquing movies made for kids, I think sometimes my peers forget that these movies aren’t for the adults who may have fond memories of the IP.

Sure, if you go into Mufasa expecting it to hit like The Lion King of our youth did, you may be disappointed. The songs don’t slap as hard (there’s no clear equivalent to “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King” or “Can You Feel The Love Tonight”) but they are catchy enough to stick in your head. And the tale of two young cubs trying to wrestle with coming into their own and into authority, looking legacy in the face along with grief and daunting expectations is powerful and pure, enough that as you’re watching this mammoth of a movie — surely ideated as a purposeful cash grab — you remember that Barry Jenkins, a formidable filmmaker, found a way to preserve the soul in the story while also having some fun. Some have called Jenkins’ Mufasa a symbol of selling out, but I saw it as a valiant effort by one of our most brilliant talents to put something wholesome and light into the world. After all the heaviness and gravity he’s given us, I think we can let him have this. A long time from now when Jenkins is looking back at his legacy, I don’t think he’s going to regret doing the whimsical kids’ movie that made a lot of people feel some big feelings. 

When I asked Jenkins about legacy, he balked. “I radically resist those kinds of thoughts,” he said. “I'm trying to look right here, just what's in front of me at all times, especially when I'm creating something and especially something as expansive as this. [But] the topic of legacy was something that I felt it was really interesting to unpack and decontextualize in this way, by just taking Mufasa’s life, Scar’s life and breaking it down to this thing happened, and it was really intense, and he changed a little bit and this other thing happened. It was really intense. And then when you step back and look at it from 30,000 feet, it's like, oh, that's why that legacy is so impactful. It was the journey. I love making things that way. I love creating art that way.” 

Miranda admitted to thinking about legacy, but said he “got all the legacy out of my system on Hamilton.” The musical won the Pulitzer Prize for drama and 11 Tony Awards. “I was sort of like, okay, the first line of my obituary is handled. So what else do I want to do? And how do I choose what I want to work on, knowing that no matter what happens to me, it's ‘Hamilton, creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda’? For me, the answer is that I only say yes to the projects I know I'm going to learn a lot working on, and I knew I'd learn a lot working with Barry, who I think is one of our great storytellers.” 

Ultimately, Mufasa is better than its predecessor (The Lion King, 2019), so beautiful to look at it’ll leave you staring up at the screen in wonder, and such a fun journey to go on with its characters that you’ll realize that only Barry Jenkins could have turned a Disney prequel no one asked for into a deep exploration of brotherhood, leadership, and family.