Mufasa: The Lion King director Barry Jenkins opened up about getting the idea of making a prequel to the hit Disney film.
Mufasa: The Lion King via Disney/YouTube
The Lion King is one of Disney’s best-animated movies and has made its way to the category of pop culture. While the film had done brilliantly for itself at the box office, Barry Jenkins, the director, believed that the universe of the Jon Favreau directorial should be explored.
In an interview with IndieWire, the director candidly discussed the franchise’s driving force and his curiosity, which led him to direct the prequel, Mufasa: The Lion King.
While sitting down for an interview with the media portal, Jenkins revealed that when he watched the 2019 film, he was fascinated by the story, the ancestral links, and the overall Lion King universe.
Elaborating on how he got the idea of getting into the history of the characters by making a prequel, the filmmaker explained, “When I first read the script, I was surprised to find so many things about The Lion King universe that excited me.”
He further added, “This very biblical, ancestral story about the origin of Mufasa and the Pride Lands, the idea of transcending tribalism and how we can lead ourselves from that and replace it with community. I just thought all those things were just so wonderful, and the canvas was so large that I had to make the film.”
Jenkins went on to state that Favreau’s way of filmmaking seemed to be apt, and hence, he, too, went along with the same production process and tools. However, coming from a completely different background compared to the Iron Man director, Jenkins claimed that he, along with his team, “evolved the production.”
The director explained, “It was so much fun to do because these are some of the richest archetypal characters that we have in human history.”
He went on to say, “And little kids are watching and learning these wonderful, complex lessons about human life. I’m also glad I did it because there are tools that we acquired making this film that we wouldn’t have otherwise. There’s never been more ways to make a movie than there are right now.”
Mufasa: The Lion King is running successfully in theaters.
