Mufasa: The Lion King

Kiara (voice)

They've been praying for rain for ages but are ill-prepared for when it finally comes and washes away the young "Mufasa" from the loving paws of his parents and out into the wilderness. Luckily, he is rescued by the friendly young cub "Taka" whose mother "Eshe" convinces his sceptical father "Obasi" to let her adopt him. The pair prove inseparable as they grow up, but the encroachment of a pride of angry white lions led by "Kiros" soon threatens their peaceful lives and forces the two to flee in search of a mystical land. Along the way they encounter the wily lioness "Sarabi" and her airborne early warning system "Zazu" and joining forces, have their work cut out for them crossing the snowy mountains. The whole story is regaled by the sagely "Rafiki" to a young cub "Kiara" and the underused, rough-round-the-edges, warthog/meerkat combo of "Pumbaa" and "Timon" so we know the ending all along. Not that jeopardy is in anyway the point here, it's not that kind of Disney film. It's really just a fairly shameless rip-off of the first, far superior, film that though it looks great with all the integrated live-action visuals has a story that's cheesily wafer thin. It's purpose is to set out the origins of the "Lion King" (1994) but all it really does is remind us of just how good that was and just how average this one is. They keep referring to the "Circle of Life" but barring a few meanderings from the orchestral score into the songs from the past, we are simply left with some banal offerings from Lin-Manuel Miranda best summed up by "Bye Bye" - straight from the Janet and John book of rhyming "seas" with "trees". Certainly, it looks great but it's also quite confusing whom it's for. The kids watching in the cinema with me were quickly bored by the undercooked story once the awe of the visuals had worn off. It's all perfectly watchable and is quite a testament to the arts of those in the CGI department well worthy of the big screen, but it's all instantly forgettable fayre that just sort of rolls along towards it's rousing denouement unremarkably.