Disney’s Money Spiders Lion King The franchise will likely go on and on until its lion dynasty collapses into the decadent chaos that has plunged royal families throughout history. One day we may reach the bloody story of Scar’s great-grandnephew, a deranged Caligula with fangs and thick fur who manages to kill all of his relatives before being eliminated himself. At that point the elephants, peaceful, calm and wise, will come into power and an even greater Broadway musical will emerge from them.

There is nothing more beautiful than the circle of life.

But The Pachyderm Prince (or whatever it’s called) won’t have to go into development for some time, not if the studio manages to produce films like the visually stunning new CGI prequel, Mufasa: The Lion Kingthat deserves to be a family-oriented holiday hit.

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This latest film follows Mufasa (Rebel Ridge’s Aaron Pierre) as he spends his youth and early adulthood in unexpected exile: after a flood sweeps him away and separates him from his parents, he is adopted into a pack ruled by Obasi (the Walking Dead Lennie James). But Mufasa’s reception is no warmer than the welcome Dickens gave to the foundlings scattered throughout his novels.

Unable to stand the stench of this alien – who also happens to be a commoner – Obasi resolves the inconvenience by handing him over to his queen Eshe (Thandiwe Newton), who will raise him alongside the females of the pack.

Still, Mufasa gets to be with Obasi’s heir Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), a happy, good sport. Unfortunately, when tested, Taka shows less courage than Mufasa in saving Eshe from an invading tribe of white-gray lions. You can imagine how this will ultimately cause tension between Harry and William.

You may also instinctively wonder about the symbolic significance of these predatory lions, whose faded fur gives them the decorative neutrality of driftwood sculptures. Some enterprising and overly imaginative columnists might suspect that their leader Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen) represents Putin, the icy tyrant. On the other hand, Kiros and his troops are first seen in a pink-lit swamp that barely resembles the Kremlin. It’s more like a bayou renovated and turned over by a flock of flamingos. But the scene is visually great.

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This applies to the film as a whole. Directed by Oscar winner Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), this animal epic is carried by animations that are much richer and more varied than those in Lion King Restart from 2019.

These lions spend more time underwater – a deep, peacock-blue water world – than Esther Williams ever did. The moody skyscapes, slanting sunlight and nearby tall grasses are particularly pretty, and Mufasa’s brave but perilous journey to the lion paradise of Malelee takes you up into dynamically high mountains shrouded in ice-cold white snow.

Honestly, it’s a nice distraction from the company of lions, mandrills and red-billed hornbills. Nature is not just made up of animals.

Jenkins conveys all of this with sensitivity and what feels like a gentle confidence. But the film fumbles every now and then, much in the same way you assume the three-legged zebra named Steve stumbles. We don’t get to see this Steve – he’s mentioned in the witty showbiz banter between warthog Pumbaa (Seth Rogen) and meerkat Timon (Billy Eichner). But seriously, in Jenkins’ stunningly beautiful vision of a savage kingdom, do we really want to waste time on a meerkat who apparently studied comedy with Billy Crystal?

Losing the pig and the meerkat would have made for a better and faster film.

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You may or may not welcome the new songs Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda. They have a hip, rhythmic snap that doesn’t really suit realistic looking lions. And it’s not like you could expect realistic-looking lions to end a number with jazzy hands or jazzy paws, let alone sing the phrase “flecks of gold in their hair.” It sounds like a style influencer has a brainwave.

But none of this will bother the children in the audience. Plus, you’re always free to let your adult thoughts wander and speculate about the parallels between Mufasa and Taka and the young, feuding Windsors.

Mufasa: The Lion King hits theaters on December 20th.

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