I Finally Watched Mufasa, And I Think It Does This One Character's Story Really Well

Mufasa: The Lion King was not one of my most anticipated live-action Disney movie remakes. This is mainly because I didn’t enjoy the live-action version of The Lion King -- I don’t consider it among the best Disney live-action movies. Therefore, I didn’t believe Mufasa would be any better than that movie.

However, I enjoyed it slightly more than the live-action Lion King. I believe this is because I had high expectations for that live-action version since the animated Lion King is one of my favorite Disney movies. I didn’t love Mufasa: The Lion King, but I did think it had some strong elements, including its portrayal of this one critical character.

Warning Mufasa: The Lion King and The Lion King spoilers are ahead. Proceed with caution.

I Was Fascinated By Taka In Mufasa

Taka (voiced by Kelvin Harrison Jr.) is a young lion prince who meets Mufasa (voiced by Aaron Pierre) and instantly bonds with him. Taka always wanted a brother, and then gets that with Mufasa. The two become inseparable, however, it’s obvious from the start that Taka will eventually become Scar, Mufasa’s former-brother-turned-murderer.

Mufasa introduces Taka as this spirited, happy child. Throughout the film, we see some of Taka’s major character flaws, such as cowardice. Despite these flaws, Mufasa makes you care about and adore Taka, especially his relationship with Mufasa. Still, you always know the inevitable will happen: Scar will turn on Mufasa.

This helped me never quite indulge in this fantasy of Taka and Mufasa’s unbreakable bond. Nevertheless, the movie does a good job of not making Scar this one-note character who always harbored some resentment towards Mufasa. He loved him unapologetically until he found out about Mufasa and Sarabi (Tiffany Boone).

This love triangle is used as the inciting incident that leads to Scar’s first betrayal, but Mufasa makes it more complicated than just brothers feuding over a female lion.

I Thought His Villain Origins Worked Within The Context Of The Lion King

Mufasa excellently leads viewers down a path to easily compare Taka and Scar. We see small ways that Scar's persona begins to develop when he’s still known as Taka. The source of Scar goes back as far as childhood. Taka’s father makes him one of the bad nepo babies, because he makes him believe that he’s better than everyone because he will be king. Young Taka rejects this belief.

However, this notion likely sticks with Scar and only takes full effect while in isolation. He starts to resent Mufasa for stripping him of what he believes is his birthright. Additionally, because Scar is a coward, he must find clever ways to outsmart the fierce Mufasa. He knows he can’t beat him simply with brute force. Additionally, Taka has a lifetime of being second to Mufasa.

Constantly, Mufasa shows his bravery, leadership skills, and compassion. Animals naturally love and gravitate towards him. That’s why it hurts Scar so much when, once again, someone picks Mufasa over him, Sarabi this time. He also may think his mother picked Mufasa over him.

This built up resentment and years in basic isolation allows him to fester and grow to hate Mufasa. He also becomes more clever while waiting for his moment. This is why Scar is such a good villain and one who knows how to adapt and manipulate a situation to his favor.

Mufasa Foreshadowing The Lion King Seemed A Little Heavy-Handed, But I Enjoyed It

Scar is such an iconic Disney villain for many reasons. One of them is the cold-blooded way he murders his brother. This is a moment that haunted many children’s nightmares. Therefore, of course, Disney reminds us of this moment throughout Mufasa. Because we know how things end between Scar and Mufasa, we don’t have to worry about Taka killing him anytime soon.

Nevertheless, there are several times in Mufasa when it replays this moment but Scar saves Mufasa, instead of pushing him off a cliff. I think Mufasa does this trick one too many times, because it feels repetitive after the first reference. However, I appreciate the film for cheekily reminding us of this traumatic scene.

Taka Turning Into Scar Works Because I Think Mufasa Does A Good Job Of Laying The Groundwork Early

Taka and Scar seem very different at the start of Mufasa. Taka defies his father and loves Mufasa fearlessly. However, we see many moments throughout the film that help showcase some major issues with Taka as a lion. These traits, such as cowardice and jealousy, aren’t necessarily major problematic traits. However, if they grow, they can become major moral flaws.

Mufasa director Barry Jenkins does an excellent job laying the groundwork for who Taka eventually becomes. We can see the eventual manipulative monster in this innocent, bright happy cub. It’s also a testament to how life can change and corrupt anyone, depending on their response to trauma, adversity, and conflict.

Taka has a lot of traumatic events in his life, but so does Mufasa. The lions are opposites because of parentage, their upbringing, and their different reactions to the things that have happened to them. In that way, Mufasa works well as a character study movie.

I Do, However, Wish We Saw A Bit More Of How Scar’s Eventual Animosity Grows

Taka follows Mufasa and is loyal to him for most of the movie. Then he discovers that Sarabi loves Mufasa, and he decides to betray him. As previously mentioned, this incident isn’t the only factor that causes Scar to betray his brother, but it’s the main one we see. Then Scar decides to save Mufasa (how he gets his scar).

Next, Mufasa banishes him to the edge of Pride Rock. The film has a few more scenes than the basic ending. The movie is called Mufasa, so it makes sense that it doesn’t end by showing us more of how Scar starts to develop his full hatred for his brother. However, I did want to see more of Scar turning into the expert manipulator he will eventually become.

The film could have had Taka become Scar sooner so that we could have gotten a haunting final image of Taka starting to become the Scar we come to despise. I enjoy Disney villain origin movies, so I would love to see more of them. I would enjoy watching a second sequel to the live action The Lion King. This time all about the events after Mufasa, with a focus on Scar starting to plot and plan against Mufasa and Simba.

Mufasa: The Lion King isn’t necessarily a needed sequel, but it offers an interesting new spin on Mufasa, Scar, and some of our favorite Lion King characters.

Stream Mufasa on Disney+.