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Jenkins himself felt the same.
“I definitely thought that when it first came my way,” he tells GamesRadar+ and Total Film.
And I said, ‘Yeah, that’s not going to happen.’
But without even reading the thing!"
you might check out our exclusive image from Mufasa: The Lion King above.
This was back in 2020, when Covid restrictions still loomed large.
“And the next day, I finished it.
And just really deep things said and unsaid between the characters in interpersonal relationships.”
There’s clearly an audience there, but where does the story go?
“First of all, I couldnt believe they were making another Lion King.
I was very confused about that.
And then I recognized that it was a prequel.
And I was like, ‘What is that going to be?’
I was excited about that.
“And then the Barry of it all to me, it just made me excited.
I was like, ‘What a beautifully done film originally, and well executed a second time.
But to get a filmmaker like him?
It brings it full circle and almost right back to its home, you know?'”
Harrison plays lion Taka, who will later become known as Scar.
That was true to me as well.”
“James Earl Jones is a hero of mine, and a hero of many,” says Pierre.
And he’ll be greatly missed.
“In regards to this, his portrayal of Mufasa was my guiding light, actually.
It gave me clarity.
It gave me direction.
It gave me insight.
What was the trajectory of that lion?
How did that lion arrive at that place?
That was my greatest challenge.
And I’m very grateful to Barry for guiding me on that journey.”
His portrayal of Mufasa was my guiding light, actually.
It gave me clarity.
It gave me direction.
It gave me insight.
“That character is a grown-ass man.
That character is a king.
That character is a leader.
This character has to become all those things.
So they dont have the same voice.
The character was his.”
“I think its a little bit of both,” he says.
That was my Scar.’
And then in 2019, I watched that movie when it came out.
But I guess because it was so different and I was older…
I still had a loyalty to the other Scar," he laughs.
“And I had a special connection with Simba.
My father died when I was really young, so I felt this intense connection with the character.”
Are we going to mess up the legacy?
In Barrys hands, you know youre going to be OK.
This was one aspect of the role Boone had taken for granted, though.
We just need her to sing a song'" she laughs.
So I almost quit.
I almost said, ‘You know what?
The Lion King is not for me.'"
But a vocal coach and months of training got her through.
“And, you know, the music is so important in Disney films.
It’s a way that they express themselves.
I wound up having more fun with that than I thought I would, too.
I thought it was going to be torture, and I was going to cry every time.
And it wasn’t that bad.”
Pierre was similarly not massively professionally experienced when it came to the singing.
And they got me there."
Yes, Lin-Manuel Miranda is bringing his Midas touch to Mufasa.
“Lin loves The Lion King just as much as anyone else,” says Jenkins.
“So when he came onto the project, he brought a really great energy.
That continues in Mufasa.
“I feel like The Lion King and Shakespeare are always going to be connected,” adds Pierre.
“Its the relationship between men young men and class and power and confusion and turmoil.
All of those things are very Shakespearean.
Without saying what the actual conflict is, [Mufasa] definitely has those notes.”
I dont think of it as live action.
I do think of it as animation… Its just a very different tool.
“Its meant to teach them some very clear lessons.
Because of that, theres a very binary quality.
There’s good, and there’s evil.
There’s black, and there’s white…
There’s one area in which Jenkins isn’t dealing with that level of ambiguity, though.
“Absolutely, yeah, it’s an animated film,” he asserts.
And so because of that, I don’t think of it as live action.
I do think of it as animation… Its just a very different tool.”
Mufasa: The Lion King opens in theaters worldwide on December 20.
