When Mufasa: The Lion King came out in 2024, it surprised everyone with a great story and a solid addition to the franchise, thanks to one big reason. Mufasa was a sequel to the 2019 live-action remake of The Lion King, which was itself a mᴀssive success at the box office. However, Mufasa did something more by achieving critical acclaim as well.
Mufasa tells the story of how a young Mufasa grew up in his kingdom and had to face a cruel renegade pride of white lions. However, this wasn’t just an origin story of how Mufasa became king. He also fought alongside his brother Taka, and the movie served as the origin story of Scar. This helped it achieve great success.
Mufasa: The Lion King made $723 million at the box office on a $200 million budget, which was a step-down from the live-action remake in 2019. However, it had better reviews from audiences and critics, and remains a well-respected recent Disney live-action movie.
Mufasa Proves Disney’s Live-Action Movies Should Tell New Stories, Not Remake Old Ones
Mufasa Gave Disney A Fresh New Story
Disney has been working on making live-action remakes of its classic animated films for years, and now other studios are following suit. Sometimes, these remakes are successful, such as with The Jungle Book. However, other times, they might make a lot of money, but there is nothing special about them, as was the case with The Lion King.
That is because the story has already been told before, and there is nothing new. Even the “lions” are not live-action. They are still CGI animation, but done in a more realistic style. The only thing that made the Lion King remake live-action was that the lions looked realistic, but they were created using virtual reality tools.
This means the story needs to carry it to make it different from the original film. Movies like The Lion King mostly told the same story with different animation, and that wasn’t enough. The movie still made $1.6 billion, so Disney considered it a success.
Mufasa: The Lion King showed that the new animation could still look amazing.
However, Mufasa: The Lion King showed that the new animation could still look amazing, but it added a new story, something fans had never seen before. It made $722 million, which was less than the previous movie, but its slightly higher critical rating was due to it being something new, fresh, and better.
Remakes Almost Never Live Up To The Original
The Remakes Just Retell The Same Story
It is rare for any live-action remake to match the original animated movie. The Lion King remake had a 52% Rotten Tomatoes score, compared to the original movie’s 93%. Beauty and the Beast, which featured a live-action cast, received a 71% RT score, while the original animated film holds a 95% score.
Of course, this all began with the overwhelming success of the 2010 live-action Alice in Wonderland remake. That movie, directed by Tim Burton, received terrible reviews, but it made $1.025 billion at the box office and told Disney that this was what fans wanted to see in the future. However, not everything worked out as well.
Even when the remake does everything right, such as the 2025 release of Lilo & Sтιтch, it still falls short of expectations. Lilo & Sтιтch is currently the highest-grossing movie of 2025, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 71% among critics and a very high 93% among fans. The original film had an 86% RT score, but ironically, a lower 78% rating from fans.
Cruella Is Further Proof That Disney Should Go This Route
Cruella Was One Of The Most Beloved Disney Prequels
This isn’t the first time that Disney has used its classic animated movies to create a very different live-action release. In 2021, Disney released a sequel to 101 Dalmatians, starring Emma Stone as Cruella de Vil. Disney had a huge success with Cruella, which boasts a 75% RT score and an almost perfect 97% audience score.
While Cruella didn’t make as much money at the box office, part of the problem was theater shutdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic; however, it ended up being a big hit on streaming. It also earned two Oscar nominations and remains a highlight of Disney’s live-action reworking of its animated catalog.
Disney also made the live-action prequel Maleficent in 2014, which received poor reviews from critics and an average response from the audience. However, it warranted a sequel that garnered a surprisingly high audience score of 95% fresh. Once again, this was a new story and not a simple remake of an animated classic.
Other Interesting Prequel Ideas For Live-Action Disney Movies
There Are Other Disney Stories That Could Get The Prequel Treatment
When it comes to the Disney animated film catalog, it might be time to explore prequel ideas rather than simply remaking the films wholesale. It doesn’t always work any more than straight remakes, though. When Disney made a sequel to Alice Through the Looking Glᴀss, it was not only a critical flop but a box office bomb.
With that in mind, it is essential not only to tell a fresh, new story but also one that resonates with audiences. With Mufasa: The Lion King, director Barry Jenkins and Lin-Manuel Miranda collaborated to create something that not only tells a great story but also conveys a more profound message, one that speaks to the ideas of family and brotherhood.
Looking at past Disney animated movies, it’s easy to envision prequels set in the worlds of stories like Aladdin (despite its lackluster live-action remake), The Little Mermaid (which had a live-action remake in 2023), and Cinderella. The idea is to explore the characters who played a part in the story and discover something interesting about their past. As Mufasa demonstrated, this can lead to great success.
