In 'Mufasa,' every question you never had about 'The Lion King' is answered

By Stephen Thompson,

Aisha Harris, Tre'vell Anderson, Shamira Ibrahim, Liz Metzger, Lennon Sherburne, Mike Katzif, Jessica Reedy

Published December 20, 2024 at 8:55 AM EST

Mufasa (voiced by Braelyn Rankins) in Mufasa: The Lion King. — Mufasa (voiced by Braelyn Rankins) in *Mufasa: The Lion King*.

It's been five years since Disney remade its animated classic The Lion King as a photorealistic blockbuster. This leads us to Mufasa: The Lion King, a new prequel telling the story of Mufasa's rise — as well as the origins of his rivalry with Scar. The film was directed by Barry Jenkins (Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk) and features new songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/nprpopculture.

Subscribe to NPR Plus at plus.npr.org or make a gift at donate.npr.org.

Tags

NPR Podcasts

Stephen Thompson

Stephen Thompson is a writer, editor and reviewer for NPR Music, where he speaks into any microphone that will have him and appears as a frequent panelist on All Songs Considered. Since 2010, Thompson has been a fixture on the NPR roundtable podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which he created and developed with NPR correspondent Linda Holmes. In 2008, he and Bob Boilen created the NPR Music video series Tiny Desk Concerts, in which musicians perform at Boilen's desk. (To be more specific, Thompson had the idea, which took seconds, while Boilen created the series, which took years. Thompson will insist upon equal billing until the day he dies.)

See stories by Stephen Thompson

Aisha Harris

Aisha Harris is a host of Pop Culture Happy Hour.

See stories by Aisha Harris

Tre'vell Anderson

Shamira Ibrahim

Shamira Ibrahim is a Brooklyn-based culture writer by way of Harlem, Canada, and East Africa, who explores identity and cultural production as a critic, reporter, feature/profile writer, and essayist.

Liz Metzger

Lennon Sherburne

Mike Katzif

Jessica Reedy

See stories by Jessica Reedy