Oscar-winning director Barry Jenkins announced the prequel to the 2019 film The Lion King at the global Disney fan event D23 Expo. The prequel has been officially titled Mufasa: The Lion King. He also gave an exclusive sneak peek into the film at the event, and from the look of it, Mufasa looks like another winner in Disney’s hands, as per the report of Forbque.

The first look teaser of the film showcased the journey of Mufasa from the time he was a cub to the time he became the ‘lion king’. It showcased how he was orphaned after a deadly flood. Talking about the character, Jenkins shared, “Mufasa was actually an orphan who had to navigate the world alone himself. And, in telling the story, we get to experience the real journey of how Mufasa found his place in the circle of life.”

He added Mufasa: The Lion King is a “story about how Mufasa rose to royalty.” The filmmaker also revealed that the audience will get to witness the younger versions of characters Timon, Pumbaa and Rafiki in the movie. The short teaser that began with Rafiki’s (John Kani) narration, also had Timon aka Billy Eichner joking around, “Wait wait wait, am I not in this story? I don’t feel seen.”

Asked about why he planned to tell the story of Mufasa, Jenkins, who has earlier directed Moonlight and If Beale Street Could Talk, narrated, “I had to make this movie because when I was 14, I was helping raise two nephews. And there was a VHS tape that we watched maybe 95 times in the span of 20 days. So I really knew his character. I loved him. Then, as I was reading this wonderful script, I was thinking about Mufasa and why he was great and how people become great. I thought this is a really beautiful story to tell.”

The classic Walt Disney Studio film The Lion King was originally released in 1994 and followed the theme of good winning over evil. In 2019, it was remade by the studio and it once again gained popularity among the audience and became a box office hit.