Disney's highly-anticipated prequel to its billion-dollar live action adaptation, details about Mufasa and Scar's relationship among other elements, but ultimately leads to the familiar basic story of The Lion King that audiences know and love.

soundtrack from Lin-Manuel Miranda, expectations were high for Mufasa, but if early reviews and returns are an indicator, it may be viewed as a disappointment at the end of its theatrical run. However, the prequel improves over its predecessor in one big way, and in doing so remedies one of its key criticisms.

Mufasa's Animals Have Better Expressions Than In 2019's The Lion King

Emotion Is Visually Communicated Much Better In The Prequel

One of the most oft-repeated criticisms of The Lion King was that, for as visually impressive as the photorealistic animals were, that very realism severely limited their ability to emote. The beloved original 2D animation had fully-developed characters whose exaggerated, cartoonish expressions acted as a key element in the visual storytelling. By contrast, the 2019 adaptation was little more than watching real animals walk around with famous voices coming out of their mouths at times. The talented VFX artists were limited by the paradox of making realistic animals emote as if they were humans.

In Mufasa: The Lion King, the balance is struck far better. The photorealism of the animals is still largely preserved in the motion of their bodies and their surroundings, but the effects team went far more animated with the animals' faces, which allows for far more emotion to be conveyed. There are limitations of course; Pumbaa is still extremely limited due to the sheer construction of a warthog's face, for example. However, the lions at the movie's center are far more effective at conveying joy, fear, and concern thanks to more animated mouths, eyes, and general facial muscle reactions.

How Mufasa's Animal CGI Is Different From The Lion King's

The Prequel Leans Into Animation More Than Photorealism

VFX artists weighing in on Mufasa have pointed to the actual focus and intent behind each shot as the key difference.

Since Mufasa: The Lion King was completed, director Barry Jenkins has voiced his hesitation about directing another fully digital movie again, as he did not enjoy the process as much as physically being on sets and working with actors.

For the 2019 adaptation, the focus was on ensuring the animals' realism first and foremost. Many shots were based in actual nature footage of how animals moved through their environment, and for the most part the cameras stayed grounded as if it were a documentary. Mufasa, on the other hand, played with different camera angles frequently, and often had it running and jumping right with the characters. It yielded a far more cartoonish finished product, but gave Mufasa: The Lion King a more lively aesthetic and more overall emotion in its characters.