Just wanted to hop on and discuss a little tidbit about stories; a critique on the Disney movie released in December 2024.
In a private blog post, I wrote about my findings into The Lion King lore after watching the prequel, Mufasa: the Lion King for the second time.
My first thoughts on the movie after seeing it in the theaters went something like this, with little to no negative criticisms, besides the fact we had no explanation for how Scar had followers:
“Why did Scar still save Mufasa?”
To be honest, I am still asking myself this question.
However, with time and in a recent private blog post, I wrote this about my findings upon watching the movie another time, because I wanted to see if my judgements were too harsh or not:
“Now, I understand Taka’s half-dedication to Mufasa. his father put some ideals into his head that should have been there, with Mufasa being a stray and all. but, what I don’t understand is why Taka was so easily able to tear away from his brother and betray him after being with him literally since he was a small child. I also don’t understand the whole deal with Mufasa and Sarabi being together. Don’t get me wrong, I get that Mufasa wanted Sarabi to be with Taka, this was understood. But why in the world does Mufasa tell his true feelings to Sarabi and not to Taka, someone he should be more loyal to? Why didn’t he tell him first to make sure that he was set and cool. I would be hurt too if my brother confessed feelings for someone I liked behind my back. But Taka’s feelings here went straight into chaos, which I don’t understand.”
I guess I can understand a bit, because it’s hard knowing that your brother stole someone from you (despite the fact that Sarabi was NOT into cowardly lion Taka.) However, I have to blame the sudden shift of “hmm this movie is bearable” to “what the actual frick is happening” on a writing flaw. The writers didn’t do a good job of establishing the brother’s deep and long relationship, even past Sarabi and definitely past the hurt they felt.
Of course, we’ve all seen The Lion King so we knew what was going to happen. Taka would “betray” and then of course there would be a split between the brothers. But in a lot of ways, I hoped this movie would answer so many questions, and I am not sure why. It has to be the story seeker in me.
ETA: I am not pooping on the movie at all. It was well done for it to be a Disney live action, and this sector of movies have been falling in quality over the last few years. But I think there could have been more in depth storytelling when it came to defining the brother’s relationship. I would have enjoyed learning more about that.
Shanedra Writes Too Much 