Mufasa: The Lion King

image for Mufasa: The Lion King

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Not suitable under 6; parental guidance to 8 (violence, themes, scary scenes)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Mufasa: The Lion King
  • a review of Mufasa: The Lion King completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 17 December 2024.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 6 Not suitable due to violence, themes and scary scenes.
Children aged 6–8 Parental guidance recommended due to violence, themes and scary scenes.
Children aged 9 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Mufasa: The Lion King
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild themes and violence
Length: 118 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Young Kiara (voice of Blue Ivy Carter), the little daughter of Simba (voice of Donald Glover) and Nala (voice of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter), is left with their faithful friends Timon (voice of Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa (voice of Seth Rogan) while her parents are briefly away. Frightened by a storm, Kiara is told a story to help her overcome her fears. A story about a young cub called Mufasa (voice of Aaron Pierre) who lives a happy life with his parents on an African plain… As the trio gaze out over a drought-stricken landscape, the parents tell their young cub, Mufasa, about a legendary place beyond the light that has all they could ever need, where all the animals live in peace and where the light goes on forever. When a flash flood carries Mufasa away from his loving parents, he encounters Taka (voice of Kelvin Harrison Jr.), another lion cub who has always wanted a brother and who is heir to the distant kingdom Mufasa has floated to. Convincing his mother Eshe (voice of Thandiwe Newton) to take Mufasa in, Taka proudly leads his would-be brother to the pride. His father Obasi (voice of Lenny James) doesn’t want his son anywhere near an unworthy stray and forces Mufasa to live with the females. As the cubs grow, Mufasa learns the ways of the females as well as the males, building a skillset that will save their lives in the days ahead. A group of evil, white lions, led by their brutal king Kiros (voice of Mads Mikkelsen), descend on the savannah, annihilating every pride they encounter. When they attack Eshe, Mufasa saves her life while Taka runs away. In order to save his son, Obasi orders Taka and Mufasa to go far away and to never come back. They head toward the legendary paradise Mufasa’s mother told him of so long ago and are joined on their journey by a solitary lioness called Sarabi (voice of Tiffany Boone), her loyal scout Zazu (voice of Preston Nyman) and a magical, ostracised mandrill named Rafiki (voice of John Kani). Together this motley crew must outwit the white lions, who track them relentlessly, if they have any hope of reaching freedom and finding what they seek.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Children separated from parents; Power; Elitism; Ostracism; Revenge; Deceit; Survival at any cost; Jealousy and the ‘Us and Them’ mentality.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

  • Timon and Pumbaa share a recollection of a fierce battle on a clifftop surrounded by fire where they push a scarred lion over the edge.
  • An elephant is carried by a flood into a dam, which explodes apart and washes Mufasa away.
  • Mufasa is nearly eaten by a crocodile as he tries to get out of a river.
  • White lions attack Mufasa and Eshe, who are out hunting. Eshe is nearly killed.
  • When Kiros learns that his son was killed, he lets the rest of the white lions kill the lion who came back to inform him about what happened. He then vows revenge on Mufasa.
  • The white lions sing a song about killing everybody.
  • The white lions circle Obasi’s pride. It is clear that they don’t stand a chance against them and the death of Taka’s family is a foregone conclusion.
  • The white lions chase and track Mufasa and Taka with unrelenting determination. There are many close calls as they are almost caught on multiple occasions.
  • Sarabi admits that she lost her entire pride to the white lions.
  • Sarabi knocks a beehive down in order to start a stampede to evade the white lions.
  • Mufasa is hit and knocked aside by an elephant in a stampede.
  • A couple of white lions are hit and crushed by elephants in a stampede.
  • Sarabi is hit by an elephant and knocked unconscious. Mufasa drags her to safety and shields her with his body as a stampede continues around them.
  • Taka falls down a mountain and, in anger, seeks an alliance with the white lions to destroy Mufasa.
  • Kiros attacks Mufasa, then three lions attack Mufasa at the same time, dragging him over a cliff by his leg until he falls into a deep ravine.
  • Kiros attacks and nearly kills Mufasa.
  • Taka tries to save Mufasa at the last moment and is hit and cut across his eye and then violently attacked.
  • When the white lions declare it is time for extermination and go after the little lion cubs, other animals rise up and fight back, en masse, against the white lions.
  • Taka and Mufasa attack Kiros. Mufasa and Kiros fall into the water and are nearly crushed by falling boulders that rain down on top of them. Kiros is eventually pinned down by a huge rock that drags him to the bottom of the watery gorge.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

  • Just before Mufasa is violently attacked, there is a suspenseful moment where he is looking for his assailant but can’t see anything. A creepy voice is echoing all around him and then Kiros jumps out from behind a waterfall and grabs at Mufasa’s neck.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

  • Mufasa is caught on a rock as a river floods and rain pours down. There is a stampede of animals as they try to escape the rapidly rising water. Mufasa’s parents valiantly try to save him but he is washed away when a dam bursts and is carried far away from his home and parents. The scene contains loud, suspenseful music and Mufasa is clearly terrified and exhausted as he is taken further and further away from all that he knows and loves.
  • Taka and Mufasa are knocked off a clifftop. A white lion jumps into the raging river below to follow the pair before they can escape and a crocodile comes after them too. The scene is very intense and suspenseful. Taka must push Mufasa off a waterfall in order to save them both.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

  • None noted.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

  • A character says: “we are naked animals”.
  • Taka has a crush on Sarabi and tries to get her to like him.

Nudity and sexual activity

  • None noted.

Use of substances

  • None noted.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Snob.

In a nutshell

Mufasa: The Lion King is a musical adventure, providing the backstory of the characters we came to love in Disney’s classic The Lion King. The film features amazing graphics, stunning cinematography and fabulous special effects. The film is best suited to audiences over the age of eight.

The main messages from this movie are that the world is interconnected, that we all have a place in the circle of life and that we are all one. The movie also contains powerful messages about following our dreams and our hearts, as well as the importance of focussing not on what we were but on what we can become.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Teamwork
  • Friendship
  • Forgiveness
  • Courage
  • Trust.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

  • Letting anger control our actions.
  • Believing that you are better than others because of who your family is or what bloodline you may come from.
  • Ostracising someone because they are different.
  • Thinking only of yourself and looking out for your own good while others suffer.