#I see people saying that making Mufasa and Scar adopted brothers is “setting up” a live action remake of TLK 2 with Kovu as Scar's son

[kaythefloppa]

Tired to death of seeing people say that the new Lion King film is "Fixing the awkward family tree" by making Mufasa and Scar not adopted (i.e. Scar being Nala or Kovu's father in a scenario would be "okay")

We've had this conversation before; Adoption is no less valid a familial connection than blood. Implying that Mufasa and Scar aren't "real brothers" because they were adopted and that their relatives can get together as consequence of this is incredibly tone-deaf to imply that adoption is a "lesser" form of family and therefore can commit incest. And in a movie where the main characters sing a musical numer called "I Always Wanted a Brother," this is just... a really weird takeaway, to put it gently.

And oh-yeah, there's no awkward family tree to begin with, no matter what slop Buzzfeed or Screenrant regurgitates every 2 years: Nala isn't Scar's daughter, (both based on just... basic context in and out of the movie), Kovu isn't Scar's son (based on it having to be said twice in the film).

And also, Mufasa: The Lion King takes place in an alternate universe. Word of mouth from the creators, "It's its own thing." So it would not over-write any of the family trees of the 2D animated movies anyways (that won't stop people from applying headcanons in accordance to the film, but there's the objective fact).

I'm excited for the new movie as well, and I too really like the idea of Mufasa being an orphaned cub, and him and Scar becoming brothers, but if we're going to praise the film/have high hopes for it, can we express them in ways that do not involve bashing the original with baseless critiques and half-truths that have been disproven time and time again? Especially when the topic involves something as sensitive as incest conflated with something as misunderstood and stigmatized as adoption?

[artist-issues]

Will you be watching the Mufasa movie when it comes out? I personally don’t think I can handle it. They already demolished Lion King in their Live Action version so I don’t trust them to do right with this one.

I think I might just for one reason: they added more facial expression to the animation.

If I had to expand on that and say “I’ll go for two reasons,” it would be “this is a new story, not a remake.” There are different dangers to adding-on-to an established story, and I prefer those kinds of dangers to the ones that come when you’re trying to re-tell something that’s already been perfectly told.

I’ve said in other posts before, they changed The Lion King’s Main Point from: “Remember who you are: a King takes responsibility for the care of others.” to:

“I have self-worth.”

Which, you may notice, is pretty contradictory. It’s another one of those “let’s capitalize on a franchise everybody already buys into by re-telling it—and while we’re there, retelling it, let’s completely take back the message that the original had, and give it a completely new message based on whatever the current culture thinks is ‘correct.’”

So, selflessness out. Self-obsession in. Responsibility out. Self-validation in. Self, self, self.

Anyway.

That’s the danger of remakes. They use a “retelling” opportunity to “remake” everything that made the original good. And by remake, I mean, erase and make-worse. I digress.

This new movie won’t have those same sets of dangers. They can’t exactly ruin the original origins of Mufasa, the character, in the same way the ruined Simba—because there’s never been a really canon story about Mufasa and his brother.

(What I mean by that is, the original The Lion King film did not spell out Mufasa and Scar’s relationship or backstory in great detail within that film. The printed media and fan theories and even The Lion Guard versions of events, which came later, I don’t count, when it comes to evaluating this new movie.)

But, I will say this. It looks like, from the trailers, Mufasa and Taka aren’t blood-related. That raises my eyebrows. Why are they doing that? The fact that Scar is Mufasa’s brother in the original makes his betrayal and motivation for killing him and trying to kill Simba much more impactful. Why take that away? Also, it makes it look like Taka was supposed to inherit some sort of leadership role, and maybe choosing to adopt Mufasa winds up putting events in motion that rob him of what was otherwise his rightful rule. So that sort of further justifies Scar’s bitterness later on.

All of that is dumb. You should not make a prequel that weakens every story that comes after it. See Star Wars.

I’ve also said: Mufasa, as a character is the ideal Strong, Selfless Father/King. And he specifically states that he got his ideals from his Father, and clings to them because of a heritage, something Outside of Himself. He’s not special. He’s not the Chosen One. He’s one in a long line of good, strong men (Lion, whatever) who pass down valuing others as more important than themselves. He submits and obeys those ideals. He is the opposite of “getting my way all the time.”

Do you see why it’s important that Mufasa did not come up with those values himself? He has to get them from an authority figure who came before him. He has to be submitting to someone—even though he’s a King.

They have a high chance of ruining that.

Because it’s not very popular right now for the Western Culture to say “give your life up for others! Sacrifice your interests for the big picture! Submit yourself to someone else’s authority and wise advice, whether you feel like it or not!” But the powerful truth is, that is what Mufasa is, as a character.

I already outlined how in this post.

So this new movie has new dangers. I might go to see how it handles them. Because if they could listen to people enough to make the lions’ faces move more animatedly, maybe they have stopped and thought about how to make a good story that fits in with the original Lion King’s values. Maybe it’ll be a fix-it for the 2019 movie.

Not likely. But I’m going in with an open mind, even if I watch the trailers with skepticism. So we’ll see!