#tlk taka

[beatriz-lioness]

Someone's mocking the young prince Taka, and he wouldn't take it in silence. But his big brother asks him to calm down.

Reference under the cut

[1v31182m5]

Kings

[zapporter]

Taka stomped away with a sourness in his heart.

'Why did Muffy care so much about that stupid egg?' He thought to himself. 'He thinks he's so much better than me, does he? Well I'll show him.'

"HELP!"

Suddenly, Taka heard a sharp cry ahead. Seeing an opportunity to be heroic, he lept to action.

The source of the cry came from a small lion cub, just about his age. He was stuck on a tree branch, surrounded by the crashing river below him.

'This is perfect!' Taka thought. 'A lion like me is much more worth saving than a dumb egg!'

"Don't worry, whatever your name is!" Taka rushed to the scene, smiling. "I, Prince Taka, will save you from these treacherous waters!!"

"P-prince?" The cub stammered. "Oh thank you! My name is Pendo, and I ran away from my pride-"

"You can tell me later!" Taka interrupted. "Just grab my paw!"

Pendo looked down at the water below. The waves began moving the branch slightly. Pendo grasped onto the branch.

"I'm scared!" He cried.

"C'mon!" Taka yelled impatiently. "You don't wanna die, do you?!"

He was taken aback by the prince's sudden burst of anger. However, he slowly crept forward towards Taka, while the prince impatiently waited. Finally, what seemed like moons, Pendo grabbed his paw.

"Yes!" Taka cheered. "I saved you!"

"You did!" Pendo cried happily. "Thank you so so so-"

"Let's hurry to Pride Rock so I can show everybody." Taka pranced ahead. "C'mon, Pendi!!"

"It's Pendo.." he muttered. "But YIPPEE!!"

[artist-issues]

Let’s talk about this Mufasa movie.

No. Let’s not. Let’s just talk about Mufasa. This is going to be long because he’s a really good character and The Lion King is a really good movie.

Mufasa’s whole point, as a character, is to foil Simba. He’ s not just the stereotypical “great dad role model” character, or the “wise mentor who is ripped away” character.

He, as a character, is in the story because he is “Who Simba Really Is.”

Simba is our young protagonist. The whole point of Simba in the story is to start out “not yet grown into who he really is,” so that the story can teach him how to “grow into who he really is.”

So the audience needs to know “who is Simba and who is Simba supposed to be?” right at the beginning. Which is great, because all kids are trying to figure out the same question about themselves. So it’s relatable. But anyway, the storytellers make Mufasa the answer.

On a simple level, you can answer the question, “who is this Simba guy?” right off the bat in the movie with “the son of the King.” There’s the setting. There’s the set-up. There’s the title of the movie. That’s why the very first lion you’re introduced to in the movie is Mufasa, and it’s not a shot of a baby lion cub. It could have been. Lots of movies open with a shot of their main character. Encanto, for one.

Not The Lion King. The Lion King starts with, “you can’t know who Simba is without Mufasa, so Mufasa gets shown first.”

So okay, Mufasa is a King. Good to know. That’s obvious from the big rock he’s standing on and the way all the animals are coming toward him. But from there, they quickly establish a few more things about Mufasa. He smiles at this little bird that bows to him. He hugs the shaman-monkey. He goes from “big solemn lion” to “good and benevolent” immediately.

And then as it goes on, you learn more about Mufasa. He’s not an idiot; he knows Scar is up to no good, and he is very direct about it. He is not a naive dupe, trusting a schemer blindly. It’s more complicated than that. He is a better leader and a better guy than that. Mufasa knows Scar is his brother, and in a snappy little interaction with Zazu, storytellers make it clear that he worries about Scar; he knows he has good reason to worry, but hasn’t decided to give up on his brother.

Additionally, he is merciful to other dark creatures too. He beats the tar out of hyenas but doesn’t kill them. He rescues Zazu from Scar’s mouth. He scolds Simba but he does that, and more, to teach him. So what Mufasa is teaching us, according to what I just showed you the story says, is that A Good King, A Good Man (Lion, whatever) Is:

Authoritative - Makes decrees and makes decisions and yes, tells others what to do. Creates the structure his people live in.

Kind/Humble - Shows the same level of casual friendship to a revered shaman-recluse as he does a little self-important majordomo. (Humble because he’s not afraid to admit when he’s afraid if it’ll help his son.)

Teaches - Takes time out of the day to pass on what he’s learned to someone who is going to take his place—he’s not hoarding his own position or gatekeeping his life-experience-expertise. He’s not finding his identity in how he has this wealth of information that causes people to need him; he gives it away freely, purposefully.

Protects - Is willing to endanger himself and go to the trouble of defending creatures that are weaker than himself.

Shows Mercy - See Scar and the hyenas, who deserve death, but he doesn’t give it to them.

Prioritizes Family - The time he’s taking out of the day is for his son. And he follows up with his recluse of a brother instead of going, “that’s Scar, I know he don’t care about nobody but himself, his loss, not my problem.” And he extends trust to that brother, which is really just an example of gift-giving to a family member who’s done nothing to keep that trust.

Has Faith - Mufasa makes a point of not answering Simba’s question about “Will you always be there for me,” with just himself. He could’ve. Many parents do. Many parents are tempted to, to show their love. “Yes. You’ll always have me. I’ll always be there to answer your questions; I’ll always protect you, I’ll always be what you can count on, you’ll always find a need fulfilled in me.” But Mufasa doesn’t take that bait. He gives Simba an answer that is not “himself-based.” Not selfish. “Look at the stars.” I don’t care what ya’ll say. Mufasa has faith in something outside of himself. He says “and so will I,” but that’s after contextualizing himself within “something bigger than us.” (And oh my gosh, he doesn’t even answer with, “let me give you a lesson you’ll need for your whole life.” He doesn’t even take credit for this faith, for himself. He gives his own father the credit.)

And really, all of those traits can be summarized with the phrase: Lives His Life Sacrificially For Others.

That’s what a leader, a good father, a king, a good man, does. And pay attention: That is what Simba is supposed to be. Simba is supposed to be Mufasa. That’s who Simba really is, that’s where he’s supposed to go. There is a “real you.” But you have to agree with it and accept it, even though your natural bent is to give in to the illusion that you “don’t have to be that, you can choose who you are.”

Yeah, sure, in a sense you can reject Who You Really Are. You can spend your whole life playing pretend, like you’re not That. But you’ll be doing just that: playing pretend. Unfulfilled. Dissatisfied. Running from the misery that is the natural response to your silly game of pretend. Insisting that “there is no misery, this is what I want.”

Okay. Sure it is.

I’ll save Simba for another post.

The point is, Mufasa is a template for who Simba Really Is. Look at those traits. When it’s Simba’s turn to exemplify those traits, does he?

Act I: Is he authoritative? He tells characters what to. And he makes his own decisions—sometimes for good, sometimes bad. For example, he won’t let Zazu deter him from going to the elephant graveyard, so that’s a bad decision, but he does choose to go back and help Nala instead of running to save himself. Authoritative and protective. But it’s all misplaced because he doesn’t “Live His Life Sacrificially For Others.”

Act 2: He’s not. Timon and Pumbaa tell him to do something and he goes along with it. Timon and Pumbaa claim an ancient tradition and his father’s lesson is stupid and Simba goes along with that. He’s no longer making decisions of his own accord, for anything but his own comfort.

The idea is, in Act 1, you see Simba has the same traits as Mufasa, budding inside of him. But they’re all misdirected, and they’re all twisted, because they’re missing one key ingredient: he’s supposed to use those traits in the context of “Live His Life Sacrificially For Others.” Simba doesn’t want to do that. Simba wants to do whatever he wants.

Sure, there’s a part of him that combines that motive with “I want to be like my dad.” But that part dies on the vine and turns sour when his father dies saving him.

So then in Act 2, not only is Simba clinging to “I’m going to live life all my way,” but he’s changed what that means by pushing the nugget of “I want to be like my dad/I WANT TO BE WHO I REALLY AM” completely away. Because it’s too hard, and he’s got shame tangled up in it.

And worse—he starts doing basically the opposite of all of Mufasa’s traits, all of the traits that make him Who He Really Is. He’s not prioritizing family—he’s abandoning them. He’s not protecting others—he runs from the idea of going back to help Nala. (tiny glimmer of it still being inside him because he does try to protect Pumbaa from her.) Kind and humble? No. It’s unkind to tell your best friend you won’t help her because you’re afraid. Humble, no, because humility is thinking of yourself less, not thinking less of yourself.

Ask the question. When Simba’s living in the jungle with Timon and Pumbaa, is he exemplifying any of the traits of Who He Really Is? Or is he doing his best to bury that?

But then after Mufasa reminds him of who he Really Is, and Rafiki shows him how to get his past out of the way so he can accept it, Simba goes back. Into Act 3 we go

Now. Does Simba exemplify Mufasa’s traits? Does Simba start becoming Who He Really Is? There’s not a lot of time left in the movie. Look at the traits, see if he does.

Authoritative? Yep, comes up with the plan to break in and get to Scar, doesn’t back down from the confrontation.

Kind and Humble? Yeah, he willingly admits the truth (he thought it was true) that makes him look bad to give his mom closure. He’s kind to Nala and to Timon and Pumbaa, admits his mistakes, when they come to help him. Hugs the old shaman who cracked him in the skull with a stick—just like Mufasa hugged Rafiki to show us kindness and humility at the beginning of the movie.

Teaches? We don’t really see an opportunity for him to do that yet at this point in the story and his life, give me a break.

But protects? You bet. That’s why he’s there for the confrontation in the first place. Shows mercy?

Yep.

Because he’s not like Scar. He knows who he is. THE POINT.

And when he runs in for the big confrontation, he doesn’t immediately leap on Scar and rip him to pieces. Even though the storytellers make sure to show us he clearly wants to.

Instead, he runs up to his mother to see if she’s all right and show her that he is. And again, he tells her the truth because that’s what she needs even if it’s not what she wants, and he’s learned not to run from what he’s “done.” And faith in something bigger than himself?

Yeah. His father’s voice comes through the clouds just before he decides to roar and claim his title. Through the clouds. Because that whole “we’re a part of something bigger, something more important than ourselves,” was always what he was missing. He was just thinking about himself.

And all of this is because Mufasa is the example of Who Simba Really Is: Lives His Life Sacrificially For Others. That’s Mufasa.

That’s Mufasa, in the story of The Lion King. That’s his purpose as a character, that’s who he is.

So now if you make a movie that’s just about him, what you should be doing is showing how he got there. How he accepted who he Really Is instead of choosing who he wants to be, on his own. And you should make his father, and learning humility, an enormous part of that. Because self-sacrifice is such a pillar of his character. It’s the whole thing.

What you should certainly not be doing is telling a story that ends with finding self-worth or a kid who makes a name for himself. I repeat: if the Mufasa live action movie ends with Mufasa doing anything that revolves around self, they got him wrong and they set him up nonsensically for the next movie.

He should have to decide whether or not he wants to believe his own father, because of that one line, “let me tell you something my father told me.” That shows that he accepted his father’s lesson. And what was his father’s lesson about? Faith. In something BIGGER THAN YOURSELF. So then Mufasa grows up to be a character who lives his life sacrificially for others, and you can trace the roots back to that: “I learned a lesson about something bigger than myself from someone who was not myself, and I humbly believed and accepted that lesson.”

I mean jeez, the line is: “LOOK AT THE STARS.” Whenever you feel alone. Whenever you’re wrapped up in who you are and who you’re not and failure and the idea of what you want to be, knock it off. Quit looking at yourself and look at something bigger than you. And then you’ll get “Understanding of Who You Really Are”—no matter what mistakes you’ve made, no matter how you’ve failed, no matter what your circumstances are—thrown in.

…Of course, the Lion King remake ruined him anyway by having the point be “I’m not worthless.” And that was never the point. But whatever. I’m rambling now. You get the idea.

Mufasa is exactly what he needs to be for the original The Lion King. He’s exactly what he needs to be for Simba’s story. Mufasa is awesome.

[mask-of-prime]

TLK: What's Your Name?

I don't think I've ever drawn so quickly in response to something in years.

Immediately after watching this TV spot teasing the upcoming official trailer for Mufasa: The Lion King, I just HAD to adapt little Taka into his 2D Universe style.

Speaking of names... so I'm, like, not insistent that his name is Askari or anything, as I've learned that that name is simply meant for the TLG canon, especially since the name was never spoken in the show and was merely suggested by a crew member, but uh...... Even though Barry Jenkins said that he would source no existing TLK material, that name did not come out of nowhere. This story is far too different than that of A Tale of Two Brothers, and is original enough, so why go with that existing name? Did he, like, do a quick Google search with "Taka" popping up and just go with that? I actually thought he was gonna be named something completely else like Elijah or something, like in that old line-up of character names in the early M: TLK news days.

But anyway, guys, my heart is POUNDING the trailer is so awesome 👏👏👏. Immediately got Prince of Egypt vibes from the premise. Also, it seems to be implied that Mufasa and Taka are sent off of their own to settle their own territory as young males, rather than the mess of Mufasa just winning his royal adoptive parents' love over their own prince son like people worried about. The CGI movies have officially established themselves as a much separate entity from the 2D works in this case, where it seems to follow more IRL lion behavior where it's not so much a human-like monarchy, but a grandiose lion territory. Though... that does feel SO different that it almost feels like a whole other lion-related franchise :p

[mandrawsdog]

"Hey Taka! When I'm king, what'll that make you?"

...

[little-witchys-garden]

I wanna rant about the live-action lion king vs the animated lion king.

I don't like how they made scar. For me as a kid one of the scariest things about scar was that he would hold simba. In every scene we see scar and simba in together, scar is always reaching out to hold him close or act like a caring uncle.

We know that scar has bad intentions but it makes sense that simba wouldn't see those bad intentions because scar always reaches out for him, holds him close, smiles at him, claims he only wants the best for simba, andalways comes off as a strange yet caring affectionate uncle, who's protective.

we know simba truly does love his uncle, we can see in his scenes with scar that he trusts scar and is affectionate with him.

Scar plays the part of a eccentric, playful and affectionate uncle so well, so when he tells the hyenas

" kill him"

right after pulling simba in and holding his grieving nephew, it made my lil jaw drop. I was SHOCKED because I thought as a kid that he has a shred of love for simba and didn't really wanna kill him.

No, scar was just super manipulative.

it was all just manipulation. That's what made scar scary for me as a kid because he pretended he loved simba so effortlessly.

Scar always reached out for simba first, that stayed in my mind for years.

In the live action lion king, scar doesn't feel do any of that. I don't think he ever even touches simba other then in like 2 scenes...

It really bothered me that they took those scenes out, I felt like those scenes showed how truly manipulative, cunning and apathetic that scar truly was.

[morte-a-elle-meme]

As an act of protest against Disney's """live-action""" (aka realistic CGI) remakes, I've remade parts of the Mufasa trailer in the style of the original movie.

[zelfa]

[doverstar]

the only good thing to come out of Mufasa: The Lion King will be the official canonization of Scar's first name being Taka

[alatoartsalot]

The Lioden King.

[beatriz-lioness]

What if Taka and Mufasa had a sister? Lots of artists already did, but I can't remember why did I 😅 - Months ago I was looking at my old art and found a image of prince Taka and a lioness cub, but only recently I re-discovered the story behind it!

Her name was Kiara (how original past me), princess of the Pridelands and daughter of Uru and Ahadi. Lil Taka's probably proudly showing off something really cool to her.

Old version below the cut:

[zapporter]

Mufasa and Taka were galloping through the grasslands, when Mufasa saw something while passing a tree.

"Taka, stop!"

"What?"

"There's an egg alone on the ground! What if someone gets it?"

"Not my problem."

"I know, but I can't let it be here all alone.."

"Just let me eat it." Taka smirked as he lunged forward. Mufasa quickly stopped him.

"Why do you care about this bird egg?" Taka whined. "It's below us! We're the most important animals!"

"Mom says everyone has a part in the circle of life! Including this baby bird!"

"Ugh, fine.."

"I'm going to stay here and guard the egg. Can you look for the mother?"

"Yes, your majesty..", Taka groaned as he turned around and stomped off.

Mufasa kept a steady eye on the egg, looking around occasionally for a predator. He wasn't sure what he would do if say, a hyena showed, but he felt an urge to protect the egg no matter what.

"Oh goodness!" He heard a worried voice from above. A very tired looking hornbill flew up ahead. "You're about to eat my baby!"

"No! I promise I wasn't! It fell and I stood here and watched it while my brother went to try and look for you! I didn't mean to scare you, miss.."

"Wait a second.." the mother rubbed her tired eyes. "You're the prince!!"

"Heh, I suppose so.."

"Oh I've been blessed this day!! Thank you for saving my baby, your majesty! How can I repay you?"

"Gosh, miss, I dunno..my parents would be better at this kinda thing.."

Suddenly, the egg hatched. A joyful young bird popped out, smiling at Mufasa.

"Oh, my baby! Hello my baby! Welcome to the world, my Zazu!" She cried tears of joy. "I'll talk to your parents, and make sure you get a reward!"

Mufasa blushed, smiling at the mother bird.

"I should go look for my brother..but thank you, miss!"

"You can call me Zuzu dear, and thank YOU!"

[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!

[switch]

>mufasa prequel retconned scar and mufasa to not be biological brothers at all for some reason

>they modeled and animated kiara seemingly just for a brief framing device that was otherwise unnecessary for her to be in

tlk2 bros we are fucked.

[cartoonico]

I find it funny that Scar's mom, Eshe, looks more like the animated version of him than his "live action" one does, like, why couldn't they give him that darker, more brownish pelt color instead of that paler, sandy color they went with?