Barry Jenkins' highly-anticipated prequel Mufasa's relationship with his brother Scar. The movie also provided new information about how exactly Mufasa became the king of the Pride Lands seen in the original The Lion King, some of which relates to his parents.

Mufasa: The Lion King occurs as an extended flashback, relayed through the lens of a story that Rafiki tells to Simba's daughter Kiara, Timon, and Pumbaa. The narrative begins with Mufasa as a very young cub, which is when the audience is introduced to Mufasa's parents. The two lions are only in the story for a matter of minutes, but in that time their personality is fully communicated, along with a little bit of background about them. That information clashes with past The Lion King canon, which begs the question as to why it was changed for the movie.

Mufasa's Parents Are Masego & Afia In Mufasa: The Lion King

Neither Parent Is From A Royal Bloodline

In Mufasa: The Lion King, Mufasa's parents, Masego and Afia, are voiced by Keith David (The Thing, Platoon) and Anika Noni-Rose (The Princess and the Frog, Dreamgirls). While not much background is given about the two lions, the few minutes of screentime they get makes it clear that both lions are good-hearted and loving parents to Mufasa. They are also noticeably not from a royal line, which is a big distinction from the original The Lion King, which depicted Mufasa, and subsequently Simba, as the latest in a long line of kings stretching back many years.

Shortly after Masego and Afia are introduced, a rainstorm yields savage floodwaters which trap Mufasa in the middle of a small pool that evolves into a raging whirlpool. His father Masego jumps in after him, in a direct echo of the scene in which Mufasa jumps into the gorge to save Simba from the stampeding wildebeest from The Lion King. Masego manages to throw Simba in the direction of Afia, but the terrified cub can't bring himself to climb to his mother, and he's washed away. Mufasa reunites with his mother in Milele, his father long-deceased by then.

A Lion King Book Gave Mufasa Different Parents 30 Years Ago

Mufasa's Original Father Was Also King Of The Pride Lands

A short young adult novel published in 1994 titled A Tale of Two Brothers provided background on Mufasa's past shortly after the release of the original animated The Lion King, and has generally been accepted as canon. The book relays the background of Mufasa and his brother Taka (Scar) via a story told by Rafiki (just as it happens in Mufasa), and introduces their father, Ahadi. Ahadi is already the king of the Pride Lands in the story, and Mufasa and Taka are biological brothers and princes of the bountiful land.

A Tale of Two Brothers is the first mention of Scar's real name as Taka, which is maintained by Mufasa: The Lion King. Other claims have been made that his real name was actually "Askari", and "Scar" was the shortened version.

The cubs' mother is briefly mentioned with the name Uru, but little else is revealed about her. Obviously, the book contains an entirely different history for Mufasa and Scar than what is depicted in Mufasa: The Lion King, and an entirely different lineage. The difference between Mufasa's literary parents and cinematic parents goes far deeper than just their names.

Why Mufasa: The Lion King Changes Who Mufasa's Parents Are

Mufasa's Background Was Altered For The Sake Of The Movie

Mufasa: The Lion King's central adventure is Mufasa's journey from the lands in which he was rescued by Taka and his mother Eshe to the land of his birth, which he doesn't realize is the mythical Milele that he's been told about his entire life. Along the course of that journey, Mufasa demonstrates all of his most kingly qualities: unimpeachable bravery, selflessness, and kindness. The prequel's entire purpose is to demonstrate how Mufasa's status as king is not the result of something as simple as a royal bloodline; rather, his metaphorical crown is a result of him earning loyalty.

If Mufasa: The Lion King had kept Mufasa's origin story as the latest in a long bloodline of kings who ruled by perceived right and not well-deserved loyalty, the movie would essentially be invalidated. The prequel was forced to retcon who Mufasa's parents were in order to set him up as a non-royal, common lion who grows and evolves into the king that audiences have loved since his origin in the original The Lion King more than 30 years ago.