Mufasa: The Lion King Novelization

by Disney Books

The official novelization of Disney’s The Lion King.

Told in flashbacks, “ The Lion King” reveals the rise of one of the greatest kings of the Pride Lands as Rafiki, Timon and Pumbaa share the story of Mufasa with a young lion cub.

Directed by Barry Jenkins, the prequel to “The Lion King” releases in theaters on December 20, 2024.

149 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 24, 2024

Reviews

[Yusra ☾ · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Masego, that’s what hope is. Light through the darkness.”

Anyone who has ever known me knows that I was and will always be the biggest The Lion King fan of all time. I honestly don’t think there has ever been a fan bigger than me. I’m talking, when I was 9 or 10, I memorized every single word to the movie and the second and third movie AND when the live action version came out, I memorized it too. (Ofc that made my mom mad since I never memorized Quran in that perfection.)

When the Mufasa movie was announced, I said I’m not going to watch it. There was just no way, it wasn’t even going to be following the original story line, so why would I ruin my world in my head?

Life doesn’t go the way you plan, I guess. My brother wanted to watch it and the two of us were home alone so I sighed and said “sure, why not?”

…… I cried four times.

And I said “let’s watch it again.”

Because even though it was following the plot of the live action adaptation and not the original franchise, it was still part of the Lion King world and I loved every second of it.

So that being said, I decided to read the novelization!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“To be lost is to learn the way.”

Eshe. She did not deserve someone like Obasi and she had the purest soul. If only she could raise her son the way she wanted. He would have made a GREAT king.

Speaking of Taka. I love him unapologetically. Yes, he made a rash, unthought, and stupid mistake but he’s literally a young man (lion). A teenager! Who was in love! And on top of all the shame and embarrassment he already was feeling, he got his heart broken. I swear he’s a sweetheart deep down, he just needs to be loved.

Mufasa. Istg if he was a human I'd marry him. The cutest, most brave, selfless, caring, and loving person in this entire book. His humbleness is so beautiful and he’s just the sweetest person ever.

I loved Sarabi sm. I was actually terrified that she would no longer be the badass in the original movies, but she wasssss 🥳and her and Mufasa’s banter was so 🤭

Rafiki quotes never get old, everybody.

- “The eye never forgets what the heart has seen.” - “A flea can trouble a lion more than a lion can trouble a flea.”
-“It’s easy to doubt anything when you know nothing.”
-“If you wish to go fast, go alone. But if you wish to go far, go together.”
-“My eyes are open. It is my lids that are closed.”
-“Sometimes, when the people most like you don’t love you, it is a hurt that can cause the greatest pain. -And this pain can lead you to hate…everything.”
-“No matter how far you walk, destiny will always follow.”

Rafiki is the legend. His random saying actually legitimately makes amazing advice and I don't think that will ever change.

TIMON AND PUMBA COMMENTARY WAS TOP TIER. I HAD TO SAY THAT 😋

To conclude


Live, laugh, love Mufasa 🫶🏽

[Macy Tibbitts · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was the exact same as the movie. It was a good read, sweet and light hearted. I’m a baby so it brought tears to my eyes because of the brothers stories. I have never watched lion king so now I am deeply attached to Mufasa and want to cry when I think about him dying and rafiki loosing his brother. Same thing with his wife. The whole thing makes me sad. Overall sad ending for the characters In this book cause we know what happens in the next one.

[Jemma Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a huge Disney fan and I enjoy watching Disney movies, and I recently watched the new Mufasa movie, which I absolutely loved, so I had to read the book. I will admit that the book isn't as good as the movie, but it was still a great read.

4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Elena · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book was like a dagger to my heart, but still not nearly as bad as my 1 star ratings, so there we go

[Emelie Miary · Rating 5 out of 5]

very good storyline telling the whole story and very good, and it's telling the truth not making up some other parts of the story.

[Dal Menezes · Rating 5 out of 5]

..." As raízes daquelas árvores são muito fortes, assim como sua família. Estão bem fincadas na terra. E, mesmo que não puder vê-las, elas estão ao seu redor, protegendo-a"..

[Kat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure why I expected anything more than an exact recreation of the movie in book form — after all, that's all these movie movelizations are meant to be. But speaking as a diehard Lion King fan that readily devours every tiny scrap of lore that Disney tosses me, this left me still very much hungry.

First, the good stuff: There were one or two scenes that were extended a bit with more dialogue, and there was one line in particular Obasi says to Taka that was a callback to the original film "run away, and never return" that I thought was cool and should have been in the movie.

There are times where you get to peek inside the protagonists' and villains' heads and see what they're thinking and feeling, which isn't a praise exactly, but just a benefit of a written format. Anyone who has trouble discerning emotion in the realistic lion faces in the movie would understand better what's happening by reading this book, I guess.

Now the bad stuff: the writing is very bland. I hate saying this because I don't want it to sound like a genuine accusation (it's not), but the writing just almost feels AI generated to me. The characters are referred to by their names ONLY and never by description. Like "Mufasa ran—", ALWAYS, and never anything creative like "The golden-maned lion ran" or "the older brother ran" or something. I get that it has simple writing so kids can understand, but give kids some more credit — they're pretty smart! Instead the writer plays it safe, and it's just so generic. I got bored and took a lot of pauses, and the short book I should have finished in 3 days max ended up lasting me over a week.

I'm glad I have this on my shelf simply because I loved the movie it's based on, and I love The Lion King franchise in general... But I would advise people to honestly just watch the movie when it comes to streaming with subtitles ON. That'll be basically the same experience as reading this book, and you'll get the visuals and the songs.

[Neshttaroy Reuel Woworu · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐
This is much much better than the actual movie in my very very very humbled opinion that holds nothing short of unpopularity in its foundations.

When in the actual movie of Mufasa: The Lion King story it seemed shorter and nonsensical in a very very uninteresting way, in the book/novelization of the movie itself, the story was epic and very very adventurous as well as being very very very entertaining to read about. The angst, the tension and the sadness of the book (I even found myself sobbing at the scene with Eshe and Mufasa; when in the movie I didn't even feel a single freaking emotion towards it) was very very mentally and spiritually felt if I do say so myself. I never thought I'd ever say this but Disney's Sequels are ruining everything 😭😭😭😭😭but anyway I loved the book more than the movie.....the other reason why this book is a four is because Scar isn't actually Mufasa's biological brother. And that just made me kind of want to put the book down and call it a day but....I still held on to my heartstrings and carried on. The other reason why, is because his name wasn't Scar. It was something else! And lastly was because they made Mufasa look so special and I didn't like that. At least they should've made Scar matter too... But it's ok....that never happened. Otherwise great novelization....💯💯💯💯

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely LOVED EVERY MINUTE of this book! Fantastic, a beautiful novalization of my favorite move of 2024! A must for every Lion King fan! The writing is rather academic. The author uses very artisc lingo, so the flow of the book is not in my mind easy for young readers. Definitely more adult geared. Still, it's a must-have for any collector or lover of the film! I might just have to read it again before the film is released for home viewing!

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The inspiring story behind an exceptional movie!

The back stories are filled with character building messages to teach future generations the qualities that real leaders must have to protect and care for those the want to lead!

[Alex T. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this in under three hours and while it's interesting for some bonus/expanded scenes it just doesn't really work as a novel. The comedy doesn't hit, the pacing is even more awkward than the movie and the writing is very undescriptive.

[Millie Colton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it but I was expecting more

[Alyssa Dullinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was just like the movie. It was amazing. I finished it within like a day or so and I would totally recommend watching the movie before you read the book

[Reagan Stiles]

It was a great book and is now my 2nd favorite movie![Second only to Wicked]

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

now I don't need to watch the actual movie. it had about the same plot I thought

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was. Good very interesting read this book

[juhi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having not yet seen the movie, a cutesy read about Mufasa’s origin story.