The Lion King's Oscars story and what it means for Mufasa in 2025

Mufasa: The Lion King could reach the 2025 Oscars, adding to The Lion KingThe Oscar story. Disney continues to ride the wave of live-action remakes of its most popular animated classics and, in some cases, has paved the way for expansions. Such is the case The Lion Kingwhich got a “live-action”/CGI remake in 2019 and now a prequel, titled Mufasa: The Lion Kingdone in the same photorealistic animation style. Directed by Barry Jenkins, Mufasa: The Lion King takes audiences back to the Pride Lands to explore the title character's origin story.

Mufasa dates back years before the events of The Lion King to follow a young Mufasa, an orphan found by Prince Taka, who gives him a home and family. Mufasa and Taka form a strong bond and become brothers, but their story changes when two white lions attack. Mufasa received mixed reviews from critics, but has already been selected for the 2025 Oscars, regardless of whether its box office performance is good or bad – and this already contributes to The Lion Kinghistory at the Oscars.

1994's The Lion King received 4 Oscar nominations and won 2

The Lion King was successful at the Oscars

In 1994, as part of the Disney Renaissance, The Lion King was released. Despite its many inspirations and some controversy about its story being very similar to other films, The Lion King is Disney's first original animated film. Directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, The Lion King is set in the Pride Lands of Tanzania, ruled by King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi, who welcome their newborn son and heir to the throne, Simba – however, Mufasa's brother Scar also wants the throne.

After killing Mufasa and making Simba believe he was responsible for it, Simba runs away and meets Timon and Pumbaa, who raise him together. However, Simba learns of Scar's actions and returns to the Pride Lands to confront him. The Lion King was a critical and commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1994 and ranking among the greatest animated films ever made. The Lion King it also paved the way for a franchise with direct-to-video accompaniment, stage musicals, TV movies and many merchandise.

The Lion King had four nominations in two categories at the 1995 Oscars: Best Original Score and Best Original Song for “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”, “Circle of Life” and “Hakuna Matata”. The Lion King won the Oscar for Best Original Score and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” won the award for Best Original Songwhich also marked Elton John's first Oscar win.

2019's The Lion King received 1 Oscar nomination and lost

The 2019 Lion King remake was unsuccessful at the Oscars

In 2019, The Lion King joined the trend of live-action remakes of Disney animated classics, albeit with a twist on the term “live-action.” The remake was done in a photorealistic animation style, which while it was praised, also raised some controversy over how disturbing the talking animals sometimes look. Directed by Jon Favreau, The Lion King retold the story that everyone knows so well thanks to the 1994 film, and although it received mixed reviews from critics, it was a huge commercial success, breaking several box office records.

2019 The Lion King was praised for its achievements in animation, but divided critics regarding how faithful it was to the animated film in terms of story: some liked the fidelity, while others criticized the lack of originality. The Lion KingThe remake joined the franchise's Oscar history with a nomination in the Best Visual Effects category – however, it lost to Sam Mendes' war film 1917. The Lion King It didn't win any of the biggest awards, but it was awarded the Guinness World Record for the highest-grossing remake at the global box office.

Mufasa: The Lion King is on the Oscar list for visual effects and original music

Mufasa: The Lion King may have a future at the Oscars

The 2025 Oscar ceremony will be held on March 2, 2025, with the nominees being announced on January 17, 2025. At the time of this writing, speculation and predictions have begun about who and which films will be nominated, and this was fed. put the Academy releases its list of nominees in 10 award categories. Mufasa: The Lion King is currently on the 2025 Oscar shortlist in two categories: Best Original Song and Best Visual Effects. In the first, Mufasa is nominated for the song “Tell Me It's You”played by Aaron Pierre and Tiffany Boone.

MufasaThe film's consideration in the Best Visual Effects category is expected, but if it is officially nominated, it could generate controversy. As with the 2019 remake, the film's photorealistic style was praised in terms of technical achievements, but was criticized for appearing unnatural at times (especially the animals), the talking lions, and was even called “impersonal.” for Best Animated Film is not included in the list, so it is unknown whether Mufasa is being considered, but this could also be controversial.

Although Mufasa was done in photorealistic animation, it has become a divisive technique as the results are often disturbing - it is very different to watch a group of 2D animated lions singing and dancing than photorealistic ones trying to show emotion and at the same time wanting to look like lions real. The Lion King 2019 was not nominated in the Best Animation categorythen Mufasa You can follow these steps and skip that specific category.

Will Mufasa get any Oscar nominations?

The Oscars are always full of surprises

It would be surprising if Mufasa: The Lion King It wasn't nominated for an Oscar in at least one category, but the big question is which one(s). In the Best Original Song category, Mufasa is competing with film music like Better man (semi-biographical musical by Robbie Williams), Challengers, Emilia Pérez (which has two songs on the list), Moana 2and Piece by piece (Pharrell Williams biopic told with Legos). In the Best Visual Effects category, Mufasa also has strong competition, with Alien: Romulus, Deadpool and Wolverine, Dune: Part Twoand Evil also on the list.

At the moment, Mufasa There are bigger changes to be nominated in the Best Original Song categoryand is unlikely to win Best Animated Feature. Disney also released Inside Out 2 and Moana 2 in 2024, which are stronger competitors in this category than Mufasaand there may be controversy over whether it actually qualifies or not. It's unlikely Mufasa: The Lion King I won't join The Lion KingOscar history, but anything can happen.