Mufasa: The Lion King - five things we've learned from the trailer

The film tells the story of how an orphaned Mufasa came to be king of the Pride Lands

The first trailer for Mufasa: The Lion King has just dropped, giving us some clues about what to expect in the new Disney film.

It's a sort of prequel/sequel (more on that later) to the 2019 live-action remake of The Lion King, telling the origin story of how Simba's father Mufasa came to be king.

Originally set to come out in summer, the film now has a Christmas release date of 20 December 2024 after being pushed back due to last year's actors' strike.

Here's what we've learned from the brand new trailer...

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Keeping it in the family

We already knew from a 2022 Disney press conference that up-and-coming English actor Aaron Pierre would be joining the film to voice young Mufasa.

But at the end of the new trailer, we saw that many of the original cast would be returning. This includes Donald Glover and Beyoncé as Simba and Nala, now king and queen of the Pride Lands.

There's plenty of new faces too, with the trailer announcing that Nala's lion cub Kiara will be played by Beyoncé's real-life daughter Blue Ivy Carter.

"Far beyond the mountains and the shadows..."

Whilst Mufasa: The Lion King will feature many of the same characters as the 2019 film, this film will see them going to many new places.

The trailer opens with a dramatic shot of animals stood on a snowy mountain, high up in the clouds.

It's a far cry from the desert and oasis settings of the first film, with the trailer also showing lions and cubs travelling past icicles and waterfalls.

We'll see the story of Mufasa through the eyes of Kiara, his granddaughter, as narrated by Rafiki the mandrill

A tale told in flashbacks

The trailer is narrated by the wise mandrill, Rafiki, who'll be playing a key storytelling role in the film.

According to Disney, Rafiki will be passing on the legend of Mufasa to the old king's granddaughter, meaning we'll see events with Simba, Nala and Kiara that take place after The Lion King, as well as the life of young Mufasa much earlier.

This is why the film is not only a prequel (a story that takes place before a previous film), but a sequel, too.

Brand new music

The trailer's soundtrack is a powerful reworking of The Circle of Life, the famous song from the original 1994 animation and the remake.

But there'll be plenty of new songs in Mufasa: The Lion King, with hit songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda joining the team to write the film's music.

You might know him as the man behind the music of Moana and Encanto, writing the film's catchy number one song We Don't Talk About Bruno!

Lin-Manuel Miranda is probably most famous for the award-winning stage musical Hamilton

Mufasa wasn't born a prince

In the trailer, there are lots of teases about what the film's plot will be, with Rafiki saying that Mufasa was born "without a drop of nobility in his blood."

Disney has revealed that a young Mufasa meets another cub called Taka, an heir to the royal throne who brings Mufasa into his family as a brother.

There's been speculation that this mysterious Taka is in fact Scar, Simba's evil uncle from the original film.