The Disney Prequel is a roaring adventure – with amazing views!

Disney’s money-spinning The Lion King franchise will likely keep going and going until its Lion Dynasty descends into the decadent chaos that has toppled royal families throughout history. One day we may get to the bloody story of Scar’s great-great-nephew, an insane, poison-ridden, thick-furred Caligula who manages to kill all his relatives before he himself is eliminated. At that time, the elephants, peaceful, calm and wise, will rise to power, and from them will arise an even greater Broadway musical.

There is nothing like the circle of life.

But The Pachyderm Prince (or whatever it’s called) doesn’t need to go into development for a while, not if the studio manages to release movies like the visually intoxicating new CGI prequel, Mufasa: The Lion Kingwhich deserves to be a family-oriented holiday smasheroo.

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This latest film follows Mufasa (Rebel Ridge’p Aaron Pierre) as he spends his teenage years and early adulthood in unexpected exile: after a flood carries him away and separates him from his parents, he is adopted into a pride ruled by Obasi (The Walking Dead’s Lennie James). But Mufasa’s welcome is no friendlier than the reception Dickens extended to the lost children scattered throughout his novels.

Obasi cannot stand the stench of this alien – who is also an ordinary citizen – and resolves the inconvenience by handing him over to his queen Eshe (Thandiwe Newton), who will raise him in the company of the pride’s females.

Still, Mufasa is allowed to befriend Obasi’s heir, Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), a cheerful good sport. Unfortunately, when put to the test, Taka shows less courage than Mufasa in rescuing Eshe from an invading tribe of white-gray lions. You can predict how this will eventually lead to Harry Vs. William tensions.

You may also instinctively wonder about the symbolic meaning of these predatory lions, whose faded skins give them the decorative neutrality of a driftwood sculpture. Some enterprising and overly imaginative op-ed columnist might suggest that their leader, Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen), represents Putin, the icy tyrant. On the other hand, Kiros and his forces are first seen in a pink swamp that hardly suggests the Kremlin. It’s more like a bayou renovated and turned by a flock of flamingos. But the scene is visually beautiful.

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This applies to the film as a whole. Directed by the Oscar winner Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)is this animal epic carried along by animation much richer and more varied than that in The Lion King restart from 2019.

These lions spend more time underwater – a deep, peacock-blue water world – than Esther Williams ever did. The moody skyscapes, slanting sunlight and dense tall grass are particularly beautiful, and Mufasa’s brave but dangerous journey towards the lion paradise known as Malelee takes you up dynamically high mountains clad in cold white snow.

To be honest, it’s a nice distraction from the company of lions, mandrills and red-billed hornbills. Nature is not all animals.

Jenkins performs all of this with sensitivity and what feels like a gentle confidence. But the film occasionally fumbles, just as you assume the three-legged zebra known as Steve is tripping up. We don’t get to see this Steve – he’s mentioned in the jokey, show-biz banter of Pumbaa the warthog (Seth Rogen) and Timon the meerkat (Billy Eichner). But really: In Jenkins’ all-encompassingly delightful vision of a wild kingdom, do we really want to waste time with a meerkat who looks like he studied comedy under Billy Crystal?

Losing the pig and the meerkat would have made for a better and faster movie.

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You may not be able to welcome the new songs Hamilton’p Lin-Manuel Miranda. They have a hip, rhythmic snap that doesn’t really suit realistic looking lions. And it’s not like realistic-looking lions could be expected to finish a number with jazz hands or jazz paws, let alone sing the phrase “gold flecks in your hair.” It sounds like a style influencer who has a glimmer of inspiration.

But none of that will bother children in the audience. Plus, you’re always free to let your grown-up mind wander and wonder about the parallels between Mufasa and Taka and the young, feuding Windsors.

Mufasa: The Lion King is in the cinema 20 Dec.

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