The lions' mouths still don't move properly in latest Mufasa: The Lion King trailer

Wanna hear something depressing? In the words of Neil Bahadur on Twitter (X), “I’ve just realized that in 2016 Donald Trump was elected and later that year we got Barry Jenkins film Moonlight. In 2024 Donald Trump was elected, and later this year we will get Barry Jenkins film Mufasa: The Lion King.” It’s a tough spot, but at least the Oscars will probably be somewhat normal this year; this movie won’t be taking home a surprise Best Picture win any time soon. Or maybe it will! Who even knows anymore?

One thing has remained consistent throughout the years: the photorealistic animals Disney keeps insisting on remain as emotionless and out of touch with what worked about the original films as ever. Their faces actually move so little in the final trailer for Mufasa: The Lion King that it almost seems like a talented editor spliced the audio from a completely different (and far more dynamic!) film over the images on the screen.

All of the above isn’t to say that the animation doesn’t look good. It’s actually almost the opposite: it looks so good that it more closely resembles a serious nature documentary than a goofy family musical, which is what The Lion King was always meant to be, and probably should have remained. (In typical movie-musical fashion, while Mufasa allegedly features original songs by Hamilton‘s Lin Manuel Miranda, we don’t see any in this trailer.)

It’s especially tough when the story seems to be a Romulus and Remus founding of Rome-style tale, mixed with a Lord Of The Rings-esque quest by foot over snowy mountains and raging rivers, with Rafiki as a sort of reverse, chaotic-good Gollum. There’s so much potential there! It could use a facial expression or two to really hit home.

But then again, this is just the trailer. Maybe the film in its final form will be Oscar-worthy after all. We’ll find out when it premieres in theaters December 20.