Lin-Manuel Miranda recalls the 'Mufasa' line that brought 'the first lump in my throat'

Barry Jenkins did what anybody would do the first time listening to a new Lin-Manuel Miranda song: He jammed out.

The Disney prequel “Mufasa: The Lion King” (in theaters now) brings together the director of Oscar-winning “Moonlight” and the creator of Tony-conquering “Hamilton” to tell the origin story of bitter rivals Mufasa and Scar. Jenkins recalls Miranda sending him his first tune for the movie, “I Always Wanted a Brother,” and immediately thinking, “This is a bop.”

“Kids are going to be singing this song because I am singing it,” Jenkins says with a laugh. “I’m getting in my car in the morning, I'm singing this song. I'm in line for a coffee, I'm tapping my foot. It was just one of those things. It's like, oh, OK, this is an earworm. This is how this works.”

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"Mufasa" offered a different kind of challenge for Jenkins, mostly because “Moonlight” and "If Beale Street Could Talk" didn’t have any photorealistic, computer-generated lions, zebras and other animals running around. “One of the cool things was that it was a new sandbox,” Jenkins says of “Mufasa,” a musical journey through the Pride Lands – and a follow-up to the 1994 animated “Lion King” and the 2019 live-action redo.

As told to Mufasa’s granddaughter, Kiara (voiced by Beyoncé’s daughter Blue Ivy in her film debut), the future lion king (Aaron Pierre) is washed away from his family by a flood and taken in by the pride of prince Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), later known as Scar. The two become as close as brothers and go on a quest that pits them against the villainous white lion Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen) but also tests their bonds of friendship.

Barry Jenkins looked to the old 'Lion King' to make 'Mufasa'

There are songs, colorful scenery and jokes aplenty, but Jenkins has made the Pride Lands his own by doing what he does best: “engage with subject matter and conversations that are hard to engage with,” Pierre says. The British star digs how the movie tackles the navigation of personal relationships, the importance of communication, and even the complexities of love and “how that is never a simple thing, no matter how much we might try to simplify it.”

Also, Jenkins has “done it in a way that isn't didactic (and) not patronizing to young people, and therefore, grown people can go and enjoy it,” the actor adds.

So how did Jenkins toe that line, balancing serious topics and kid adventure? He embraced the energy of the OG “Lion King.” “You can maybe watch it for the first time at the age of 4, and then you can watch it again at the age of 34, and it's still hitting," the director says.

Always being aware of “the heart” of every scene was important for Jenkins. He points out one of the last quips Seth Rogen’s warthog Pumbaa has in the movie: “Ugh, love. That sounds like something really gross and not something that I totally need and want.”

“It starts off as this childish joke, but then it also goes to this place that's really endearing,” the filmmaker says. “That's like a microcosm for the whole film.”

'Mufasa' dialogue gave way to 'banger' Lin-Manuel Miranda songs

Miranda, who’s written original tunes for Disney films such as “Moana” and “Encanto,” signed on for “Mufasa” because “I wanted to be up close while Barry Jenkins was making a movie,” he says, but also to craft songs that would deepen the characters.

Tunes were born out of conversations with Jenkins – “I’m a very unprecious songwriter. I'm not someone who hands in the song and goes, “See ya at the premiere!’” – as well as from “great lines of dialogue” from Jeff Nathanson’s script, Miranda explains. He remembers getting “the first lump in my throat” when reading a scene where Taka and Mufasa run a race to see if Mufasa would get to stay with Taka’s family. Taka lets his new pal win and tells him, “I have a secret, Mufasa. I always wanted a brother."

“I was like, ‘That's a banger song title! That's the sentiment I want to use to get to know these brothers,’” Miranda says.

Blue Ivy Carter stars in a key 'Mufasa' scene about outsiders

Jenkins loves that he gets to explore, among various thoughtful themes, the idea of outsiders. It’s the moniker given to Kiros and his vicious pride, but it’s true of many of the characters, including Mufasa and Taka. “Through this idea of positive vs. negative nurturing, the one person evolved to become this version of an outsider or someone who was once outcast, and the other person evolved to become the greatest king of all kings,” Jenkins says.

Wise mandrill Rafiki (voiced by John Kani) imparts one of the film’s most poignant lines, telling Kiara: “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.” Kani, who reprised his role from the 2019 film, told Jenkins about how he starred in a movie, “White Lion,” as a protector of albino lions who are chased away when born.

“I was like, ‘Dr. Kani, let's find the language with you and Blue Ivy of how to talk about that,’” Jenkins says. “Mufasa” is “just so obsessed with investigating all these different versions of how we all can feel outcast, outside, not a part of the Circle of Life to use ‘Lion King’ terminology. And depending on how we respond to that, it can lead us to become a better version or a worse version of ourselves. That was really key to the emotional core of the film.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How 'Mufasa: The Lion King' became a Barry Jenkins movie