James Earl Jones arrives at the Tony Awards on June 12, 2016 (Image: Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
Mufasa: The Lion King is scheduled for release on December 20 and pays homage to James Earl Jones, the original voice of Mufasa from the original 1994 film and 2019 remake. The actor died on September 9, 2024.
The original Mufasa actor did not record new material before he died, but the film itself honors the late actor. Against a black screen, Jones’ famous speech as Mufasa, which he first performed for the 1994 Disney animated classic, begins.
“Look at the stars,” he is heard saying as he explains how “the great kings of the past” are always looking down on us. “Whenever you feel alone, just remember…those kings will always be there to guide you, and so will I.”
The screen then reveals a title card that reads, “In remembrance of James Earl Jones”. Director Barry Jenkins was keen to honor the late actor in some way.
He told Entertainment Weekly: “I was actually doing some early, early press, almost an hour before James Earl Jones passed. I remember both intellectually preparing myself for that conversation, but emotionally thinking about, ‘What am I going to do?’ or ‘We have to do something for 30 years [the anniversary of the original Lion King].’
James Earl Jones died at 93 years old (Image: Getty Images)
“I grew up without a father figure. I think for a lot of people this character and that voice is synonymous with this idea of a surrogate father, or at least the example of what a father-son dynamic should be like. I wanted to find a way to honor that.”
He went on to tell Variety: “It felt like we had all lost a patriarch. We had all lost this man who meant so much.
“It felt like there was no way you could sit in this movie – go through an hour and 40 minutes — and not honor him in some way.”
James Earl Jones died at the age of 93 at his home in Pawling, New York. He had developed type 2 diabetes later in his life.
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Actor James Earl Jones is shown recording an audio segment for Disney (Image: John Atashian / Getty Images)
A cause of death was not immediately released. In a 2016 interview on the Rachael Ray Show, he revealed he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the mid-1990s while attending a diet and exercise center.
His condition was discovered by accident. “I fell asleep on a bench in the middle of the gymnasium one day,” Jones explained.
“And a doctor who was there said, ‘That’s not normal,’ and he encouraged me to go get checked out.”
He died surrounded by his family and tributes poured in, including from actor Denzel Washington who called him his “hero”, adding: “I wasn’t going to be as big as him. I wanted to sound like him.
“He was everything to me as a budding actor. He was who I wanted to be.”
Mufasa: The Lion King is scheduled to be released on December 20