Not even Disney could have predicted not only the success of the original 1994 animated The Lion King, but the on-going franchise after that, which has become its own impressive beast, that of a cash cow.

The stage musical alone has grossed over $8 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing entertainment property in history. Hakuna matata indeed. So it’s no wonder they keep returning to such a lucrative watering hole.

This is a follow-up to the Jon Favreau’s appalling photo-realistic 2019 re-make The Lion King but serves as a prequel to, well, both versions, focusing on it does on Mufasa’s origin tale.

Getting a decent babysitter can always be an issue, but not if you’re Simba (Donald Glover), King of the Pride Lands. He and Nala (Beyoncé) have to pop off for a bit, so need someone to look after their daughter Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter).

They decide to leave her in the relatively capable hands of Pumbaa (Seth Rogen) and Timon (Billy Eichner). Thankfully Rafiki (John Kani) joins them, and helps out by telling Kiara a story. But not just any old story; that of her grandfather Mufasa (Aaron Pierre), and how he got separated from his pride by a flood, and how his journey made him the majestic lion he went on to become.

To be very clear from the outset, Favreau’s 2019 remake is an abomination, an affront to both nature and cinema. Thankfully this has a little more merit.

This is mainly due to it being an original story at least, bringing as it does Mufasa’s origin tale to light, so at least it’s not simply a re-hash of a perfectly acceptable story that already exists, as was the case with the 1994 animated film.

But it still suffers from the same issues as Favreau’s photo-realistic approach (they can’t say live action, as there’s absolutely nothing live about it) that finds realistic looking animals both talking and singing, which just looks wrong.

Everything that makes the animated versions so utterly charming, from the various personalities of each animal, to the colourful way the African plains are portrayed, are all missing here. It’s trying to cram two very different things into one – the playful sensibility of a Disney animation with the likes of a David Attenborough nature documentary. It’s like mixing oil and water, it simply doesn’t work.

It’s a curious choice for Barry Jenkins, with his previous films being the dramas 2016’s Moonlight and 2018’s If Beale Street Could Talk, and you get the impression he doesn’t quite get a handle on the whole photo-realistic thang.

It’s also far too long, just shy of two hours long, and outstays its welcome by a good thirty minutes, with far too much unnecessary padding.

And by making it so photo-realistic, it has a rather dull colour palette; its neutral colours may well be accurate, but it doesn’t make for the kind of visual spectacle you would expect.

So the question remains – why do it at all? Well the fact that it just makes money is probably good enough for Disney, but given the choice, an animated version would always be preferred, hands down.

Once again Rogen and Eichner’s comic double act save the day, and there’s a reason Lin-Manuel Miranda gets the big bucks for songs, as he just simply gets it, as he does here with some really catchy tunes, with the best, without a doubt, being the surprisingly dark “Bye Bye”.

The original story at least makes it a step up from Favreau’s film, but this photo-realistic nonsense needs to end, because as much of an advancement in technology as it is, it will never be as good as a well-crafted animated film, which still is king.