The China Mail - Director Barry Jenkins finds echoes from his past in new Lion King

Only when his agents insisted he read the script did he accept the role for "Mufasa: The Lion King", which hits screens next week in the United States and Europe.

At first sight, it seems a far cry from the poignant drama of "Moonlight", his triple Oscar-winning 2016 breakthrough exploring identity, race and poverty, but he says it's not as far as it seems.

"It wasn't until I read the script that I realised," he told AFP in a pre-release interview. "There were so many of the themes, so many of the character dynamics, so much of the journey that felt directly related to all the things I've been doing."

The ultra-realist animation, which will be available in 3D, tells the origin story of Mufasa, father of Simba, the cub star of the 1994 film.

As a young lion, Mufasa finds himself alone and separated from his parents before being adopted by the family of Taka, the compassionate heir of a different pride.

"In the first film, it's about family dynamics and this sort of thing, like revenge and betrayal," explained Jenkins.

"This film is about those things as well... But it's also about how the quality of parenting, the nature of parenting, this idea of nature versus nurture, how those things can impact so much."

He uses the example of Taka who becomes Scar, the infamous villain of the first film.

"Villains aren't really born. They're kind of created out of circumstances," Jenkins said.

- Family dynamics -

Parenting and the emotional complexity wrought by a troubled childhood are intensely personal subjects for the 45-year-old Miami native, who grew up in the same crime-infested neighbourhood that is the setting for "Moonlight."

He never knew his father and his mother was addicted to crack cocaine, meaning he was brought up largely by a surrogate grandmother figure.

"I didn't realise it when I started the film. But at some point during making it, I did realise that there were quite a few similarities (with my own life)," he explained.

He says he's built his own family out of the cinematographers, editors, producers and fellow film school students he's known for the last 25 years.

"They've become my family... That's a family that I've created, not a family I was born with. And this family has changed my life," he said.

The original Lion King is one of the best-known films in cinema history and also one of all-time biggest successes at the box office, with worldwide sales of nearly a billion dollars, according to the IMBD website.

The prequel features voices by British actor Aaron Pierre as Mufasa and Kelvin Harrison Jr as Taka.

Beyonce has a minor role voicing the Nala character, while her daughter Blue Ivy Carter makes her feature film debut as the voice of Simba's daughter, Kiara.

W.Tam--ThChM