Grigoriy Azarenok mentioned the animated film in a conversation with Roman Protasevich during a live stream on January 23, 2025. They discussed discrimination, which they claimed has "not taken hold in the US in either the people or humanity."
"A great illustration to that point is the flop of the new Lion King. The original Lion King is a cult classic from the Soviet times. It's American-made, of course, but back from that era. They recently rebooted it with new animation, in 2018 or 2019? The original explores themes of royalty, nobility, a regal lion and his heir. And now they made a new one about the Latinos, Blacks, and all of that. With gays, and so on. A total failure," said Azarenok about the movie.
The animated film Mufasa: The Lion King was released in late December 2024. It is a prequel to the animated film The Lion King. It is about animals and not people of different races, genders and identities, but some viewers have spotted "racial allegories" in the cartoon. For instance, the adversaries of the yellow-brown lion protagonists are portrayed as malevolent white lions.
Mufasa was directed by Barry Jenkins, the acclaimed film-maker behind Moonlight, Medicine for Melancholy, and The Underground Railroad series. These films addressed race and LGBT issues.
With a budget of $200 million, the animated film grossed over $600 million worldwide within a month of release.