Just thinking about how Eshe raised Mufasa. Straight up adopted him less than an hour after meeting him.
She taught him how to hunt. She taught him how to fight. She tried to instil hope in him that his biological parents were out there.
She sent him and Taka away to save both of them.
You guys remember Malka, the semi-canon character? The one from the comic where Simba gets a new brother for the day.
A lost cub shows up at his pride and Mufasa is willing to adopt him, no questions asked. He even sends out scouts to look for Malka’s parents. Whether the cub reunites with his parents or joins Mufasa’s family, he is going to help that cub find a way home.
There’s no way Mufasa doesn’t see himself in Malka. A and he decides to do what Eshe would have done. What his mom would do.
It’s nice to see a character having good bio parents AND adoptive parents. Mufasa’s probably the first classic Disney character to have two moms, huh?