Mufasa Re-Do: Sarabi
So! I thought that the good thing about Sarabi in the new movie was:
She is characterized as not believing anyone can help her, and not believing anybody will accept help from herself. She has to learn to ask for help and risk helping others.
She sees what’s special about Mufasa and clues him into it—he’s the one she learns trust from, and she’s the one who kickstarts his confidence.
But! The characterizations were incomplete. Like I said in the Zazu post: for “romantic tension” and “Grrrl Power” she is introduced in a scene where she bizarrely trusts and accepts help from Zazu. A 1lb-bird. Even though her whole characterization is supposed to be “other animals can’t help me” and “I can do everything myself.”
So that’s Problem 1. Problems 2 and 3 that were going to solve are:
2. Sarabi Feels Out-of-Place in the Conflict - Sarabi seems to have no real reason to be in the movie aside from being the love interest of Taka and Mufasa. She got her pride scattered by the bad guys, but that never really matters later. She, Taka, and Mufasa never even have conversations where they bond over shared loss, and she has no interactions with the villain until the final battle.
3. Sarabi Isn’t Believable As Taka’s Motivation - If Sarabi is going to be the reason Taka turns bitter, feels a chip on his shoulder for the rest of his life, and ultimately believes Mufasa not only stole his girlfriend, but his “WHOLE DESTINY”…then Sarabi needs to actually be connected to his “destiny.” And we need to know why Taka even likes her.
So! Let’s kill two birds with one stone. Now, Sarabi has a Reputation. And, the way she is introduced gives us more background on her, plus more show-not-tell time with our villain. Let me show you:
Sarabi, the Sunset Princess
Sarabi is known in the “Valley of Kings.” Her name gets passed around because she’s an exemplary huntress as well as royalty. She’s also stunningly beautiful, you know, by lion standards. She’s like the complete package. And she knows it. Her “I don’t need anybody’s help” vibe comes from that confidence, that “I’m at the top of the food chain, I’m the greatest huntress in this valley, and nobody needs to give me anything.”
But! The thing that makes Sarabi attractive to both Taka and our Villain is just that—she’d make an excellent trophy. That’s what Taka really wants. He has just lost his own kingdom and heritage—when he meets Sarabi, having her on his arm would gain him the respect of any new would-be subjects.
Of course, he can also believe she’s beautiful and be attracted to her, too. It doesn’t have to be all-shallow. But, remember, Taka is genuinely all about himself. He eventually turns into Scar, a character who only sees the world through a lens of “How Does This Orbit Around Me, and How I Want to Be Seen?”
So he would never just be interested in Sarabi because she breathes and is a pretty lioness. He would be interested because who else would perfectly match the Magnificent Prince Taka? He wants to be “seen for the wonder” he is. He wants Sarabi, The Sunset Princess, to be the first one to do that.
And he’s not the only one!
How Sarabi is Introduced:
After our villain is alluded to (more on that in the Villain Post) by a refugee-herd of wildebeest, we follow their trail back to the land they’re fleeing. It’s Sarabi’s father’s territory.
Our villain is seen laying on top of the carcass of an entire elephant, while already chewing the leg of a zebra. He’s surrounded by his gang of hungry-looking lionesses who are noticeably not eating. They’re all standing on guard over the members of Sarabi’s pride—who have been defeated. Our Villain is gloating to these unfortunate lions about how everything in their land already belonged to him—they just didn’t know it until now. Just like how all of the Savannah belongs to lions, and every animal will learn it sooner or later. He’s telling them they still have a choice: join him or join the pile of bones he leaves behind.
Enter Sarabi! She’s hauled forward by the Villain’s lackeys, a bristling ball of fury. The bad guy can say some overdramaric, kind of creepy line, like, “Finally, I get to meet the famous Sarabi! I hear you’re called the Sunset Princess. Tell me, is that because you really can time a kill just as the sun is going down…or is it because of the color of those eyes?”
She just snarls. He just recently killed her father in an unfair fight, and he’s clearly over-hunting the territory he’s stolen. He moves on to mentioning all the things I said above—how she should be at his side, because of how great and powerful he is, and how it would actually be better for the lions he conquers, because they’d follow her without resistance. It’s setting up the power that would come with being Sarabi’s King, which foreshadows Taka’s disappointment when she doesn’t choose him.
Sarabi, of course, refuses and escapes—she almost doesn’t, but her pride sisters slow her pursuers down, and Zazu flaps in out of nowhere claiming to be her escort sent from her father.
Then when Zazu’s loud mouth attracts hungry refugees Taka and Mufasa, Sarabi has a reason to be prickly. She’s feeling weirdly guilty that her father and her pride sisters gave her her best chance to escape—and she’s covering that up with resentment toward them “they didn’t need to help me, I can take care of myself.” And she’s taking a lot of that out on Zazu, who won’t leave her alone or stop reminding her that her late father’s last decree was for a little hornbill to warn her about the Villain.
Taka sees how pretty Sarabi is and pounces on Zazu immediately, kind of to make an entrance. Zazu insists he can’t be eaten—Sarabi tells him to shut up, but he’s not listening to her—because what kind of ruffian would dare eat the Escort of the Sunset Princess?
Taka is immediately impressed, because he’s heard of the Sunset Princess. So that further solidifies and sets up why he likes her. From there, Sarabi does decide to travel with them…but only because Rafiki shows up and outlines a land where they can seek shelter from the Villain under the rule of the Great Kings.
Sarabi & Taka
Sarabi initially seems warmer toward Taka than she does Mufasa. This is because Taka flatters her reputation right off the bat—he says, “this is THE Sunset Princess!” And offers charming sympathy for the loss of her kingdom, since he just lost his own, too.
That’s contrasted with Mufasa, who’s like, “what’s a Sunset Princess?” And Taka scoffs at him and rolls his eyes and says, “you must forgive my brother, he’s not of royal blood like us, he doesn’t keep up with the heights of the food chain.” And he rattles off how Sarabi is the most feared Huntress in the Valley of Kings, making Sunset a time of terror for all the herds.
Mufasa acts a little amused—he’s a humble guy, he’s always sort of shrugged off pomp and ceremony whenever Taka waxes on about it—and Sarabi takes this the wrong way and immediately demonstrated her skill by tracking nearby prey. This turns out to be Rafiki, kind of like in the Movie We Got, which is how he’s introduced. But suffice to say, Sarabi and Taka get off on the right foot.
When Zazu tries to “defend” Sarabi from danger and winds up leading the Villains right to them, Taka kind of helps heap the blame on the little bird, and is indirectly the reason Sarabi shouts at and has a falling out with Zazu. Then Taka makes pretense to comfort her after their narrow escape, while Mufasa tries to understand how to make peace between her and the bird by talking to Rafiki. So it seems like Taka and Sarabi are actually closer at the beginning of this remake.
However, it becomes increasingly clear, as Sarabi learns what a Great King is like, that Taka doesn’t exemplify those traits. While they bond initially over their shared annoyance toward Zazu and shared pride, the turning point comes when Mufasa saves her from the elephant stampede (like in the Movie We Got.)
Sarabi & Mufasa
And he saves her by listening to Zazu, even after Zazu’s big mistake, then getting the elephants to divert their path. Even though Sarabi caused the stampede by believing no elephant would ever help a lion.
So that’s a big gut-check for Sarabi’s way of thinking, and she does owe Mufasa. From there, she definitely does begin admiring Mufasa for the traits she sees lining up between him and the Great Kings.
I’ll add more to this later—when I talk about how I’d re-do the climax!
