Mufasa Director Barry Jenkins Hits Back at Claims He's a 'Shill' for Disney's 'Soulless Machine'

01/05/2024 00:01

Jenkins, who also directed Moonlight, responded after he was criticized for helming the new Lion King prequel when the trailer dropped this week.

Barry Jenkins didn't hesitate to defend his work in Disney's Lion King prequel, Mufasa, after he was criticized for directing the upcoming flick.

On Monday, the first trailer for the movie -- a photorealistic sequel of Jon Favreau's 2019 remake of the Disney classic -- dropped online and it didn't take long for some haters to dip into Jenkins' mentions after he shared it with his followers.

"Barry, You're too good and talented for this Iger's soulless machine," wrote one follower, in reference to the Mouse House's CEO Bob Iger.

"There is nothing soulless about The Lion King," Jenkins responded. "For decades children have sat in theaters all over the world experiencing collective grief for the first time, engaging Shakespeare for the first time, across aisles in myriad languages. A most potent vessel for communal empathy."

Jenkins' response -- which referenced the fact The Lion King is based on Hamlet -- sparked more criticism from another follower, who claimed they had spoken with the director at the Toronto Film Festival premiere of Moonlight.

"Come on man. I interviewed you when you premiered Moonlight at TIFF, and that Barry Jenkins wouldn't have said what you just said," they wrote. "You can do a Disney movie for the check, in order to work on your passion projects at a later time, but you don't have to shill like this."

Jenkins wasn't having it, saying he's always been invested in work involving children and sharing links to a number of short films and projects he worked on with kids.

"Children have figured prominently in every single one of the projects from Moonlight til' now without exception. Like... BRUH," he continued. "You can say whatever you want about the film but telling ME that something I SAID about why something is meaningful to me for children is CAP? Nah bruh."

The commenter attempted to clarify his remarks, saying his issue wasn't that Jenkins was doing children's films, but that he was working with Disney specifically. He explained he felt the company stifles creative license, mistreats CGI artists and "exists to fence children's imaginations behind a paywall."

Jenkins ended his replies to the thread by saying, "You said 'and that Barry Jenkins wouldn't have said what you just said.' But it's cool. You said it. I responded. It's done. I'm going back to work now. Much respect."

When someone else told him "very little good" would come out of engaging with haters, Jenkins explained his clapbacks by saying, "Yeah, there's a quota. And I just hit it 🤣"

Mufasa: The Lion King hits theaters on December 20.