"Mufasa Dies" is an instrumental score composed by Hans Zimmer heard on the album, The Lion King: The Legacy Collection. In the official soundtrack, it is titled "...To Die For" and is combined with an edited version of "Stampede." The latter portion that scores the hyena chase is worked into "Hyenas" on non-English versions of the soundtrack. The score itself plays with a melancholy melody, making it one of the saddest scores ever heard in Disney history.
Background[]
The Lion King[]
The score starts at the point where Simba finds Mufasa's dead body just as he cries over his father, followed by Scar telling him that the king is dead after Simba explained that he accidentally caused a wildebeest stampede across the gorge. The score then ends with the chase scene when he sends the hyenas to kill him just as Scar takes over the Pride Lands. It is later heard again towards the climax of the film when Simba returns to the Pride Lands to find that it is a deserted wasteland due to the famine just as Nala, Timon, and Pumbaa catch up with him in a plan to confront Scar and take his place as the king of Pride Rock.
The Stage Musical[]
This score does not appear on the original cast recording. However, the score is used in the stage show itself. The score, similar to the use in the film, is used when Scar, after killing Mufasa, urges Simba to run away before ordering the hyenas to kill him.
The 2019 Remake[]
A reimagined version of the score is played during the part where Simba finds his father's dead body across the gorge just as Scar arrives towards Simba who cries over his father's death body just as he cries over his father, followed by Scar telling him that the king is dead after Simba explained that he accidentally caused a wildebeest stampede across the gorge. The score then ends with the chase scene when Scar exiles Simba from the Pride Lands just as Scar later takes over the Pride Lands.
It is later heard when Simba grieves about his father, followed by a brief portion of it during the end of the film before looping into "Remember", a reimagined version of "King of Pride Rock"
Trivia[]
- A second version of this cue exists. This version omits a lot of the sad theme, instead replacing it with an arrangement of Mufasa's theme played on pan pipes. This version is identified as the "JK Version" while the version used in the film is identified as the "RR Version".
- The Legacy Collection includes both the final cue and a demo version of the cue.
