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​Mufasa From 'The Lion King' Voted Most Popular 'Movie Dad' Of All Time

​Mufasa From 'The Lion King' Voted Most Popular 'Movie Dad' Of All Time

'Harry Potter' patriarch Arthur Weasley came in second place, while George Bailey from 'It's A Wonderful Life' was third

Jess Hardiman

Jess Hardiman

There are some pretty iconic parental figures in cinema - including some that are famous for all the wrong reasons, like the ones in Home Alone who leave poor Kevin on his own for Christmas... then go and do the same again in the film's sequel.

via GIPHY

There's also Danny DeVito's father figure in Matilda, who treats his prodigy of a child like absolute crap, and let's not forget Jim's Dad in the American Pie franchise, who's just straight-up embarrassing. Oh, and Darth Vader... You definitely wouldn't want to go asking him for any parenting tips.

But among all the evil, awkward and weirdo fathers of the cinematic world, there are also some absolute belters - ones who put your own parents to shame.

Well, apparently the top dog (or top cat) of them all is Mufasa, the animated lion from 1994 Disney flick The Lion King, who has been voted the UK's most popular 'movie dad' of all time.

It's easy to see why the selfless father - voiced by James Earl Jones - proved to be such a big hit in the survey, conducted by Showcase Cinemas. After all, not only is he motherflippin' King of Pride Rock, he is also wise AF, and is constantly dishing out amazing advice to Simba, even after his untimely death.

As well as that, he's got a great mane, is up for goofing about with his son and manages to be cool even to the biggest dickheads of the Shadowlands (Scar, we're looking at you).

Basically, he's just great. Mufasa for President.

Harry Potter patriarch Arthur Weasley came in second place, while George Bailey from It's A Wonderful Life was third.

The rest of the top 10 also featured Henry Jones from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Bryan Mills from Taken (he is a pretty dedicated dad, you have to admit) and Robin Williams' Daniel Hillard/Euphegenia Doubtfire from Mrs Doubtfire.

There were also appearances from Atticus Finch of To Kill A Mockingbird fame, Captain Von Trapp from The Sound of Music, Robert De Niro's uptight but loving Jack Byrnes from Meet the Fockers and, in at number 10, Marlin from Finding Nemo.

Mark Barlow, UK General Manager for Showcase Cinemas, said: "The silver screen has given rise to some incredible fictional parents, and it seems mums and dads are in agreement that the self-sacrificing animated lion, Mufasa, is the UK's favourite movie dad.

"Across the board, it seems that men are more influenced by the parenting they see in films than mums are, with twice as many dads telling us that they've turned off a film because they thought it could show their parenting skills in a bad light - hopefully we don't see too much of that this Father's Day!"

In the survey, Showcase found that two thirds of dads admitted they often turn to movies for guidance on how to be a better parent. If it's Mufasa they're turning to, seems to us like they're right on track. Just be sure to stay safe around cliff edges and evil, murderous brothers.

Featured Image Credit: Buena Vista Pictures

Topics: Harry Potter, Disney, Film, Entertainment, TV and Film, Movie