Mia and the White Lion

Upon getting the idea for the film, co-writer/director Gilles de Maistre asked specialist Kevin Richardson about the possibility of filming a child with a lion. He was told that it would be impossible, as the only way for the lion not to harm the child would be that they grow up together, a three-year process for a lion and much too long for a film shoot. Undeterred, de Maistre found Daniah De Villiers a young South African girl already familiar with lions to grow up with the titular white lion cub, and shot the film over 2 1/2 years, from May 2015 to December 2017, with the other actors regularly flying in to shoot their scenes.

There are several closeups of the white lion in which he seems to be purring. Lions do not purr. They can roar, which smaller cats cannot. The largest cat that can both "meow" and purr is the cougar, or panther.

References Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)