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.
Mia and the White Lion recounts the friendship between a child and a wild animal, a relationship that was provoked by the production that cast more than 300 children in South Africa before finding Daniah De Villiers who embodies Mia. Daniah spent three days with Thor the lion for three years, while the filming took place in four blocks during this period. After all this time in the bush, the girl had to leave the lion and resume a normal life, which was a real tear; she returns to see Thor regularly. For
Kevin Richardson, the most complicated thing was finding parents crazy enough to let their child participate in such an adventure.
The director specifies however that his film is not a documentary but indeed a fiction.
Filming was normal until the lion was a year and a half old. There, the team has folded in cages because a lion goes through a 2-year period that can be likened to adolescence.
Gilles de Maistre considered a sequel but abandoned the idea because it required rebuilding the relationship between Daniah De Villiers and the lion. However, the cessation of filming resulted in the end of their interactions and a three-year apprenticeship.
Gilles de Maistre called on South African zoologist Kevin Richardson, who has been interacting with lions for over 20 years. The first devoted the second documentary entitled The Man who whispered in the ears of lions (L'Homme qui murmure à l'oreille des lions). Sometimes Richardson took the place of the director to be able to film the lion as closely as possible in potentially dangerous scenes.