The Lion King 1½

The third installment released in the original Lion King trilogy, it is based on The Lion King’s Timon & Pumbaa[citation needed] and serves as an origin story for the meerkat/warthog duo Timon and Pumbaa while the film is also set within the events of The Lion King (1994).

A majority of the original voice cast from the first film returns to reprise their roles, including Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella as the voices of Timon and Pumbaa, respectively.

The plot of the movie is inspired by Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, a tragicomedy that tells the story of Hamlet from the point of view of two minor characters.

The Lion King 1½ received generally positive reviews from critics.

Though he is unconditionally supported by his mother, Timon dreams of a better life than his colony’s bleak existence, continually hiding from predators, most notably the hyenas.

One day, he is assigned as a sentry in an attempt by his mother to get him accepted, but his daydreaming leads to the near death of his uncle, Max, at the hands of hyenas Shenzi, Banzai and Ed.

Now ostracized, Timon decides to leave. He meets the mandrill Rafiki, who teaches him about “Hakuna Matata”, and advises him to “look beyond what you see”.

Timon takes this advice literally and observes Pride Rock in the distance. Believing Pride Rock to be his dream home, Timon ventures in that direction and encounters Pumbaa the warthog on his way. The two quickly form a bond, and Pumbaa accompanies Timon on his journey.

The pair arrive at Pride Rock during the presentation of Simba to the animals of the Pride Lands, mistaking it for a land rush.

As they make their way through the crowd, Pumbaa explosively passes gas due to his agoraphobia, causing the nearby animals to faint and prompting animals further away to bow to Simba.

Following this, Timon and Pumbaa make multiple attempts to set up homes throughout the Pride Lands, but wind up being forced away every time upon witnessing several events from the original film.

Eventually, the pair are caught in the wildebeest stampede that killed Mufasa, and are thrown off a waterfall in their attempt to escape.

Exhausted, Timon decides to give up and realizes that Pumbaa, who sympathizes with Timon over being a social outcast, is the only friend that he has ever had.

The next morning, the two discover a luxurious green jungle. With their dream home found, they settle there, embracing “Hakuna Matata” as their life’s philosophy.

Some time later, Timon and Pumbaa encounter Simba in a nearby desert, nearly dead. They rescue him and decide to raise him under their philosophy.

Years later, Simba’s childhood friend Nala appears and reunites with him. Believing Hakuna Matata to be in jeopardy, Timon and Pumbaa attempt to sabotage their dates, but fail every time. Upon witnessing Simba and Nala’s argument, Simba disappears, and Timon believes they have succeeded.

The next day, they and Nala learn from Rafiki that Simba has run off to challenge Scar and reclaim Pride Rock. Upset that Simba left them, Timon decides to stay behind, but Pumbaa follows Simba and Nala. Timon indulges in the jungle’s luxuries by himself, but loneliness starts to overwhelm him.

Timon meets Rafiki, who indirectly makes him realize that his true Hakuna Matata is with the ones he loves, not just the place he sought for, prompting Timon to follow the others.

Timon catches up and reconciles with Pumbaa before journeying onward to Pride Rock to join Simba and Nala. After helping them distract the hyenas with a hula dance, Timon and Pumbaa run into Ma and Uncle Max, who had come looking for Timon after Ma learnt from Rafiki his teaching of Hakuna Matata to Timon.

Timon proposes that they all help Simba by getting rid of the hyenas. While Simba battles Scar on the top of Pride Rock, Ma and Uncle Max construct a series of tunnels beneath the hyenas, while at the same time, Timon and Pumbaa use various tactics to distract them.

When the tunnels are finished, Max knocks down the support beams, breaking the ground under the hyenas. However, the last few beams get jammed, prompting Timon to dive underground and break them himself. The cave-in ensues, and the hyenas are ejected through the tunnels.

Simba accepts his place as the rightful king of the Pride Lands, thanking Timon and Pumbaa for their help. Timon takes Pumbaa, Ma, Uncle Max, and the rest of the meerkat colony to live in the jungle to complete his Hakuna Matata, and he is praised as their hero, while gaining acceptance into his colony.