Timon & Pumbaa (TV series)
The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa, often simply referred to as Timon & Pumbaa, is an American animated buddy children's television series created by Walt Disney Television Animation. Based on the 1994 Disney animated film The Lion King, it centers on Timon the meerkat and Pumbaa the warthog, as they live their problem-free philosophy "Hakuna matata". Voice actors Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella reprised their film roles as the title characters.
The show ran for three seasons on CBS, Disney Channel, Toon Disney, and in syndication as a part of The Disney Afternoon. It aired from September 8, 1995 to September 24, 1999. It is the first Lion King-related media to feature humans, as humans did not appear in the film and its sequels. It is also the first of two television series to be based on the film, the second being The Lion Guard.
Bobs Gannaway and Tony Craig, who would later work on shows like ', House of Mouse, and ', served as the show's executive producers for the first two seasons. As of Season 3, the series was produced by Chris Bartleman and Blair Peters, with Tedd and Patsy Cameron-Anasti serving as the executive producers.
Premise
The show stars Timon, a meerkat, and Pumbaa, a warthog, both characters from the Disney animated film The Lion King and its sequels. The series is primarily set after the events of the first film, although some episodes are set before or during those events. It involves the characters having misadventures in different settings, including the jungles of Africa, Canada, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Whereas the show focuses on Timon and Pumbaa, four episodes center on Rafiki and the hyena trio Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed, named Rafiki Fables and The Laughing Hyenas, and two episodes tell the backstory of Zazu.Episodes
Characters
Main
- Timon : One of the show's two main protagonists.
- Pumbaa : One of the show's two main protagonists. Sabella reprises his role from The Lion King.
''The Lion King'' alumni
- Simba : The protagonist of The Lion King and best friend of Timon and Pumbaa, who is now King of the Pride Lands and is occasionally the voice of reason around Timon and Pumbaa's mess-ups. Clarke later provided Simba's singing voice in .
- Rafiki : A wise mandrill who gives good advice and is occasionally the butt of jokes. Guillaume reprises his role from The Lion King.
- Zazu : A pompous hornbill who works for Simba.
- Shenzi, Banzai and Ed : Three crazy hyenas and Scar's former henchmen who are usually spending their time looking for food, though their attempts to get it tend to backfire, after having killed Scar for his betrayal in the movie, they leave the Elephant Graveyard and now live in a cave at the Outlands.
- Gopher : A mole, and chief lieutenant of Zazu. Cummings reprises his role from The Lion King.
Supporting characters
- Speedy the Snail : An easygoing blue snail who can talk and sing. Timon and Pumbaa originally planned to eat him, but ended up becoming friends with him instead. They often find themselves rushing to have to save Speedy from dangerous situations.
- Fred : A maniacal meerkat who is an old friend of Timon. He loves to laugh and play around, as well as pulling practical jokes. He often uses Timon and Pumbaa as his victims, although they don't find his jokes very funny.
- Boss Beaver : A stereotypical beaver whose life philosophy is the exact opposite of Hakuna Matata. He values hard work and is sometimes too harsh on his employees. He also emphasizes the importance of safe work conditions.
- Irwin : A dimwitted, accident-prone penguin whose bad luck seems to be terribly contagious. Timon and Pumbaa became his friends after they were stranded in Antarctica and Irwin had two extra tickets to a cruise ship. They will try to avoid him at all costs.
Antagonists
- Quint : Timon and Pumbaa's human archenemy and the main antagonist of the series. He is a man of many disguises and his role varies from episode to episode, from mildly bothersome antagonist to full villain.
- Toucan Dan : A criminal toucan, wanted by the police. He is known for being a sly con-artist and always manages to trick Timon and Pumbaa into helping him in his schemes and cons.
- Cheetata and Cheetato : A pair of sophisticated cheetahs who hunt for their prey, enemies of Timon and Pumbaa and of Shenzi, Banzai and Ed. Although hard to tell apart, aside from their voices, Cheetata appears to be more eager and aggressive while Cheetato seems more likely to think things through and is the most conniving.
- Smolder the Bear : A large brown bear with a very short temperament who Timon and Pumbaa often run into. He can be quite menacing and dangerous, but at least one episode shows that deep inside he is a nice guy.
- The Three Natives : A trio of natives who are really university students. Their "chief" is also a university student, and usually precedes what he says with "Bungala bungala!"
Production
Animation production was done by a consortium of overseas animation studios, including Walt Disney Television Animation Pty. Limited, Toon City, Wang Film Productions, Thai Wang Film Productions, Rough Draft Korea Co., Ltd., Sunmin Image Pictures Co., Sunwoo Animation, Koko Enterprises, Toonz Animation, Gnome Productions, Jaime Diaz Productions, Project X Animation, Shanghai Morning Sun Animation, Sichuan Top Animation and Studio B Productions.
After the second season, Roberts Gannaway and Tony Craig, the series' producers and directors, left the show to work on . The series then returned in 1998 for a 39-episode third season, with a change in writers and new directors. Since February 8, 2009, this show went off the air for three years. However, it returned to broadcast reruns for a limited time in 2012 on Disney Junior. On November 12, 2019, the entire series was released on Disney+ in restored high definition.
Music
Home media
VHS releases
U.S. releases
Six VHS cassettes containing 18 episodes were released in the United States under the name Timon & Pumbaa's Wild Adventures.| VHS name | Season | Episode count | Release date | Episodes include | Stock Number |
| Grub's On | 1 | 3 | January 30, 1996 |
| 6706 |
| Hangin' With Baby | 1 | 3 | January 30, 1996 | 6705 | |
| True Guts | 1 | 3 | January 30, 1996 | 6709 | |
| Don't Get Mad, Get Happy | 1 | 3 | May 8, 1996 | 6711 | |
| Live & Learn! | 1 | 3 | May 8, 1996 | 7646 | |
| Quit Buggin' Me | 1 | 3 | May 8, 1996 | 7647 |
European & Australian releases
Three VHS cassettes containing 21 episodes were released in Europe and Australia, each containing six episodes and a music video. The first VHS, Around the World with Timon And Pumbaa, features an original story told through bridging sequences in which, after Pumbaa develops amnesia from a lightning strike, Timon tries to restore his friend's memory through the episodes featured on that video.| VHS Name | Episode Titles | Release Date |
| Around the World with Timon & Pumbaa | "Boara Boara" "Yukon Con" "Saskatchewan Catch" "Stand by Me" "Brazil Nuts" "Truth or Zaire" "Never Everglades" | September 12, 1996 Rereleased: June 7, 2004 |
| Dining Out with Timon & Pumbaa | "French Fried" "Russia Hour" "Swiss Missed" "To Kilimanjaro Bird" "Don't Break the China" "Rocky Mountain Lie" "Yummy Yummy Yummy" | August 15, 1997 Rereleased: March 14, 2005 |
| On Holiday with Timon & Pumbaa | "Kenya Be My Friend?" "South Sea Sick" "Uganda Be an Elephant" "The Pain in Spain" "How to Beat the High Costa Rica" "You Ghana Join the Club" "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" | August 15, 1997 Rereleased: March 14, 2005 |
DVD releases
Three DVDs containing 21 episodes were released in Europe and Japan.| DVD Name | Episode Titles | Release Date |
| Around the World With Timon & Pumbaa | "Boara Boara" "Yukon Con" "Saskatchewan Catch" "Stand by Me" "Brazil Nuts" "Truth or Zaire" "Never Everglades" | June 7, 2004 |
| Dining Out with Timon & Pumbaa | "French Fried" "Russia Hour" "Swiss Missed" "To Kilimanjaro Bird" "Don't Break the China" "Rocky Mountain Lie" "Yummy Yummy Yummy" | March 14, 2005 |
| On Holiday with Timon & Pumbaa | "Kenya Be My Friend?" "South Sea Sick" "Uganda Be an Elephant" "The Pain in Spain" "How to Beat the High Costa Rica" "You Ghana Join the Club" "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" | March 14, 2005 |
Video on demand
The series was made available in its entirety on Disney+ on November 12, 2019, in restored high definition.Awards and nominations
Daytime Emmy Awards- 1996 – Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program – Nathan Lane For playing "Timon".
- 1997 – Outstanding Sound Mixing – Special Class – Deb Adair, Jim Hodson, Melissa Ellis, Michael Beiriger, Dan Hiland, Joseph D. Citarella, Allen L. Stone, and Michael Jiron
- 1997 – Outstanding Individual in Animation – Kexx Singleton for
Other media