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1995 American animated television series by Disney From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa is an American animated buddy comedy television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation.[1] It was based on Disney's 1994 animated feature film The Lion King, centering on Timon the meerkat and Pumbaa the warthog as they continue to live by their problem-free philosophy hakuna matata. Compared to most other The Lion King media, the tone of the series is more slapstick comedy-oriented.[2]
| Timon & Pumbaa | |
|---|---|
.png) | |
| Also known as | The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa |
| Genre | |
| Based on | The Lion King |
| Developed by |
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| Voices of | List
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| Theme music composer |
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| Opening theme | "Hakuna Matata" |
| Ending theme | "Hakuna Matata" (instrumental) |
| Composer | Stephen James Taylor |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 85 (171 segments) (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producers |
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| Editor | John Royer |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Network |
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| Release | September 8, 1995 – September 24, 1999 |
| Related | |
Ernie Sabella reprised his role as Pumbaa for the show's entire run, while Nathan Lane only reprised his role as Timon in ten episodes, the last of which being "Paraguay Parable".[3]
The show ran for three seasons, with the first two as part of the syndicated The Disney Afternoon block,[4] CBS, and the third season on Toon Disney. It aired from September 8, 1995, to September 24, 1999. It is notably the first Lion King-related media to feature on-screen appearances by humans, as humans did not appear in the film and the subsequent direct-to-video follow-ups. It is also the first of two television series to be based on the film, the second being The Lion Guard (2016–2019).
Bobs Gannaway and Tony Craig, who would later work on shows like 101 Dalmatians: The Series, House of Mouse, and Lilo & Stitch: The Series, 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 (who have previously worked on DuckTales and The Little Mermaid TV series) serving as the executive producers.
The show stars Timon, a meerkat, and Pumbaa, a warthog, both characters from The Lion King. Taking place after the events of the movie, Timon and Pumbaa continue to live according to the hakuna matata lifestyle, as they venture beyond the Pride Lands in search for wild, wacky adventures.[5][6] From the jungles of Africa to other places around the world, the duo is shown being on various quests and misadventures, either in search for food, fun, valuables, and as well as escape from danger such as predators, encountering various new allies and enemies throughout their journey. Whereas the show focuses on Timon and Pumbaa, four episodes center respectively on Rafiki and the hyena trio Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed, named Rafiki Fables[b] and The Laughing Hyenas, and two episodes are focused on Zazu. Simba makes appearances in some episodes, often accompanying Timon and Pumbaa.[8]
| Season | Segments | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | Network | ||||
| 1 | 26 | 25 | 13 | September 8, 1995 | December 29, 1995 | Syndicated |
| 24 | 12 | September 16, 1995 | December 16, 1995 | CBS | ||
| 2 | 24 | 21 | 13 | September 2, 1996 | November 25, 1996 | Syndicated |
| 16 | 8 | September 14, 1996 | November 9, 1996 | CBS | ||
| 3 | 78 | 39 | January 1, 1999 | September 24, 1999 | Toon Disney | |
The following additional characters from The Lion King appear in this series:
On January 24, 1995, it was announced that a Lion King television series starring Timon and Pumbaa was set to premiere during the fall, as part of The Disney Afternoon.[9][10] Gary Krisel, who was then president of Walt Disney Television Animation, found Timon and Pumbaa to be the best new comedy team to come on the scene for a long time and that they had the potential to be just as classic as Abbott and Costello, Hope and Crosby, Martin and Lewis, and Nichols and May.[10]
Bobs Gannaway and Tony Craig were the supervising producers for the show, and instead of recreating the lush, lyrical tone of the movie weekly, they decided to shape the series in a more Tex Avery-ish vein. Gannaway explained that he and Craig wanted to expand on Timon and Pumbaa's personalities as a comedy team to keep the series fresh and to keep the show interesting, they decided to not have Timon and Pumbaa be locked into the Serengeti, but allow them to explore the world and meet different kinds of animals.[11] According to one of the show's writers Kevin Campbell, at the beginning of the series, he and Gannaway made a giant list of puns using country names to open the doors on how many places they could go. After figuring out which funny animal or obstacle situation Timon and Pumbaa would face, they used a "Which Animals Live Where" atlas reference book to find where in the world an episode could take place and check a list of country puns they could pick.[7]
The show was one of the last Disney productions to air on CBS, which had a cross-promotion agreement with Disney, as Disney bought ABC in 1996, the same year that this show (and all other Disney properties still airing on CBS at the time) left the network. Also, in 1995, Westinghouse acquired CBS outright for $5.4 billion. As one of the major broadcasting group owners of commercial radio and television stations (as Group W) since 1920, Westinghouse proceeded to transform itself from its legendary role as a diversified conglomerate with a strong industrial heritage into a media giant with its purchase of CBS.[citation needed] Music underscore by Stephen James Taylor featuring frequent use of a microtonal xylophone and pan pipes based on an African tribal tuning. [citation needed]
Animation production was done by a consortium of overseas animation studios, including Walt Disney Animation Australia, 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, Golden Key Animation, Project X Animation, Shanghai Morning Sun Animation and Studio B Productions.
The first two seasons of the show aired simultaneously on The Disney Afternoon and CBS, whereas the third and final season aired on Toon Disney. Reruns of the series aired on Disney Channel from 1997 to 2008. Reruns were shown on Toon Disney up until the channel's demise on February 8, 2009. As a result, the show went off the air for three years.
While the show aired on Disney Channel and Toon Disney, certain episodes from its original run were never re-aired or had scenes edited out, likely for content reasons. For example, "Catch Me if You Kenya" originally had a scene with the butterfly collector returning to his tree house from China and threatened Timon and Pumbaa to put them in a collection for releasing the butterflies. That scene was removed from reruns due to his clothing and appearance evoking Asian stereotypes. The scene was eventually reinstated when the show became available on the Disney+ streaming service since its launch on November 12, 2019.[12]
On March 23, 2012, the show returned to television when Disney Junior was launched as its own channel. However, only selected episodes were shown and some episodes were abruptly edited (presumably due to scenes being deemed inappropriate for preschoolers). As of 2014, the show was removed from the channel. In Russia, however, the show continued to air until the channel closed in 2022.
Upon its premiere in the United States, the show was accompanied with a marketing campaign, which include promotional tie-ins with Burger King (the same promotional partner for the original theatrical and home video releases of The Lion King), KFC and Campbell's through its Franco-American brand's SpaghettiOs.[13][14][15]
| Name | Notes |
|---|---|
| "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" | Music video |
| "Yummy Yummy Yummy" | Music video |
| "Stand by Me" | Music video |
| "Alone Together" | From the episode "Once Upon a Timon" |
| "Beethoven's Whiff" | Musical episode |
| "Bumble In The Jungle" | Musical episode |
Six VHS cassettes containing 18 episodes were released in the United States and Canada under the name Timon & Pumbaa's Wild Adventures. Also in the same two North American countries, a double-feature LaserDisc contains the series' first two volumes, Hangin' with Baby and Grub's On.
| VHS name | Season(s) | Episode count | Release date | Episodes include | Stock Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hangin' With Baby[16] | 1 | 3 | January 30, 1996 |
|
6705 |
| Grub's On[17] |
|
6706 | |||
| True Guts[18] |
|
6709 | |||
| Don't Get Mad, Get Happy[19] | May 8, 1996 |
|
6711 | ||
| Live & Learn![20] |
|
7646 | |||
| Quit Buggin' Me[21] |
|
7647 |
Three titles containing 21 episodes were released in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, Asia, the Middle East, South Africa, and South America each containing six episodes and a music video. These three titles were released on VHS, LaserDisc, Video CD and DVD. The first release, 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" (music video episode) "Brazil Nuts" "Truth or Zaire" "Never Everglades" | September 12, 1996 Re-released: 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" (music video episode) | August 15, 1997 Re-released: 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" (music video episode) | August 15, 1997 Re-released: March 14, 2005 |
The series was made available in its entirety on Disney+ since its November 12, 2019 launch, in remastered high definition.[12]
The first two seasons of the show was made available on the DisneyLife streaming service in the United Kingdom.[22]
The entire series is currently available for purchase on Amazon Instant Video in Germany.[23]
The series is available in its entirety on Disney+, where the streaming service is available.
| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Daytime Emmy Awards[24][25] | Outstanding Sound Mixing - Special Class | Melissa Ellis
Jim Hodson Dan Hiland Joseph D. Citarella Bill Koepnick Allen L. Stone |
Nominated |
| Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program | Nathan Lane
|
Won | ||
Ernie Sabella
|
Nominated | |||
| 1997 | Outstanding Individual in Animation | Kexx Singleton
|
Won | |
| Outstanding Sound Mixing - Special Class | Deb Adair
Jim Hodson Melissa Ellis Michael Beiriger Dan Hiland Joseph D. Citarella Allen L. Stone Michael Jiron |
Won | ||
| Outstanding Music Direction and Composition | Stephen James Taylor | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Sound Editing - Special Class | Bill Kean
Thomas A. Harris Fil Brown David Lynch Robbi Smith Brian F. Mars Eric Hertsguaard Kris Daly Michael Warner Phyllis Ginter William Griggs Jennifer Mertens |
Nominated | ||
| Annie Awards[26] | Best Individual Achievement: Storyboarding in a TV Production | Bob Logan
|
Nominated | |
| Best Individual Achievement: Directing in a TV Production | Roberts Gannaway Tony Craig
|
Nominated | ||
| Best Achievement in Production Design | Mike Moon
|
Nominated | ||
Kexx Singleton
|
Nominated | |||
Sy Thomas Tex
|
Nominated | |||
| Best Individual Achievement: Character Animation | Bob Baxter | Nominated | ||
| Humanitas Prize[27] | Children's Animation | Roberts Gannaway
|
Nominated | |
| 2000 | Golden Globe Awards[28] | Best Sound Editing - Television Animated Series - Sound | Jennifer Mertens
Charles Rychwalski Eric Hertsguaard Rick Hammel Kenneth Young David Lynch
|
Nominated |
| Best Sound Editing - Television Animation - Music | Fil Brown Liz Lachman
|
Nominated | ||
| Brian F. Mars Liz Lachman
|
Nominated |
| Game | Publisher | Platform | Release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Timon & Pumbaa's Jungle Games | THQ (SNES) Disney Interactive (PC) |
Super NES Microsoft Windows |
November 1997 (SNES) December 15, 1995 (Windows) |
Some of the show's crew returned for The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, The Lion King 1½, and The Lion Guard. Show writer Ford Riley went on to develop the latter, and has since been a series creator, writer and lyricist on many Disney properties.[29] Kevin Schon, who voiced Timon in the series as of its second season, reprised his role as the character in The Lion Guard (as well as its pilot film), along with some other related media, such as House of Mouse. Edward Hibbert continued to voice Zazu in the two direct-to-video follow-ups to The Lion King.
Much of the show's staff members (including executive producers Tony Craig and Bobs Gannaway) went on to work on House of Mouse and Lilo & Stitch: The Series.
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