The Lion King 1½

The Lion King 1½

DVD cover
Directed by Bradley Raymond
Produced by George A. Mendoza
Screenplay by Tom Rogers
Based on The Lion King by Walt Disney Feature Animation
The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa by Walt Disney Television
Starring
Music by Don Harper
Edited by Joyce Arrastia
Production
company
Distributed by Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Release date
  • June 10, 2004 (2004-06-10)
Running time
 77 minutes
Country United States
Language English

The Lion King 1½ (known as The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata outside of North America) is a 2004 American direct-to-video animated comedy film produced by DisneyToon Studios and released by Walt Disney Home Entertainment on June 10, 2004.[1][2] The film was also theatrically released internationally and in selected cities in the United States. It's the third film in the Lion King media franchise. The film focuses on the meerkat/warthog duo Timon and Pumbaa and their escapades taking place before, during and after the events of The Lion King. Much of the original cast from the first film returns in this film to reprise their roles, including Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella as Timon and Pumbaa, respectively. New additions to the cast include Julie Kavner as Timon's mother, Ma, and Jerry Stiller as his uncle, Uncle Max.

The Lion King 1½ was released on Blu-ray in The Lion King trilogy box set on October 4, 2011, and was released for individual sale on March 6, 2012 alongside The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. The Blu-ray and DVD releases, along with the previous sequel and the Diamond Edition release of the first film, were removed from release on April 30, 2013.[3]

Plot

The film's told through the perspective of Timon and Pumbaa through the literary device known as a frame story. The two're shown in silhouette form watching the original film. Timon interrupts the film to fast-forward to his scenes, but Pumbaa's protest prompts Timon to share his backstory.

Timon's a social outcast in his meerkat colony on the outskirts of the Pride Lands. While unconditionally supported by his mother, Ma, Timon dreams for more in life than his colony's bleak existence hiding from predators. Uncle Max's nearly eaten by hyenas Shenzi, Banzai and Ed due to Timon's day dreaming. This becomes the last straw for the colony, prompting Timon to leave to find a better life. He meets the mandrill, Rafiki, who advises him to find his place in the world via "Hakuna Matata" and to "look beyond what you see". Timon takes this saying literally and observes Pride Rock in the distance. Believing Pride Rock to be his paradise home, Timon ventures to the rock and encounters Pumbaa the Warthog on his way. The two quickly form a bond and Pumbaa accompanies Timon.

The pair arrive at Pride Rock during the presentation of the new prince to the Pridelands' animals (to Timon's annoyance, believing the crowd to be a long line to claim Pride Rock as real estate). Timon then "looks beyond" pride rock to find a small cove near a pond. To Pumbaa's reluctance, the pair cut through the crowd, but Pumbaa nervously claims he doesn't "do so well in crowds". Pumbaa explosively passes gas, causing nearby animals to faint but prompting animals further away to bow to Simba (Circle of Life). The pair make a home at the cove near the pond, but they're awakened one morning to the sounds of Simba singing "I Just Can't Wait to Be King." The pair leave due to the "noisy neighbors", and find a new home at the Elephant Graveyard. They're scared away from there after witnessing Mufasa fight the Hyenas, and Timon decides to make a home in a glowing green cave. Scar's rendition of "Be Prepared." scares the pair off again, and Timon then chooses to find a home in a hot gorge. The pair are then chased by the Wildebeest Stampede (that results in Mufasa's death in the original film), but miraculously survive albeit being thrown off a waterfall.

Exhausted from their adventure, Timon decides to give up, until Pumbaa (who was talking about a magical place that raised skepticism from Timon) turns Timon's head to a luxurious green jungle. The pair finally settle there with the philosophy of "Hakuna Matata". During their time there, they encounter a homeless lion cub named Simba in a nearby desert, nearly dead. The pair rescue young Simba and decide to raise him under their philosophy. Scenes're shown of Simba's chaotic upbringing from a hyperactive and affectionate young cub, to an ambitious and egotistical adolescent, to a laid-back and content young adult.

Years later, Nala appears after chasing Pumbaa and reunites with Simba. Believing "Hakuna Matata" to be in jeopardy, Timon and Pumbaa attempt to sabotage their dates, but fail (Can You Feel the Love Tonight). After witnessing Simba and Nala's off-screen argument, Simba disappears, to Timon's horror. Nala and Rafiki explain that he had run off to challenge Scar, and need their help. After Nala leaves to follow Simba, Timon, who's hurt that Simba had left them, unsuccessfully tries to persuade Pumbaa to stay, believing he has everything he wants in the jungle. Pumbaa leaves to follow Simba, and loneliness starts to overcome Timon. Rafiki appears again and helps Timon realize that his true Hakuna Matata's with the ones he loves, prompting Timon to take off after Simba, Nala, and Pumbaa.

Timon catches up and reconciles with Pumbaa, before then journeying on to Pride Rock. After helping Simba and Nala with a distraction (the "luau" dance), Timon and Pumbaa evade the hyenas and run into Ma and Uncle Max who came looking for Timon (after Ma met Rafiki earlier in the film). Timon proposes that they help Simba by getting rid of the hyenas. Whilst Simba battles Scar, Ma and Uncle Max are directed to construct a series of tunnels beneath them, and Timon and Pumbaa use various tactics to distract the hyenas while the tunnel is being made. When the tunnels are finished, Max quickly knocks down the sticks, breaking the ground under the hyenas. However, the last few get stuck and the plan fails. Cornered once again by the hyenas, Timon bravely dives underground and breaks the remaining sticks, completing the cave in, and causing the hyenas to be ejected through the tunnels. Immediately afterwards, Scar's thrown off the top of Pride Rock by Simba.

Simba accepts his place as king of the Pride Lands, thanking Timon and Pumbaa for helping him. Timon takes Ma, Uncle Max and the meerkat colony to live in the predator-free jungle to complete his "Hakuna Matata." Pumbaa and Simba celebrate with the meerkats, who praise Timon as their hero. In the final scene of the film, Ma, Uncle Max, Simba, Rafiki and many other silhouetted Disney character cameos such as Mickey, the Seven Dwarfs, Mad Hatter, and others, join Timon and Pumbaa to re-watch the film in the cinema. As the film fades to black, Pumbaa reminds Timon that he still doesn't do so well in crowds.

Voice cast

Additionally, Jason Rudofsky voices Flinchy, an unseen meerkat who is a member in Timon's colony, and Iron Joe appears as a meerkat who served as the colony's sentry before Timon took over his post. Characters appearing from the first film includes Mufasa, Scar, and Sarabi, who make non-speaking brief appearances in the film. Cherie Christmas and Mary Beth Roe appear on a footage of the QVC shopping channel when Pumbaa was sitting on a remote as they were are selling a suede handbag before he switches back to the film. Though Christmas and Beth Roe were uncredited.

Cameos

The following Disney characters all make cameo appearances at the end of the film as silhouettes alongside Timon and Pumbaa, as well as Timon's Mother, Uncle Max, Simba and Rafiki:

Most of the silhouetted characters are voiced by various actors and actresses including Bill Farmer as Goofy and Sleepy, Tony Anselmo as Donald Duck, Carolyn Gardner as Snow White, Jeff Bennett as Bashful, Bob Joles as Sneezy, Kevin Schon as Happy, Cummings as Doc, though uncredited, Corey Burton as Grumpy, Chris Sanders as Stitch, Blayne Weaver as Peter Pan and Shaun Fleming as The Lost Boys. The rest of additional voices are provided by Del Roy, Cam Clarke, Alex Manugian and Andrea Wolfson.

Production

In April 2000, it was announced that the Walt Disney Company selected Jeff Ahlholm, Colin Goldman, and Tom Rogers to write the script for The Lion King 3. It was scheduled to arrive in video stores sometime in 2001.[4] In May 2003, The Lion King 1½ was scheduled for home video release in mid-spring 2004 with Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, and Matthew Broderick reprising their original roles, and Elton John and Tim Rice returning to compose a new song, "Meerkat Rhapsody".[5]

The film was animated by Walt Disney Animation Australia studio in Sydney, Sparx and Spaff Animation.

Release

Upon its initial home video release, The Lion King 1½ was accompanied by with a marketing campaign tie-in with McDonald's with six Happy Meal toys including Simba, Rafiki, Timon, Pumbaa, Mufasa and Ed.[6]

In May 2003, the DVD edition was confirmed to include music videos, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes views of how the movie was made, and two featurettes: Timon -- The Early Years; a mockumentary tracing Timon's childhood through tongue-in-cheek interviews with family and friends; and Disney's Funniest Moments, highlighting Disney animated characters from the Seven Dwarfs to Brother Bear. Two games are also featured, including a virtual safari backlot tour through the Pride Lands and a Lion King trivia game in the format of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, titled Who Wants to Be King of the Jungle?, and hosted by Meredith Vieira, then-host of the current U.S. syndicated version.[5]

On the first day, the film sold 1.5 million units of home media,[7] and in the first three days, the film generated about $55 million, selling 3.1 million copies, with DVDs accounting for 2.5 million units.[8] By September 2, 2004, six million DVD and VHS units was sold in North America.[9] A DVD boxed set of the three Lion King films (in two-disc Special Edition formats) was released on December 6, 2004. In January 2005, the film, along with the sequels, went back into moratorium.[10]

The Lion King 1½ was first released on Blu-ray in an eight-disc box set trilogy set on October 4, 2011.[11] It received its separate Blu-ray release on March 6, 2012, just like The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. It was produced in two different packages, a 2-disc version with Blu-ray and DVD, and a DVD edition.[12]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 76% approval rating based on 17 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10.[13]

Frank Lovece of TV Guide gave the film 3½ stars out of 4 stating that "This retelling of The Lion King (1994) from the point of view of comic sidekicks Timon (voice of Nathan Lane) and Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella) is one of the rare Disney direct-to-video sequels worthy of the original." He went on to say that 'the only aspect of the film that feels forced is the revisionist positioning of Timon as young Simba's step-dad, which has no emotional echo in the first film. The quality of the animation is surprisingly impressive; some static backgrounds are the primary concession to a small-screen budget and the fluid character movements and expressions are vastly superior to those of, say, The Lion King's Timon and Pumbaa TV cartoon series.'"[14] Joe Leydon of Variety gave the film a positive review writing "toddlers and preschoolers will be equally enchanted and amused by colorful toon shenanigans."[15] Los Angeles Times article writer Susan King wrote that "Because Disney's made-for-video sequels to their classic animated films have been mediocre at best, expectations for this new sequel to the mouse house's 1994 blockbuster were slim. But thanks to a clever story line, snappy dialogue that kids and adults will enjoy, a couple of decent new songs and the return of the original voice actors, Lion King 1 1/2 is an irreverent gas."[16]

Many reviewers have suggested that the film was influenced by the Tom Stoppard play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, which follows Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two minor characters from Shakespeare's play Hamlet, and details their experiences taking place during the same time as the events of Hamlet, similar to what the film does with its predecessor (which, in itself, was largely inspired by the story of Hamlet).[15][17][18][19]

Soundtrack

The Lion King 1½: Songs From Timon and Pumbaa's Hilarious Adventure
Soundtrack album by Various Artists
Released June 14, 2004
Genre R&B, Pop, world, soundtrack
Length 22:52
Label Walt Disney

The film's soundtrack album contains 2 original songs; "Diggah Tunnah Dance," written by Lebo M., who helped write many of the songs for the original film, and "That's All I Need," written by Elton John and Tim Rice, who also worked on the first film. The latter song, which's performed by Nathan Lane in the film, is largely based on a cut song from The Lion King titled "The Warthog Rhapsody," with which it shares a similar melody. The film features the song Hakuna Matata from the first film, which's featured both as the original soundtrack recording in the soundtrack album and in the film as a new cover performed by Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella. The soundtrack also consists of various covers of pop songs, such as Hugh Masekela's Grazing in the Grass performed by Raven-Symoné, Kool and the Gang's Jungle Boogie performed by Drew K. and The French, and The Lion Sleeps Tonight (which appears briefly in the original film as well) performed by Lebo M. and Vinx. Other songs featured in the film that aren't in the soundtrack include the song "Sunrise, Sunset" from the musical Fiddler on the Roof and the eponymous theme song from the television show Peter Gunn composed by Henry Mancini. The film contains original score composed by Don Harper, and also features the instrumental theme "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" composed by Ennio Morricone. [20]

Track Listing

No.TitleArtistLength
1.""Grazing in the Grass""Raven-Symoné2:59
2.""Diggah Tunnah Dance""Lebo M. and Vinx3:53
3.""That's All I Need""Nathan Lane2:29
4.""Hakuna Matata""Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Jason Weaver and Joeseph Williams3:33
5.""The Lion Sleeps Tonight""Lebo M.3:35
6.""Jungle Boogie""Drew K. and The French3:20
7.""Timon's Traveling Theme""Don L. Harper1:20
8.""The Good, the Bad and the Ugly""Ennio Morricone1:43
Total length:22:52

Awards

Video game

A video game based on the film was published in 2003 for the Game Boy Advance, featuring Timon and Pumbaa as the playable characters.[21][22]

References

  1. ↑ "Disney DVD and Video Newsletter - The Lion King 1½" On DVD And Video February 10". Disney. February 2004. Archived from the original on August 14, 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
  2. ↑ Ball, Ryan (February 10, 2004). "Lion King 1 1/2 Continues Circle of Life". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on March 4, 2017. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  3. ↑ "The Lion King 1 1/2".
  4. ↑ Lyons, Charles (April 12, 2001). "Disney taps cubs to pen direct-to-vid 'Lion King 3′". Variety. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  5. 1 2 Villa, Joan (May 9, 2003). "Dis fills 'Lion' gaps with '1 1/2'" (Fee required). The Hollywood Reporter. High Beam. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  6. ↑ DeMott, Matt (June 10, 2004). "McDonald's Happy Meals Feature Lion King 1 1/2 Toys". Animation World Magazine. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  7. ↑ Ball, Ryan (February 12, 2004). "Lion King 1 1/2 Sells 1 1/2 Million". Animation Magazine. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  8. ↑ Herrick, Scott (June 15, 2004). "'Lion' sequel DVD roaring". Variety. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  9. ↑ Ball, Ryan (March 2, 2004). "Lion King 1 1/2 Tops 2004 Sales". Animation Magazine. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Out of Print Disney DVDs". UltimateDisney.com.
  11. ↑ "Audiences to Experience Disney's "The Lion King" Like Never Before". PR News Wire. May 26, 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2011.
  12. ↑ Lui, Ed. "Lion King 1 1/2" and "Lion King 2" Coming to Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital on March 6, 2012". Toon Zone.
  13. ↑ "The Lion King 1½ Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  14. ↑ "The Lion King 1 1/2".
  15. 1 2 Leydon, Joe (February 10, 2004). "Review: 'The Lion King 1½'". Variety. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  16. ↑ King, Susan (June 12, 2004). "Rip-roaring 'Lion' retelling". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  17. ↑ Churnin, Nancy (February 17, 2004). "Catch the `King' when he was a cub.". Dallas Morning News.
  18. ↑ Willman, Chris. "The Lion King 1½.". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved February 20, 2004.
  19. ↑ The Lion King 1½. VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever
  20. ↑ "Lion King 1 1/2 Original Soundtrack". AllMusic. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  21. ↑ "The Lion King 1½ Game Boy Advance info/review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on August 8, 2009. Retrieved August 7, 2008.
  22. ↑ Disney Interactive (October 7, 2003). "Kids Play inside the World of Hakuna Matata with ``Disney's The Lion King 1 1/2 for Game Boy Advance and ``Disney's The Lion King PC Game Collection". Business Wire. Archived from the original on March 4, 2017. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
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