The Lion King 1½
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| The Lion King 1½ | |
|---|---|
| Image:Lion king 1 half cover.jpg The Lion King 1½ DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Bradley Raymond |
| Produced by | George A. Mendoza |
| Written by | Tom Rogers Roger Allers |
| Starring | Nathan Lane Ernie Sabella Julie Kavner Matthew Broderick |
| Music by | Johnny Clegg Don Harper Lebo M Ennio Morricone |
| Editing by | Joyce Arrastia |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista DisneyToon Studios |
| Release date(s) | February 10, 2004 |
| Running time | 77 min |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998) |
| IMDb profile | |
The Lion King 1½ (or The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata, as it is called in some countries) is a spinoff of Walt Disney's popular movie chain The Lion King. This animated film, is a part prequel/part midquel (or "in-between-quel" according to the film's teaser trailer).The movie focuses on the meerkat/warthog duo Timon and Pumbaa before they met the lion Simba, and how Simba lived with them.
This feature was released directly to home video on February 10, 2004.
Most memorable are Mystery Science Theater 3000-like moments where the characters comment on the original film's proceedings.
As the original 1994 film was based partially on the Shakespeare play Hamlet, and its direct-to-video sequel The Lion King II: Simba's Pride was partially based on Romeo & Juliet, this movie is highly suspected to be inspired by Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, a play that created a humorous back story for two minor characters in Hamlet.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Timon lived in a meerkat mob far away from Pride Rock. He was one of the worst diggers underground giving him titles from his other meerkats such as "Tunnel Klutz". He was also the target of comments like "Who else can break a hole?" While his mother has always been sympathetic and encouraging of Timon, his Uncle Max is more skeptical and embarrassed by his nephew. His father is not mentioned at all in the film, but did appear in a deleted scene; a sort of flashback. Timon's mother convinces Uncle Max to give Timon a job as sentry. The job results in disaster when Uncle Max narrowly escapes being eaten by the three hyenas Shenzi, Banzai and Ed. Timon loses the little respect of his mob he has and leaves, hoping to find his place in the world. On his journey Timon meets Rafiki who tells Timon that he seeks "Hakuna Matata", and tells him to "look beyond what you see". Timon mistakes Rafiki's words of wisdom as an actual place located at Pride Rock. Along the way, Timon and Pumbaa meet for the first time. Unfortunately, Timon was scared of predators which made Timon and Pumbaa scream loudly when they bump into each other. They become acquainted with each other and head off toward Pride Rock together.
The adventures of Timon and Pumbaa begin to coincide with the events of The Lion King at this point. They arrive a Pride Rock, but to their dismay a herd of animals were already there, causing Timon to believe that Rafiki told everyone about Pride Rock. When Timon and Pumbaa walk through the herd of animals witnessing the presentation of the new-born Simba, Pumbaa becomes a victim of his flatulence problem, and the terrible smell causes a few animals to collapse. The animals at the front see this and believe that the fallen animals are bowing, and soon they all bow together too. Timon and Pumbaa continue their journey and find a new home at the watering hole (the same one that Zazu would later take Simba and Nala to). One morning, they are disturbed by some noise from outside, which is actually Simba, Nala, and the animals singing "I Just Can't Wait to be King". Timon, believing that their new home is at a "theater district", gets mad and hits the leg of an elephant supporting the tower of animals. The elephant jumps in surprise and causes the tower to collapse, explaining why it collapsed in the original film. Timon and Pumbaa's home is ruined by this event and they set off to find another home. On the way, Pumbaa repeatedly attempts to talk about a large, luscious empty jungle that he once saw, but Timon ignores him. They travel to the elephant graveyard and witness Mufasa saving the cubs from the hyenas. That night, going further into the graveyard, they witness an army of hyenas marching to "Be Prepared", and the duo run away by Irish stepdancing due to a comment they've made about Riverdance. Later, they end up in the gorge only to encounter a wildebeest stampede, which is the same one from the original film where Simba loses his father. In the midst of it all they fall down a waterfall. On dry land, Pumbaa explains his story, saying he had nowhere to call home, and Timon is so touched that he officially declares each other friends. The wake up the next morning and find themselves before the very same jungle that Pumbaa saw in which they make their new home. Later they find Simba and the film shows us some of their life in the jungle throughout the years.
As an adult, Simba re-encounters his childhood friend Nala, and Timon and Pumbaa try everything to stop Simba from falling in love with her. This has disastrous results, although explaining a few things not touched in the original film: Simba and Nala fell off the cliff because Timon and Pumbaa tripped them with a vine; and Timon and Pumbaa re-appear at the end of the Can You Feel The Love Tonight sequence at another place because they were running around trying to interfere with the lions during the song. Although they fail, they are happy when they notice Simba arguing with Nala and running off to the grasslands. They go back to sleep, mistaking Mufasa's ghost appearing in the clouds as bad weather. However, in the morning, they realize that Simba has returned home to challenge Scar. Pumbaa follows after Nala, leaving Timon alone. Rafiki appears before Timon but before he can say anything, Timon realizes that his "Hakuna Matata" is all about his friends, not his home. Timon catches up with Pumbaa and together they head to Pride Rock.
There, Timon re-encounters his mother and Uncle Max for the first time since he left the colony. They battle the hyenas while Simba fights with Scar. Thanks to Timon's quick thinking, the hyenas roll down a tunnel just in time to meet Scar after he is thrown from Pride Rock by Simba. This seems to be an error, as in the original film the hyenas attacked Scar because they heard him telling Simba that the whole plot was their fault and idea. But they can not have heard it, as they were chasing Timon.
After the defeat of Scar, Simba becomes the king and Timon tells his mother that he found his place but something is still missing – his family. In the end Timon and Pumbaa return to their jungle paradise, bringing Timon's entire meerkat colony with them. The meerkats now have a safe, work-free place to call home and Timon is hailed a hero.
In a frame story which starts at the very beginning of the movie, Timon and Pumbaa are watching the opening act of the original movie in a dark theater when Timon suddenly uses a remote control to fast forward to where they appear in the movie. Pumbaa argues that the movie shouldn't go out of order and attempts to rewind the movie back to the beginning. Timon and Pumbaa start fighting over control of the movie until they agree that the movie should tell their side of the story. Throughout the rest of the movie, it is occasionally interrupted to have Timon and Pumbaa comment on whatever is happening. At one point, Pumbaa interrupts the movie to go get some snacks, leaving Timon to wait quite a long time for Pumbaa to return. In another sequence, Timon and Pumbaa attempt to turn the Hakuna Matata song into a karaoke sequence that is briefly interrupted when Pumbaa tries to eat the bouncing bug. When the movie is over, Pumbaa says he wants to watch it again, but Timon refuses to. However, Timon's mother walks up and discovers that Timon and Pumbaa had been watching the movie without her. She rewinds the movie and calls Uncle Max over to watch it with them. Simba and Rafiki then arrive and request to watch the movie as well. All of a sudden, Mickey Mouse shows up, and they are then joined by numerous other Disney characters. Timon gives up and begins to play the movie again, resuming play at the Walt Disney logo. Right before the credits roll, Pumbaa says he's still not used to crowds.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Main Characters
- Timon, voiced by Nathan Lane, is a meerkat who doesn't fit in with his colony.
- Pumbaa, voiced by Ernie Sabella, is a lonely warthog who befriends Timon.
- Simba, voiced by Matt Weinberg as a cub and Matthew Broderick as an adult, is the rightful lion king of the Pride Lands who becomes best friends with Timon and Pumbaa.
- Ma, voiced by Julie Kavner, is Timon's caring mother.
- Uncle Max, voiced by Jerry Stiller, is a close relative of Timon and Ma's.
- Rafiki, voiced by Robert Guillaume, is a wise shaman mandrill who tells Timon about the Hakuna Matata ("no worries") philosophy.
- Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, voiced by Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin and Jim Cummings respectively, are a trio of hyenas who attack Timon's colony early in the film. They are later thwarted by Timon during the battle of Pride Rock.
- Nala, voiced by Moira Kelly, is Simba's childhood friend. She and Simba soon fall in love, to Timon and Pumbaa's disgust.
- Zazu, voiced by Edward Hibbert, is a hornbill who acts as the king's majordomo.
Mufasa, Scar and Sarabi also appear briefly in the film, but did not speak.
[edit] Other Disney Characters
- Mickey Mouse, voiced by Wayne Allwine, is a mouse who comes to see the movie.
- Snow White, voiced by Carolyn Gardner is a princess who comes to see the movie.
- Grumpy, voiced by Corey Burton is a dwarf who comes to see the movie.
- Sneezy, voiced by Bob Joles is a dwarf who comes to see the movie.
- Happy, voiced by Kevin Schon is a dwarf who comes to see the movie.
- Goofy, voiced by Bill Farmer is a dog who comes to see the movie.
- Stitch, voiced by Chris Sanders is an alien who comes to see the movie.
- Donald Duck, voiced by Tony Anselmo is a duck who comes to see the movie.
- Peter Pan, voiced by Blayne Weaver is a boy who wouldn't grow up who comes to see the movie.
[edit] Awards
The Lion King 1½ won the following awards:
- 2005 Annie Award for "Best Home Entertainment Production"
- 2005 DVD Exclusive Awards in the following categories:
- Best Animated Character Performance (Nathan Lane - voice, Alexis Stadermann - animator) for "Timon"
- Best Animated DVD Premiere Movie
- Best Director (of a DVD Premiere Movie) - Bradley Raymond
- Best Editing (of a DVD Premiere Movie) - Joyce Arrastia
- Best Screenplay (for a DVD Premiere Movie) - Tom Rogers
Additionally, the film was nominated for a "Best DVD Release" Saturn Award, a "Music in an Animated Feature Production" Annie Award and six additional DVD Exclusive Awards.
[edit] Reception
- The film got a 77% on Rotten Tomatoes deeming it "Fresh", and is one of the few Disney direct-to-video movies that was critically acclaimed.
[edit] Other media
- A videogame version of the movie was released for the Game Boy Advance system. It was published by THQ under license from Disney Interactive, and developed by Vicarious Visions.
[edit] External links
The Lion King | |
|---|---|
| Films | The Lion King · The Lion King 1½ · The Lion King II: Simba's Pride |
| Characters | Simba · Mufasa · Nala · Rafiki · Scar · Shenzi, Banzai and Ed · Timon and Pumbaa · Zazu · Others |
| Songs | "Circle of Life" · "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" · "Be Prepared" · "Hakuna Matata" · "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" · "He Lives in You · "We are One" |
| Books | The Brightest Star · Friends In Need · Six New Adventures |
| Games | The Lion King · Timon & Pumbaa's Jungle Games · The Lion King: Simba's Mighty Adventure |
| Park attractions | Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable · Festival of the Lion King · The Lion King Celebration |
| Soundtracks | Original motion picture soundtrack · Rhythm of the Pride Lands · Festival of the Lion King soundtrack |
| Other media | The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa · Broadway musical |
| Misc. | Kings of the Pride Lands |
| See also | "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" · Kingdom Hearts II · Kimba the White Lion controversy |
de:Der König der Löwen 3 – Hakuna Matata fr:Le Roi Lion 3 : Hakuna Matata it:Il Re Leone 3: Hakuna Matata nl:De Leeuwenkoning III no:Løvenes konge 3 – Hakuna Matata pt:The Lion King 1½ ru:Король-лев 3: Хакуна матата fi:Leijonakuningas 3 – Hakuna Matata sv:Lejonkungen 3 - Hakuna Matata zh:狮子王3: Hakuna Matata
