It goes without saying that one of the most defining traits of a Disney film is talking animal sidekicks. The first film to feature such a character was Disney’s second full length animated film, Pinocchio, with the iconic insect turned conscience, Jiminy Cricket. While not every Disney film has these types of characters, usually those trying for a more realistic vibe, like Snow White, Pocahontas, Tangled, and Frozen, or at least as realistically as many of these fantastic stories can be.
Often times, as is the case for Sebastian the crab, Scuttle the Seagull, and Flounder the fish in The Little Mermaid, they act as a guide to the character, often giving voice to their concerns for the protagonist like a Greek Chorus. Others like Thumper, Flower, and Faline in Bambie are simply his childhood friends who grow up alongside him and without him his coming off age would feel empty. Archimedes the Owl is the only talking animal in The Sword in the Stone but this is keeping in line with T. H .White’s novel as he acted as an additional counselor alongside Merlin for young Arthur.
As the website Ranker noted in their introduction to their article on the 30 Best Animated Disney Characters,
“As wonderful and inspiring a Disney hero or heroine may be, their tale would not hold up without the assistance of their memorable sidekicks. What makes for the best Disney animated sidekick? Never shy on advice or one-liners, these companion characters provide charisma and humor to what would otherwise just be retellings of old fairytales and Hamlet. Without a sidekick’s help, the Huns would have taken China, Mount Olympus would belong to Hades, and Mowgli would not have survived The Jungle Book.”
However, one film strongly benefits from the presence of these characters. Typically we see the animal sidekicks for the hero early on in the film. However for The Lion King we don’t meet them until at least 30 minutes into the movie after its darkest moment in the form of the meerkat Timon and the warthog Pumbaa.
In an Entertainment Weekly article looking back on the original animated film in anticipation for the live action remake, Lion King co-director Rob Minkoff recalled the uphill battle the crew faced with the studio in terms of the darker elements of the story, especially the death of Mufasa. Unlike other films in the Disney canon, The Lion King is the only one to linger on the dead body. Outside of Batman or Spider-Man few properties loved by kids would have the audacity to show the hero fully undergoing the death of a loved one , complete with a dead body. Naturally the studio executives were worried this could be traumatic for kids in the audience.
This duo comes in when the character and the audience needs to take in a moments breath and settle back down after the gut punch. Further, in keeping with the influence of the Bard, the occur in nearly the same moment in many of the Shakespearian dramas when this seemingly foolish comic relief character would show up. The hero has just had his fortunes reversed and been brought low, and in comes the fool, not only to offer some levity, but some keen insights for hero.
Often times in Shakespeare’s drama the fool sits outside the social class of the protagonist, either as a servant, a close friend and confidant, or as a literal jester. Whether it’s the Nurse and Mercutio in Romeo & Juliet, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and Yorick in Hamlet, Nick Bottom and Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing, Falstaff in Henry IV parts 1 and 2, or the aptly named Fool in King Lear, these characters are some of the most memorable in the respective dramas often having the best monologues and scenes. Further, the comic relief often brings a sense of life and vibrancy to the dramas that would otherwise leave them dry, dull and ponderous affairs.
As Ernie Sabella, the original voice actor for Pumbaa in the animated movie, noted in the Entertainment Weekly article, “The Lion King Stars Look Back On The Making of the Animated Hit”,
“ At one of the screenings out in L.A., Katzenberg was sitting four chairs ahead of me, and at the end of it he said, “You guys saved our [butts].” When Mufasa dies, it’s like Hamlet. Everybody’s dead on the stage. Where do we go now? So along came Pumbaa and Timon.”
The two of them proved to be so popular that during the late 1990s syndicated animation block known as The Disney Afternoon, when more of their shows started to feature the big marquee movie names like Aladdin, Hercules and Tarzan instead of more obscure characters like Uncle Scrooge, or originals like Darkwing Duck and Gargoyles, Lion King’s spin-off was about the misadventures of Timon and Pumba. Further while Aladdin and Tarzan’s small screen adventures were set after the events of the movies Return of Jafar and Tarzan, and Hercules: The TV Show was pretty much the Smallville to Hercules’ Superman: The Movie, Timon and Pumbaa didn’t have any continuity with the story. Audiences would see the two in the US in one episode, Africa in another and in Europe in another, making it more akin to the old Hope and Crosby Road movies. The two were even the mascots for the US Department of Agricultures “Smart yet Satisfying Campaign” urging children to eat school lunches and were even featured in educational video games focused on subjects like typing and math.
Aside from the Genie in Aladdin few, if any Disney sidekicks ever got featured in educational materials. They were fun and funny without being annoying, and they were not as heavily merchandised on the outset as other Disney animal sidekicks. Timon and Pumbaa were an instant hit with kids as they would sing along with Hakuna Matata, or repeat their memorable one-liners. In a movie with such iconic moments it’s a pretty tall order for these two to become such breakout characters.
Much of their appeal with kids and adults came in their classic comedy rapport. A big part of their appeal came in from the performances of voice actors Nathan lane and Ernie Sabella.
As Lion King Producer Don Hahn noted in , “The Lion King Stars Look Back On The Making of the Animated Hit”,
“Nathan and Ernie brought this great stupid-funny thing to it that worked really well. It’s a heavy story, about a lion cub who gets framed for murder, so you need this lightness on the side, and they were able to provide it.”
Thus it comes as no surprised to see the two of them share a slot on many of the Disney sidekick lists, usually coming a slot or two behind the Genie from Aladdin as voiced by Robin Williams. When your top completion is voiced by a comedy legend, then it only stands to reason that your character or characters have that right comedic blend. They may not have the raw improvisational skill as Williams did, but the two of them excel as a classic buddy comedy pair.
Like Laurel and Hardy, Abbot and Costello, Oscar and Felix in The Odd Couple, Threepio in Artoo in Star Wars, or any Muppet characters s voiced by Jim Henson and Frank Oz, they are the classic mismatched duo, with everything from their appearance to their personalities clashing. There is an honest, genuine report that thrives on those idiosyncrasies. Comedy is all about playing with those opposites.
As Lauren Duca and Jessica Goodman noted in A Definitive Ranking of Disney Sidekicks for The Huffington Post,
“Nathan Lane’s Timon is the star here, but what’s any funny guy without his goofy foil of a straight man? Together they form one of the best sets of unlikely animal pals and, of course, we have to thank them for “Hakuna Matata.”
Pumbaa is rotund, and slow-witted, thus leading to his name which in Swahili means “Simpleton”. Long before the Shrek films he was the earliest cartoon character to engage in a fart joke. This makes him the butt of the jokes at his expense, and due to his slow wit, he misses the point of the insults. However, despite this, he probably possesses the bigger heart of the duo.
This is best seen in an episode of the animated series Timon and Pumbaa , “Kenya Be My Friend”. Pumbaa has established a yearly tradition of celebrating the day he and Timon became friends, buying the meerkat a bug juicer. Timon, scrambles to offer a gift, including trying to pass off a hollow rotting log as his gift. When Timon feebly recites a poem he made up on the spot, Pumbaa catches him in the lie and it leads to them temporarily parting ways as Pumbaa feels like he values their friendship more than Timon.
As John Grant notes in The Encyclopedia of Walt Disney Animated Characters,
“Pumbaa seems much more slow witted and frequently comes out with malapropisms ( ‘You gotta put your behind in your past.’) yet one has the impression that in some sort of way, he is actually the more intelligent-that he has to assume himself a fool because egos near another animal (besides Timon and then Simba) it reacts to his noxious odor by heading for the hills.”
This is best seen in his reaction to finding the young cub, Simba, out in the wild. Timon is ready to cut and run, leaving the lion to be food for the same buzzards they just chased off. After all, Simba is a lion cub, which means he’ll only grow up to eat animals like them. However, Pumbaa points out,
“Hey, Timon, it’s just a *little* lion. Look at him. He’s so cute and all alone! Can we keep him? …Maybe he’ll be on our side. “
Later, The Lion King 1 ½ revealed that it was Pumbaa who insisted that he and Timon head to Pride Rock to help Simba reclaim his kingdom. Timon is upset that they left them, and is ready to let their friend go it alone. Pumbaa felt otherwise, pointing out,
“But it’s not really Hakuna Matata without Simba… We gotta go help our friend, Timon.”
In contrast to Pumba’s more slow, yet good hearted nature, is Timon. His name calls back to another Shakespearian play, Tymon of Athens. The only member of the cast without a name in Swahili aside from Scar, in Greek his name means “One who knows”. Timon may certainly act like it, but it is abundantly clear that he is actually more of a know-it-all.
This is best seen when Timon, Pumbaa and Simba are looking at the stars and Pumbaa asks them if they ever wonder what those bright things in the sky were. While Simba gives a more personal and spiritual answer that hints at his longing for his father, and Pumbaa gives the more factual one, of them being balls of gas burning billions of miles away, Timon responds with,
“Pumbaa, I don’t wonder; I know…They’re fireflies. Fireflies that, uh… got stuck up on that big bluish-black thing…Pumbaa, with you, everything’s gas.”
However, what he might lack in knowledge, he more than makes up for it with his fast taking, wise guy attitude worthy of a big city hustler. Timon even notoriously takes credit for any idea Pumbaa comes up with, often to the warthog’s chagrin. As is seen after Pumbaa suggest they take in Simba after they rescue him from the vultures,
“A – huh! That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard. Maybe he’ll b-… Hey, I got it! What he’s on our side? You know, having a lion around might not be such a bad idea.”
Actor Nathan Lane, who voiced the meerkat in the original animated movie, and most of its spin-offs, admitted in “The Real Roar of the Lion King” an interview that was done with the entire cast of the movie that was featured in The Disney Adventures,
“My character, Timon, is more like a used-car salesman. Pumbaa and Timon are the low comedians. Kinda like two guys from Brooklyn who stop in the desert and become lovable cohorts.”
This is something that provides him as a sharp contrast to the aid, guidance and comfort that one of Simba’s influences, Moses from the Bible, received at a similar point in his life. In the story of the Exodus, after Moses fled Egypt he came into the company of the Midianite priest Jethro after saving his daughters from brigands. The animated film, The Prince of Egypt shows fully just how low Moses is at this point. Having met Jethro seeks to his people, referring to Moses as a guest of honor, but Moses doesn’t ‘see it that way, saying he has done nothing worthy of honor.
Jethro tells Moses in Prince of Egypt,
“First, you rescue Tzipporah from Egypt, then you defend my younger daughters from brigands. You think that is nothing? It seems you do not know what is worthy of honor.”
Then during that films musical montage we see as Moses finds love with Zipporah, learns how to be a shepherd and allows his years in exile to shape him into the man who would one day be called by God to free His people. Contrast this with Timon’s advice to Simba.
“Look, kid. Bad things happen, and you can’t do anything about it. Right?…Wrong. When the world turns its back on you, you turn your back on the world.”
Then after Simba tries to protest that this wasn’t what he’d been taught, Timon proceeds to share his philosophy with him. Despite this seemingly selfish personality, Timon does deeply care for his friends, and more importantly he doesn’t want to be alone. Much of this has to do with the events of Lion King 1 and 1 ½ where it is revealed that Timon was actually a social outcast from the meerkat colony due to a propensity for screwing things up. As Meerkats are a notoriously social creature, living in clans numbering ell into the twenties, this would be very painful for him.
Thus, when not only Simba, but Pumbaa leaves him to go join Simba, he initially takes it personally. However, that is when Rafiki appears to help nudge him in the right direction as the old mandrill had urged him to seek his philosophy in the first place. During this, Timon comes to understand, as he tells Rafiki, even imitating him a few times,
“You. No, no, no. Don’t say a word. I know what you’re gonna say…Did you find Hakuna Matata? …Well, yes, I did! Thank you very much! And I am happy… happy, happy, deliriously happy…Ho ho haaah! I see. Happy, is it? So, if you’re so happy, why do you look so miserable?… Miserable, you say? Why should I be miserable? Oh, I don’t know. Maybe my two best pals in the world deserted me. Heh. They’ve… they’ve headed off on some heroic mission. My friends… are gone. …And my Hakuna Matata went with them…Would you mind? …Ay! Thanks! I’m glad we had this talk. “
More importantly, once he’s given that nudge in the right direction, Timon is willing to stand by and help his friends. This is best seen in Lion King when he and Pumbaa arrive at Pride Rock just after Nala mocks Simba’s boyhood boast about laughing in the face of danger. Timon after pointing out that he doesn’t’ see anything funny about their predicament, remarks,
“Aww! We’re gonna fight your uncle for this?…Oy. Talk about your fixer-upper! Well, Simba, if it’s important to you, we’re with you to the end.”
Because of their close friendship with Simba, many critics have been quick to liken them to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This comparison is only furthered by The Lion King 1 and ½ that was even directly influenced by Tom Stoppard’s play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead which retold the story of Hamlet from the perspective of the two side characters.
However, Jonathan Lyons notes in Comedy for Animators,
“These two have are often likened to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, to comic characters who befriend Hamlet. However, those two are false friends to Hamlet. There is another Shakespeare character who influences a wayward prince, and that is Flastaff, friend to prince Hal in the two plays of Henry IV. Falstaff is a fat and cowardly drunkard, but he lives life to the fullest. In those two plays, Prince Hal forsakes his royal duties to hang about with lowlifes, including Flastaff.”
Timon and Pumbaa, like Falstaff represents a part of our humanity we’d like to deny which is what makes them so funny and memorable. As Theodore Darylymple notes in “Why we Love Falstaff” from City Journal,
“Falstaff appeals to us because he holds up a distorting mirror to our weaknesses and makes us laugh at them. Falstaff’s dream is that of half of humanity: of luxurious ease and continual pleasure, untroubled by the necessity to work or to do those things that he would rather not do (Falstaff will do anything for money except work for it). There is luxury in time as well as in material possessions, and no figure lives in greater temporal luxury than Falstaff, to whom the concept of punctuality or a timetable would be anathema. “
If a person is completely honest with themselves, they would love to live a life of relative ease and luxury. Simba certainly thought so, even as a cub, as is evidenced by his song “ I just Can’t Wait to be King”, but Timon and Pumbaa take his existing view of himself and what it means to be king to its logical conclusion. Through them not only is Simba given safety and shelter after his uncle kicks him out of the pride, ha gains through them some necessary survival skills. Further, as Mark Edmundson notes in “Playing the Fool” for The New York Times,
“In Shakespeare, to have a fool attending on you is generally a mark of distinction. It means that you’ve retained some flexibility, can learn things, might change; it means that you’re not quite past hope, even if the path of instruction will be singularly arduous. To be assigned a fool in Shakespeare is often a sign that one is, potentially, wise… If. On Shakespeare’s Fools’ Day, we’d test our capacity to hear the truth, in slant, peculiar and painful forms, and to use it to take a few steps in the general direction of freedom.”
Simba’s friendship with the lowly Timon and Pumbaa is something that sets him apart from his Uncle Scar. To Scar the three hyenas are nothing more then useless henchmen, fit to only do his bidding. Not only does Scar call them idiots, he admits that he never though them so essential to his plan. Later when Simba had exposed of Scar, Scar is quick to throw them under the bus, calling them the enemy.
Simba, however, genuinely sees Timon and Pumbaa as his friends, even telling Nala after her first encounter with them that she’ll learn to love them. Seeing as he’s willing to try and talk Nala out of helping him fight Scar, he’d also be willing to do with same for Timon and Pumbaa. Later, after he’s king, the two of them retain a place as his advisors, going on to become honorary uncles to his children.
It’s a position that they take very seriously. In Lion King 2, when he asks them t look after his daughter Kiara, they follow her closely and when it looks like Pumbaa accidently squished her, Timon nervously practices their explanation, saying,
“Let’s see…Gee, Simba, the good news is we found your daughter…The bad news is we dropped a warthog on her. Is there a problem with that?”
After getting Pumbaa off of her, they go through a list of possible injuries, including a hangnail to see if she’s ok. Much of their shenanigans are cut down in the second film as it focuses mainly on the romance between Kiara and Kovu, but the two fight alongside Simba and his pride against the Outlanders when it becomes necessary. Simba and his pride have become part of their family, and they will do what they can to help themThus, Simba is willing to do anything for them in turn. This is best seen in the Christmas episode of The Lion Guard when their son Kion and his friends go around the Serengeti , trying to gather friends and objects to reenact the 12 Ways of Christmas for Timon and Pumbaa in hopes of getting Santa to visit them. Simba is initially reluctant as it requires the lions to leap around, and it seems embarrassing.
Nala reminds him,
“Just think of all they’ve done for you over the years, Simba. And besides, you might enjoy yourself.”
And sure enough, as undignified as it may be, not only does Simba take part in the song, he manages to enjoy himself. This is something Timon and Pumbaa continually bring to Simba and his family. With them there is a carefree sense of fun and spontaneity they’d otherwise be lacking. The whole story , like the bard’s immortal dramas would be boring, depressing, and dreary affair without them as they serve an essential literary role. Further, for good or ill, they paved the way for the litany of animated sidekicks, not only in Disney films but from other studios as well.
As Geeks.com noted in Best Comic Relief Characters,
“The Lion King is the epitome of the three act structure. The beginning is known for its innovative use of rousing African tribal music and delivering one of the most surprising deaths in cinema and the end is a satisfying conclusion to the long character arc of Simba, both in how he aged and thematically, but many would forget about the second act of The Lion King if it weren’t for Timon and Pumbaa. After Simba is exiled, he finds himself in the jungle where he meets these two interesting characters. Their ideology, embodied by perhaps the most famous song from the film, “Hakuna Matata,” is to live life day by day and enjoy every second of it. Not only do these two prove to be the comedic foil in a relatively dark plot, but they have proven to be fan favorites as time went on. Their song and ideology has stuck with many a young fan of the animated classic, and I doubt they’ll be forgotten any time soon. “
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Admin. “The Best Disney Animated Movie Sidekickes.” Ranker.com.https://www.ranker.com/list/disney-
animated-movie-sidekicks/ranker-characters
“Best Comic Relief Characters.” Geeks, Jerrick Ventures, LLC., 16 Aug. 2016, geeks.media/best-comic-relief-characters.
Dalrymple, Theodore. “Why We Love Falstaff.” City Journal, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research,
Inc., 4 May 2016, http://www.city-journal.org/html/why-we-love-falstaff-13752.html.
Duca, Lauren, and Jessica Goodman. “A Definitive Ranking Of Disney Sidekicks.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 7 Dec. 2017, www.huffpost.com/entry/disney-sidekicks_n_5085158.
Edmundson, Mark. “Playing the Fool.” The New York Times, The New York Times Company, 2 Apr. 2000, movies2.nytimes.com/books/00/04/02/bookend/bookend.html.
Holub, Christian. “’The Lion King’ Stars Look Back on the Making of the Animated Hit.” EW.com, Meredith Corperation, 2 Apr. 2018, ew.com/movies/2018/04/02/disney-lion-king-timon-pumbaa-simba/.
“Kenya Be My Friend?” The Lion King’s Timon and Pumbaa. By Roberts Gannaway. Dir. Tony Craig and
Roberts Gannaway. September 15, 1995. KMSP-9.
The Lion King. Dirs. Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. By Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, Linda Wolverton,
et. all. Perf. Matthew Broderick, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones, Moira Kelly, Niketa Calame, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Robert Guillaume, Rowan Atkinson, Madge Sinclair, Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, and Jim Cummings. Walt Disney Studios. 1994. DVD
The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride. Dirs. Darrell Rooney and Rob LaDuca. By Flip Kobler and Cindy Marcus.
Perf: Matthew Broderick, Neve Campbel, Jason Marsden, Moira Kelly, James Earl Jones, Suzanne Plashette, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Robert Gullaime, Edward Hibbert, Andy Dick, and Jim Cummings. Walt Disney Studios. 1998. DVD.
The Lion King 1 ½. Dir. Bradley Raymond. By George A. Mendoza. Perf. Nathan Lane, Ernie
Sabella, Matthew Broderick, Julie Kavner, Jerry Stiller, Moira Kelly, Whoppi Goldberg,
Cheech Marin, Jim Cummings, , Robert Guillaume, and Edward Hibbert. Walt Disney
Studios. 2004. DVD.
Lyons, Jonathan. Comedy for Animators. CRC Press: Baton Rouge, FL. 2015.
The Prince of Egypt. Dir. Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, and Simon Wells. By Philip LaZebnik
and Nicholas Meyer. Perf: Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pheiffer, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover, Patrick Stewart, Helen Mirren, Steve Martin and Martin Short.
DreamWorks Pictures . 1998. DVD.
“The Real Roar of the Lion King”. Disney Adventures. July 1998.
“Timon and Pumbaa’s Christmas.” The Lion Guard. By Ford Riley, John Loy, Krista Tucker.
Dir. Howy Parkins. Dec. 8, 2017. The Disney Channel.
Photo Credit:
1994. Walt Disney Studios/Touchstone Pictures.
Disclaimer:
This Blog is not authorized, endorsed, or approved by Walt Disney Studios, or any other entities any other parties involved in the creation, development, and ownership of The Lion King The views and opinions in this blog are strictly those of its author, and do not reflect the views or ownership of the respected owners of The Lion Ki
Jonathon D. Svendsen 