| The Lion King 1½ | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Bradley Raymond |
| Screenplay by | Tom Rogers |
| Based on | |
| Produced by | George A. Mendoza |
| Starring | |
| Edited by | Joyce Arrastia |
| Music by | Don L. Harper |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Home Entertainment[a] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 83 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States[1] |
| Language | English |
The Lion King 1½ (known internationally asThe Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata) is a 2004 American animated direct-to-videomusicalcomedy film directed byBradley Raymond, produced byDisneytoon Studios and released on February 10, 2004. The third and final installment in theLion King trilogy, the film is both aprequel andsidequel toThe Lion King (1994), focusing on the supporting charactersTimon and Pumbaa. A majority of the voice cast from the first film returns to reprise their roles, includingNathan Lane andErnie Sabella as the voices of Timon and Pumbaa, respectively. The film's structure is inspired byTom Stoppard'sRosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, a tragicomedy that tells the story ofHamlet from the point of view oftwo minor characters.The Lion King 1½ received generally positive reviews from critics.
In a home theaterTimon and Pumbaa watches theopening act of thefirst film until Timon fast forwards to theHakuna Matata scene where they appear. However, Pumbaa rewinds the film to the beginning so as not to confuse the audience. Timon decides to tell the story about how he and Pumbaa met and learned Hakuna Matata, which Pumbaa agrees to. They rewind the film to back before the beginning as their own story begins.
Themeerkat Timon lives in his colony on the outskirts of the Pride Lands with hisMa andUncle Max but is an outcast to the meerkats. One day, while assigned as a lookout forhyenas, his daydreaming of a better life leads to a hyena attack, prompting Timon to leave the colony after deciding that he will never fit in. During his journey, he meets themandrillRafiki, who teaches him the philosophy of "Hakuna Matata" and advises him to "look beyond what you see." Timon takes this advice literally, and, observes Pride Rock in the distance, sets out in that direction. Later, Timon encounters the warthog Pumbaa.
The pair arrive at Pride Rock during the presentation ofSimba to the animals of the Pride Lands, and as they make their way through the crowd, Pumbaa passes gas from hisagoraphobia, causing the nearby animals to faint and prompting animals further away to bow to Simba. Attempting to find their perfect home, the pair witness the dramatic ending of "I Just Can't Wait to Be King", the chase through the Elephant Graveyard, the hyena march scene of "Be Prepared", and the wildebeest stampede that kills Mufasa. Escaping the stampede, the pair are sent down a river and over a waterfall. Exhausted, Timon suggests giving up and going home. Pumbaa admits that he does not have a home, and the pair realize they are each other's only friends. They discover that the river has deposited them in a lush green jungle that Pumbaa was trying to tell Timon about. The pair settle there, embracing "Hakuna Matata" as their philosophy. Meanwhile, Timon's mother and Uncle Max leave the colony in search of Timon after Ma gets mad at Rafiki for apparently leading Timon on a wild goose chase.
Timon and Pumbaa later rescue Simba and raise him under their philosophy. Years later, Simba's childhood friendNala appears and reunites with him. Believing the trio's friendship to be in jeopardy, Timon and Pumbaa attempt to sabotage their burgeoning romance, and believe they have succeeded when they see the two get into an argument about why Simba refuses to return to Pride Rock. The next day, Nala explains that Simba has returned home to challenge Scar and reclaim his rightful place as king. Pumbaa follows him, but Timon, angry that Simba has seemingly discarded their philosophy, refuses to help. Timon soon becomes lonely without his friends' company, and Rafiki indirectly helps him realize that his true Hakuna Matata is with the ones he loves. Timon catches up and reconciles with Pumbaa in the desert.
After helping to distract the hyenas with a hula dance in the Pride Lands, Timon and Pumbaa run into Ma and Uncle Max. Seeing the hyenas advancing on Simba, Timon proposes that they all help Simba by getting rid of the hyenas for good. Ma and Uncle Max construct a series of tunnels beneath the hyenas while Timon and Pumbaa stall for time. Uncle Max collapses the tunnels, breaking the ground under the hyenas. Timon breaks the final support beam himself and the hyenas are ejected through the tunnels, which Scar then falls into. Simba accepts his place as the rightful king of the Pride Lands, thanking Timon and Pumbaa for their help. Timon invites Ma, Uncle Max, and the rest of the meerkat colony to live in the jungle with him and Pumbaa to complete his Hakuna Matata; the colony praise him as their hero.
As the film ends Pumbaa wants to watch it again, but Timon declines. Ma comes in wants to watch the film and rewinds the movie. They were soon joined by Uncle Max, Simba, Rafiki, and various Disney characters such asMickey Mouse,Snow White,Stitch, and many more. Pumbaa gives Timon the remote and plays the movie.
Tony Anselmo,Jeff Bennett,Corey Burton,Bill Farmer, Cathy Cahn,Pat Musick,Jim Cummings,Shaun Fleming, Carolyn Gardner,Bob Joles,Chris Sanders,Kevin Schon, andBlayne Weaver are all credited as providing "additional voices", many of them reprising roles from other Disney media in the final cameo-packed scene. Speaking and non-speaking characters seen in silhouette in this scene includeMickey Mouse,Snow White and theSeven Dwarfs,Belle,Beast,Mrs. Potts,Chip, theGenie,Aladdin,Jasmine, theMagic Carpet,Lady,Tramp,Hyacinth Hippo,Stitch,Goofy,The Mad Hatter,Rabbit,Donald Duck,Tinker Bell,Peter Pan, theLost Boys,Pocahontas,Quasimodo,Mowgli,Baloo,Hugo, Victor, and Laverne,Terk,Dumbo,Flora,Fauna,Merryweather, andBr’er Bear.
There's a game on the 2-Disc DVD called "Find the Face", where other Disney characters appear includingSebastian,Gus,Bambi,Aurora,Cinderella,Queen of Hearts,Ursula,Kronk,Gaston,Mushu,Iago,Ichabod Crane,Emperor Kuzco,Robin Hood,Panic,Jiminy Cricket,Pinocchio,Arthur Pendragon, andPegasus.
In April 2000, it was announced that the Walt Disney Company had selected Jeff Ahlholm, Colin Goldman, and Tom Rogers to write the script forThe Lion King 3. It was scheduled to arrive in video stores sometime in 2001.[3]Bradley Raymond, who had previously directedPocahontas II: Journey to a New World (1998) andThe Hunchback of Notre Dame II (2002), came on board as director. He recalled that it was then-Disney Feature Animation presidentThomas Schumacher's idea to "retellLion King through the eyes of Timon and Pumbaa".[4] Additionally,Roger Allers andIrene Mecchi, who directed and co-wrote the screenplay forThe Lion King respectively, consulted on the production.[5] According to Raymond, it was Allers who came up with theMystery Science Theater 3000–inspired framing of the film.[4] Furthermore, the filmmakers drew inspiration fromTom Stoppard's playRosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead as the firstLion King film had drawn inspiration fromHamlet.[6]
In May 2003,The Lion King1+1⁄2 was scheduled for home video release in early spring 2004 withNathan Lane,Ernie Sabella, andMatthew Broderick reprising their original roles, andElton John andTim Rice returning to compose a new song, "That’s All I Need" which was based on "The Warthog Rhapsody" which was deleted from the original film.[7]
The film was animated byWalt Disney Animation Australia in Sydney, New South Wales and Disneytoon Studios in the United States.
Upon its initial home video release,The Lion King1+1⁄2 was accompanied by a marketing campaign tie-in withMcDonald's with six Happy Meal toys: Simba, Rafiki, Timon, Pumbaa, Mufasa and Ed.[8] (This same promotion was used in international countries for the Special Edition release of the firstLion King with two additional toys featuring Zazu and Scar.)
TheDVD edition contains music videos, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes views of how the movie was made, and two featurettes:Timon -- The Early Years; amockumentary tracing Timon's childhood through tongue-in-cheek interviews with family and friends; andDisney's Funniest Moments, highlighting Disney animated characters from theSeven Dwarfs toBrother Bear. Three games are also featured, including:Timon and Pumbaa's Virtual Safari 1.5, aLion King trivia game in the format ofWho Wants to Be a Millionaire, titledWho Wants to Be King of the Jungle?, and hosted byMeredith Vieira, then-host of theAmerican syndicated version and a find the face game which shows pictures of several Disney Characters coming to watch Timon and Pumbaa's movie.[7]The Lion King1+1⁄2 was released on February 10, 2004. Internationally, it was titledThe Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata.[9][10]
On its first day of sales, the film sold 1.5 million DVD copies,[11] and in its first three days of release the film generated about $55 million in sales revenue, 2.5 of which were DVD copies of the film.[12] By March 2004, six million DVD andVHS copies of the film had been sold in North America.[13] More than 30 percent of the title's sales were from the Latino market.[14] Later that year, the movie was released as part of a 3-moviebox set along withThe Lion King andThe Lion King II: Simba's Pride on December 6. On January 31, 2005, the film, along with its predecessors, went back into moratorium.[15]
The film was first released onBlu-ray as part of an eight-disc box set on October 4, 2011, along with the other two films.[16] The movie later received a separate Blu-ray release as well as a standard DVD release on March 6, 2012, along withThe Lion King II: Simba's Pride.[17] The Blu-ray and DVD releases, along withSimba's Pride and the Diamond Edition release ofThe Lion King, wereremoved from release on April 30, 2013.[18]
The film was re-released byWalt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on a Blu-ray combo pack and digital release along withThe Lion King II: Simba's Pride on August 29, 2017 — the same day as the first film's Signature Edition was released.
OnRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 76% based on 17 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10.[19]
Frank Lovece ofTV Guide gave the film3+1⁄2 stars out of 4 stating that "This retelling ofThe Lion King (1994) from the point of view of comic sidekicksTimon (voice ofNathan Lane) andPumbaa (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.'"[20]Joe Leydon ofVariety gave the film a positive review, writing "toddlers and preschoolers will be equally enchanted and amused by colorful toon shenanigans."[21]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 King1+1⁄2 is an irreverent gas."[22]
Many reviewers have suggested that the film was influenced by theTom Stoppard playRosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, which followsRosencrantz and Guildenstern, two minor characters from Shakespeare's playHamlet, and details their experiences taking place during the same time as the events ofHamlet, similar to what the film does withits predecessor, which has been similarly compared toHamlet.[21][23][24][25] Screenwriter Tom Rogers confirmed that this was intentional in a 2019 interview, adding that the film'sframe story was inspired byMystery Science Theater 3000.[6]
| The Lion King1+1⁄2: Songs From Timon and Pumbaa's Hilarious Adventure | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various Artists | |
| Released | February 10, 2004 |
| Recorded | 2003 |
| Genre | R&B,Pop,world,soundtrack |
| Length | 22:52 |
| Label | Walt Disney |
The film's soundtrack album contains two original songs: "Diggah Tunnah", written by Seth Friedman and Martin Erskine, and "That's All I Need", written byElton John andTim Rice, who had worked on the first film. The latter song, which is performed byNathan Lane in the film, is largely based on a deleted song fromThe Lion King titled "The Warthog Rhapsody", with which it shares a similar melody.[4]
The film features the song "Hakuna Matata" from the first film, which is featured both as the original soundtrack recording in the soundtrack album and in the film as a new cover performed by Lane andErnie Sabella. The soundtrack also consists of various covers ofpop songs, such asThe Friends of Distinction's "Grazing in the Grass" performed byRaven-Symoné,Kool and the Gang's "Jungle Boogie" performed by Drew K. andthe French, and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (which appears briefly in the original film as well) byLebo MVinx (and with sampled vocals from Lebo M) performed "Diggah Tunnah Dance". Other featured songs not on the soundtrack include "Sunrise, Sunset" from the musicalFiddler on the Roof and theeponymous theme song from the television showPeter Gunn composed byHenry Mancini.
The film contains an original score composed byDon L. Harper, and also featuresEnnio Morricone'sinstrumental theme from theSergio Leone filmThe Good, the Bad and the Ugly.[26]
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Grazing in the Grass" | Raven-Symoné | 2:59 |
| 2. | "Diggah Tunnah Dance" | Lebo M andVinx | 3:53 |
| 3. | "That's All I Need" | Nathan Lane | 2:29 |
| 4. | "Hakuna Matata" | Nathan Lane,Ernie Sabella,Jason Weaver andJoseph Williams | 3:33 |
| 5. | "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" | Lebo M | 3:35 |
| 6. | "Jungle Boogie" | Drew K. andthe French | 3:20 |
| 8. | "Timon's Traveling Theme" | Don L. Harper | 1:20 |
| 9. | "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" | Ennio Morricone | 1:43 |
| Total length: | 25:35 | ||
| Year | Award | Category | Nominees | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Annie Awards | Best Home Entertainment Production | The Lion King 1½ | Won |
| Music in an Animated Feature Production | The Lion King 1½ | Nominated | ||
| DVD Exclusive Awards | Best Animated Character Performance | Nathan Lane (voice) Alexis Stadermann (animator)
| Won | |
| Best Animated DVD Premiere Movie | The Lion King 1½ | Won | ||
| Best Director (of a DVD Premiere Movie) | Bradley Raymond | Won | ||
| Best Editing (of a DVD Premiere Movie) | Joyce Arrastia | Won | ||
| Best Screenplay (for a DVD Premiere Movie) | Tom Rogers | Won | ||
| Saturn Award | Best DVD Release | The Lion King 1½ | Nominated |
Avideo game based on the film was published in 2003 for theGame Boy Advance, featuring Timon and Pumbaa as the playable characters.[27][28]
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