The Lion King 1 1/2

If The Lion King was “Hamlet” and The Lion King 2 was “Romeo and Juliet,” then 2004’s The Lion King 1 ½ is Disney’s version of Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. Starring almost everybody from the first two films, with Edward Hibbert replacing Rowan Atkinson and Matt Weinberg replacing Jonathan Taylor Thomas, the film also adds Julie Kavner and Jerry Stiller. The film won the 2005 Annie Award for Best Home Entertainment Production.

Told from the perspectives of Timon and Pumbaa, the film shows the backstories of both characters prior to the first film. However, they actually may have around sooner than the first film let on.

The Lion King 1 ½ is quite a fun interpretation of the original film, revealing that Timon and Pumbaa actually set some of the events from it into action and were around in others. But even though it’s fun it kind of causes trouble for the original.

The film depicts Timon’s history of the odd meerkat out in his specific colony, which causes him to leave and eventually shape certain moments from the original film. The reason the animals bow at the beginning was because Pumbaa farted at the wrong time and the animals in his immediate vicinity fainted. Which was mistaken for bowing. Also, during “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King,” the animals collapsed because Timon kicked the elephant. They were also present for the start of “Be Prepared” and tried to sabotage Simba and Nala’s falling in love.

However, some of these events are really difficult to fit into the events of the first film. For one, creating the tower of animals was Nala’s idea. Furthermore, when they distract the hyenas, that means they weren’t there for Scar’s confession.

 But despite the continuity errors, The Lion King 1 ½ makes for an entertaining watch.

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