The Lion King 1 1/2

Original 2004 DVD cover

The Lion King 1 1/2 is a 2004 American animated epic musical trilogy produced by DisneyToon Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures.

Plot

In a Mystery Science Theater 3000-style, Timon and Pumbaa retell the story of The Lion King from their perspectives, as well as how they became friends.

Why it's Better than Belle's Magical World & Home on the Range

1. Very pure and well-detailed Disney animation.
2. Talented vocal performances. It is worth noting that Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella reprise their roles as Timon and Pumbaa, respectively.
3. It's an emotional film.
4. Detailed and specially capable characters from the films.
5. It spawned a sequel which was a great film and even a prequel with Timon and Pumbaa.
6. It spawned a musical Broadway adaptation that still plays.
7. None of the characters have been flanderized.
8. The soundtrack is decent.
9. The concept of Timon and Pumbaa watching the film in a Mystery Science Theater 3000-style theater is interesting, although poorly-executed.
10. While most of the attempts at humor do come across as rather childish, some attempts at humor are genuinely funny.

Bad Qualities

1. One of the biggest flaws of the film is that it feels the apparent "need" to practically shoehorn Timon and Pumbaa into nearly every major scene from the original film, including Simba's presentation, "I Just Can't Wait To Be King", "Be Prepared", the stampede sequence where Scar murders Mufasa, the scene with Mufasa's spirit and even the climactic battle.
2. On that subject, The Lion King 1½ is also insulting to the original movie at times; two of the most blatant examples include when Timon and Pumbaa, two characters who are supposed to provide comic relief, are shoehorned into the stampede sequence, one of the most tragic and serious sequences in any Disney animated film, and when Pumbaa passes gas during Simba's presentation, which undermines said scene and turns one of the most beautiful and majestic moments in the original film into a complete joke.
3. Several continuity errors and inconsistencies that contradict the events of the original film:
   • Timon and Rafiki seem to acknowledge each other, even though in the original film Timon never seems to acknowledge who Rafiki is ("Who's the monkey?").
   • Timon and Pumbaa distract Shenzi, Banzai and Ed during the same time of the confrontation between Simba and Scar on the top of Pride Rock before the aforementioned hyenas are ejected through the tunnels created by Timon's mother and uncle, even though in the original film Shenzi, Banzai and Ed made it to the top of Pride Rock just in time to overhear Scar blame them for coming up with the idea to kill Mufasa; if this were the case, it would be impossible for the hyenas to acknowledge the fact Scar "said they were the enemy".
   • The "I Just Can't Wait To Be King" sequence appears to take place immediately after the day Timon and Pumbaa move into the Pride Lands, which is the same day of Simba's presentation; it would be impossible for Simba to age this quickly.
   • There is a river at the edge of the same gorge where the stampede occurred and Mufasa was killed, even though there were no rivers present in that gorge; what pours salt on the wound is that the jungle where Timon and Pumbaa end up at is nearby the Pride Lands and below the floor of the gorge, which is confusing and creates so many questions.
4. The majority of the film is just Timon and Pumbaa watching the film in a Mystery Science Theater 3000-style theater and commenting on specific parts of said film, which interrupts the pacing of the main story, especially for a dragged-out and unfunny scene where Pumbaa gets up from his seat to get some extra grubs before returning to said seat.
5. Specific plot points are rather generic, with one of them being how Timon is an outcast who fails to fit in with his colony (note that this was something that was implied in the original).
6. The revisionist positioning of Timon as Simba's step-dad seems rather forced, mainly since Simba's relationship with Timon had no emotional echo in the original film.
7. The new songs, especially "Digga Tunnah Dance", are rather lackluster and forgettable.
   • On the topic of songs and music, the snail-slurping contest scene uses the main theme of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which feels out-of-place in a film in The Lion King franchise; one could argue that Timon and Pumbaa were singing "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" in the original, but neither of the situations are the same, as "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is a song being sung by Timon and Pumbaa rather than by The Tokens, whereas the main theme of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is obviously a score composed for the aforementioned film and it sounds exactly the same in The Lion King 1½.
   • There are also barely any new songs, with most of the other songs being alternate versions of returning songs from the original film ("Hakuna Matata", "Can You Feel The Love Tonight", and "I Just Can't Wait To Be King").
8. The film is also packed with childish levels of humor, including toilet humor, especially when Pumbaa breaks wind during... Simba's presentation, one of the most iconic sequences from the original film.
9. The core concept of retelling the events of The Lion King from the perspective of Timon and Pumbaa feels more like the premise of a fan fiction than of an actual film.

Fun Facts

• The original 2004 DVD release of the film is one of the first Disney DVDs to contain the 2004-10 Sneak Peeks menu/bumper, following Cold Creek Manor.
• The film was influenced by the Tom Stoppard play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, which followed Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and their experiences taking place during the same time as the events of The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.