March 21, 2015

THE LION KING'S TIMON AND PUMBAA



THE LION KING’S TIMON & PUMBAA
(Syndication, CBS, Toon Disney, September 8, 1995-September 25, 1999)

Walt Disney Television Animation



MAIN CAST:
Nathan Lane, Quinton Flynn (both season 1), Kevin Schon (season 2-3) – Timon
Ernie Sabella – Pumbaa
Robert Guillaume – Rafiki
Tress MacNeille – Shenzi
Rob Paulsen – Banzai
Jim Cummings – Ed
Corey Burton - Quint



While flying to Europe on the promotional tour for the movie Oliver & Company in 1988, Jeffery Katzenberg, Roy E. Disney and Peter Schneider came up with the idea for a story set in Africa. Katzenberg liked the concept and had Walt Disney Feature Animation’s Vice President for Creative Affairs Charlie Fink further develop it into a full-fledged idea. Katzenberg would go on to add some of his own life elements to the overall story. Thomas Disch wrote the treatment titled King of the Kalahari and Linda Woolverton wrote several drafts of the script under the titles King of the Beasts and King of the Jungle

The characters of The Lion King.


Don Hahn joined the project as a producer and found the script lacking focus and theme. Deciding it was to be a coming of age story, the script was given final retools by Hahn, Roger Allers, director Rob Minkoff, and head of story Brenda Chapman with directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale. The story would be inspired by the Joseph and Moses stories of the Bible and Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In 1992, writers Irene Mecchi and Jonathan Roberts added additional revisions to the script to resolve some internal issues. The resulting film became titled The Lion King as the setting was the savannah, not a jungle, and was the first Disney animated feature to be an original story.



The film centered on the African savannah where lion Mustafa (James Earl Jones) ruled all and had just had his first cub, Simba (Jonathan Taylor Thomas initially, singing provided by Jason Weaver). Mustafa’s younger brother, Scar (Jeremy Irons), usurped the throne with his hyena cohorts (Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin and Jim Cummings) and drove Simba away. In time, he’s found and raised by meerkat and warthog friends Timon (Nathan Lane) and Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella). Eventually, an adult Simba (Matthew Broderick) encounters childhood friend Nala (Moira Kelly with singing by Sally Dworsky) who tried to convince him to return and save the kingdom. Only a visitation from Mustafa’s ghost, courtesy of Rafiki (Robert Guillaume), a mandrill who served as shaman to the pride, convinced Simba to confront Scar and reclaim his birthright.

Timon and Pumbaa storyboard art.


Thirteen supervising animators were responsible for the main characters. The entire animation team studied animals for reference and consulted wildlife experts who would visit the studios with animals to help establish authentic behavior in the characters. Animators also took visual cues from the voice actors as they recorded their lines, injecting a bit of their personalities into the characters. Production of the film was done at the same time as another Disney feature: Pocahontas. Because everyone in the studio felt The Lion King was the bigger risk, most of Disney’s seasoned animation and production staff gravitated towards Pocahontas, leaving The Lion King to the newer crop. The risk paid off, as The Lion King went on to become the highest grossing movie of 1994 worldwide, and Disney Animation’s highest-grossing film of all time until it was surpassed 20 years later by Frozen.


Quint in one of his many roles.

With that success, it was decided to expand the franchise with a television series focusing on the breakout characters of Timon and Pumbaa called The Lion King’s Timon & Pumbaa. The series followed Timon and Pumbaa on misadventures around the world, encountering new characters and ones from the film along the way. The series became the first instance in which humans were depicted within the franchise, with Timon and Pumbaa often interacting with humans and in populated areas. A recurring human antagonist by the name of Quint (Corey Burton) often was at odds with Timon and Pumbaa, encountering them in a variety of locations, wearing different (poor) disguises and performing in different occupations as the story called for. The series was broken up into two, sometimes three, segments per episode: a Timon and Pumbaa adventure alternating with another one, Rafiki’s Fables, or The Laughing Hyenas.

Timon and Pumbaa production sketches.

Timon (Greek for “respect”) was a wise-cracking, self-absorbed know-it-all who was fiercely loyal (as well as annoyed by) his best friend Pumbaa. Timon, unlike a true meerkat, walked on his hind legs. His original animation was supervised by Michael Surrey. Pumbaa (Swahili for “simpleton”, “stupid” or “carefree”) was an easy-going warthog who dealt with a flatulence problem and while being a bit slow in the head, managed to come up with a good idea on occasion (which Timon instantly stole credit for). Nothing enraged Pumbaa more than when someone would call him a pig, prompting a battering-ram charge and the exclamation “They call me MISTER pig!” (a play on Sidney Poitier’s line from the 1967 film In The Heat of the Night). Pumbaa’s original animation was supervised by Tony Bancroft. While they were both happy to just stroll through life, nothing motivated them more than their primary culinary delight: bugs. Initially, Lane and Sabella auditioned for two of the hyena roles. After producers saw how well they worked together, they decided to cast them as Timon and Pumbaa, much to the disappointment of lyricist Tim Rice who wanted Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson in the roles due to their show Bottom inspiring the song “Hakuna Matata” (which also served as the character’s catchphrase and the series’ theme song). Sabella reprised his role for the series as did Lane at first, but for the rest of the season he was replaced by Quinton Flynn and then by Kevin Schon for the remainder of the series’ run.

Timon and Pumbaa ask Rafiki for help fixing each others' flaws.

Rafiki’s Fables focused on Rafiki teaching someone a lesson through use of his wisdom and magic, even if the logical conclusion wasn’t immediately evident. James Baxter was his supervising animator for the film. Rafiki (which is Swahili for “friend”) dwelled in a baobab tree in the Pride Lands where he provided shamanistic services for the royal family and other citizens of Pride Rock.

Banzai, Shenzi and Ed.


The Laughing Hyenas centered on Scar’s former henchmen and their relentless (and slapstick-infused) quest for food. For the film, the Hyenas were conceived as a way to reunite comedy duo Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong. However, when Chong was unavailable to accept the role of Shenzi (Swahili for “Savage”, “uncouth” or “poor quality”), it was reconceived as female and offered to Goldberg. Played by Tress MacNeille in the series, Shenzi was the leader of the trio and the only female. The Marin role of Banzai (which sounds Japanese but was Swahili for “skulk” or “lurk”) was assumed by Rob Paulsen for the series. He was the most aggressive and excitable of the three. Ed didn’t speak and communicated through crazed laughter. Cummings recorded over four hours of different laughter, and his voice was the only one from the film featured in the series. 

No series is complete without a pair of evil doubles.

The series premiered in syndication on September 8th, 1995 as part of The Disney Afternoon 2-hour block of programs. For its first season, it aired on Fridays, sharing the timeslot with Gargoyles. By the second season, and the final for the block, it moved a half hour earlier into its daily timeslot. The series also aired on CBS Saturday mornings eight days after its debut. The show was the last Disney program to air on CBS as part of a cross-promotion agreement. In 1995, Westinghouse Broadcasting (as Group W) purchased CBS in a bid to become a major media company, while in 1996 Disney purchased the ABC network resulting in all Disney programming leaving CBS. That same year, Lane won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program, while in 1997 the series won two more for Outstanding Sound Mixing – Special Class and Outstanding Individual in Animation – Kexx Singleton.

A dynamic season 1-2 title card (top) and the static season 3.


After the second season finished in November of 1996, the series was cancelled. Overseas demand for more episodes brought the series back with an additional 39 new episodes. However, there were some changes behind the scenes resulting in a slightly different tone and presentation, making it more kid-friendly instead of family-friendly. While the episode title cards originally depicted an image related to the story with its title, for the third season they used a generic version of Timon and Pumbaa’s silhouettes chasing a bug with the story title in various fonts. The third season ran on Toon Disney between January and September of 1999.

Timon and Pumbaa teach Smolder to ski...or else.


Many notable characters from the first two seasons were dropped, including movie protagonist Simba (Cam Clarke); Speedy the Snail (Corey Burton in a Bing Crosby voice), the snail whom the pair befriended and often had to rescue due to his slow speed; the Vulture Police (Townsend Coleman and Brian Cummings), who are a pair of police vultures (what else did you expect?); Fred (S. Scott Bullock), Timon’s old prankster friend; the Three Natives (all Jeff Bennett), a trio of university students; and Toucan Dan (also Bennett), a toucan master criminal, amongst others. A new recurring frenemy was added named Smolder the Bear (Jim Cummings), who was perfectly friendly until annoyed, which would result in him pounding on said annoyance. 



18 episodes of the series were released across six VHS tapes in 1996 in the United States, while 21 episodes were released internationally across three VHS tapes. In 2004 and 2005, those international releases were re-released in DVD format in Europe and Japan. In 1995, Disney Interactive released Disney’s Timon & Pumbaa’s Jungle Games for the PC, which was later ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1997 by THQ. It featured jungle-themed versions of classic game types including pinball. Mouse Works published a Puffy Cover Storybook featuring Timon & Pumbaa, as did Golden Look-Look Books. Little Golden Books released a coloring and activity book based on the show. Hachette produced a series of coloring and sticker books released in France. Timon and Pumbaa appeared as a regular comic feature in Disney Adventures magazine and in several issues of the anthology series Disney’s Comic Hits! by Marvel Comics. While much of the merchandise featuring the characters was centered on the movie, Burger King did release a set of four Timon and Pumbaa toys in 1996.  In 2019, it became one of the launch titles for the streaming service Disney+.



EPISODE GUIDE:
Season 1:
"Boara Boara / Saskatchewan Catch" (9/8/95) - Pumbaa is made god-king by The Three Natives and trouble arises for Timon. / Timon and Pumbaa do a favor for a female flying squirrel in return for Saskatchewan tree beetles.

"Kenya Be My Friend? / Good Mousekeeping" (9/15/95) - After an argument, Timon and Pumbaa look for another Bestest Best Friend. / Rafiki grants a mouse’s wish to be big thinking he will be more respected.

"Brazil Nuts / South Sea Sick / The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (9/16/95) - Timon and Pumbaa come across a gourmet all-you-can-eat bug buffet, a trap set up by two hungry snakes. / Pumbaa falls ill after eating a feast which makes Timon happily determined to cure him. / While singing the popular song, Timon and Pumbaa are unaware of something stalking them.

"Never Everglades / Cooked Goose" (9/22/95) - Pumbaa hatches an alligator egg. / Two cheetahs trick the three hyenas away from their hunting.

"Yukon Con / Doubt of Africa" (9/23/95) - Timon’s and Pumbaa’s friendship is fractured over a gold nugget claim. / Timon and Pumbaa helped a widowed tigress learn how to hunt.

"How to Beat the High Costa Rica / Swiss Missed" (9/29/95) - Timon and Pumbaa decide to steal a stolen fortune from an escaped convict for themselves. / A beloved town clock breaks while the timekeeper is on vacation due to Timon’s encouragement. 

"Russia Hour / You Ghana Join the Club" (9/30/95) - Timon and Pumbaa visit Pumbaa’s uncle which results in his being injured and unable to perform. / Timon and Pumbaa undergo a series of tasks to be allowed in their favorite spot by the squirrels that took it over.

“Uganda Be an Elephant / To Kilimanjaro Bird" (10/6/95) - After observing the respect elephants received, Timon tries to turn Pumbaa into an elephant. / Timon and Pumbaa babysit Baby Earl for compensation in stealing his breakfast.

"Rocky Mountain Lie / Amazon Quiver" (10/7/95) - Timon believes he ate Pumbaa’s new stinkbug friend and lies about the situation. / When Timon and Pumbaa are chased by an angry panther and, unable to escape, decide to wait it out.

"French Fried / Big Top Breakfast" (10/13/95) - Timon and Pumbaa try to save their new best friend Speedy the Snail from French Chef Quint. / The hyenas try to catch and eat a circus monkey who has fallen out of a plane.

"Madagascar About You / Truth or Zaire / Yummy Yummy Yummy" (10/14/95) - Timon helps Pumbaa out of an arranged marriage. / Timon and Pumbaa look for protection from Congo Quint by posing as baby gorillas. / Timon and Pumbaa sing and fight over a single bug,

"The Pain in Spain / Frantic Atlantic" (10/20/95) - Mistaken for a bull, Pumbaa is captured to replace aging El Toro. / Timon and Pumbaa befriend dimwitted, accident-prone penguin named Irwin.

"Mojave Desserted / Beauty and the Wildebeest" (10/21/95) - An annoying rabbit tries to repay Timon and Pumbaa for saving his life by waiting on them hand and foot forever. / An ugly wildebeest turns to Rafiki for help in improving his looks to win his crush.

"Tanzania Zany / Guatemala Malarkey" (10/27/95) - Timon’s former friend and practical joker Fred visits and causes problems between Timon and Pumbaa. / Timon and Pumbaa try to loot an ancient temple protected by a giant beetle mummy.

"Don't Break the China / Can't Take a Yolk / Stand by Me" (10/28/95) - Timon and Pumbaa help a lost baby panda find his parents. / The hyenas attempt to steal an ostrich egg from its mother. / Timon and three frogs sing as nasty things keep happening to Pumbaa.

"Back Out in the Outback / Gabon with the Wind" (11/3/95) - A land crab is mistaken by Timon as a giant beetle. / Pumbaa believes that Timon betrayed him to the cheetahs to save his own skin.

"Unlucky in Lesotho / Rafiki's Apprentice" (11/4/95) - In order to join Ned the Elephant’s Good Luck Club, Timon must protect a lucky jar. / Rafiki’s visiting nephew wants to learn magic.

"Timon's Time Togo / The Law of the Jungle" (11/10/95) - After eating a supposedly poisonous bug, Timon promises to do good deeds to get into Heaven. / Timon breaks the law by using the Forbidden Stick to scratch his back.

"Mombasa-In-Law / TV Dinner" (11/11/95) - When Timon’s mother visits, Timon has to convince her he is a responsible meerkat. / The hyenas try to convince filmmaker Martin Pardon into making a wildlife documentary about them.

"Be More Pacific / Going Uruguay" (11/17/95) - Pumbaa saves the life of a magical whale and is granted three wishes. / Timon and Pumbaa help the Termite King find his way home with the intentions of eating him and his subjects.

"Yosemite Remedy / The Sky Is Calling" (11/24/95) - Timon seeks revenge against a raccoon thief who stole his and Pumbaa’s suitcase full of valuables. / Timon and Pumbaa argue about the disposition of a meteorite fallen between them.

"Manhattan Mishap / Paraguay Parable" (11/25/95) - On their way to Manhattan, Timon and Pumbaa are stranded on a deserted island with a castaway determined to eat them. / A lazy anteater tricks Timon and Pumbaa to catch bugs for him by making it a competition.

"Mozam-Beaked / Ocean Commotion" (12/1/95) - Timon and Pumbaa try to capture a woodpecker who refuses to stop pecking their favorite shade tree. / Timon and Pumbaa try to rescue Speedy from a diamond collector who wants to make an earring out of the snail’s shell.

"Let's Serengeti Out of Here / Congo on Like This" (12/9/95) - Timon and Pumbaa are captured and placed in a wildlife preserve by an overzealous biologist. / Rumors spread that Simba has become a carnivore, making Timon believe they are his next lunch.

"Okay Bayou? / Shake Your Djibouti" (12/16/95) - A possum acts as a guide through the Louisiana Bayou in Timon’s and Pumbaa’s search for the Great Boudreuax. / Timon tries to train Simba so he will protect Timon and Pumbaa from a 40-ft. monster.

Season 2:

“Isle of Manhood / Puttin’ on the Brits” (9/14/96) – Pumbaa helps Timon become a man. / Timon and Pumbaa try to save a baby fox from a hound dog.

“Beelte Romania / Rubmle in the Jungle” (9/21/96) – A gypsy moth curses Timon into a bug and he’s eaten by Pumbaa. / Rafiki helps Timon and Pumbaa settle an argument.

“Palm Beached / Jamaica Mistake?” (9/23/96) – Timon and Pumbaa’s napping spot is moved to a new hotel run by Quint. / Chasing a moth leads Timon and Pumbaa to be captured by vampire bats.

“Animal Barn / Roach Hotel” (9/28/96) – Timon cheats to help Pumbaa win the title of Mr. Pig. / Timon and Pumbaa are hired to rid a hotel of its roach problem.

“Oregon Astray / New Guinea Pig” (9/30/96) – Pumbaa gets them jobs building a dam for Boss Beaver. / Timon sells Pumbaa’s tusks to the three natives.

“Shopping Mauled / Library Brouhaha” (10/5/96) – Timon and Pumbaa try to evade Irwin in a shopping mall. / Chasing a bookworm leads Timon and Pumbaa into the world of books.

“Klondike Con / Isle Find Out” (10/7/96) – Mining for gold in the Klondike brings out Claim Jumper Quint, disguised as Courteous Quint. / Timon investigates flamingos who stand for hours.

“Monster Massachusetts / Handle With Caribbean” (10/12/96) – Dr. Caliostro wants to make Timon and Pumbaa beautiful with his faulty device. / On the way to Nashville Timon and Pumbaa hook up with a group of pirates that make Timon their captain.

“Wide Awake in Wonderland / Zazu’s Off-by-One Day” (10/14/96) – Insomniac Pumbaa has Timon read to him. / Zazu is fired when he misses an animal on his list of animals.

“Alcatraz Mataz / Oahu Wahoo” (10/19/96) – Timon and Pumbaa must escape from jail to prove their innocence. / Timon starts taking orders from a tiki statue that fell from a volcano.

“Africa-Dabra! / I Don’t Bolivia” (10/21/96) – A magic rabbit breaks up Timon and Pumbaa to gain Timon as part of his act. / Toucan Dan convinces Timon to release him and Timon recaptures him—repeatedly.

“Beast of Eden / Sense & Senegambia” (10/26/96) – Timon and Pumbaa help a monster retrieve his tooth. / Timon buys some items to aid Pumbaa in his bug catching.

“Catch Me If You Kenya / Scent of the South” (10/28/96) – Timon and Pumbaa must get past a tiger in order to free butterflies from a collector. / Pumbaa thinks Timon stinks (literally) and tries to change his scent with the help of a skunk.

“Forbidden Pumbaa / Washington Applesauce” (11/4/96) – Timon and Pumbaa are kidnapped by aliens. / Timon and Pumbaa are hired to stop a worm from eating all the apples in Apple Valley and ruining the annual apple festival.

“Rome Alone / Amusement Bark” (11/9/96) – Timon and Pumbaa set out to rescue Simba from Coliseum Quint-eus’ games. / Timon and Pumbaa work to repair the damage to a park made by Boss Beaver’s son.

“I Think I Canada / Zazu’s Off Day Off” (11/11/96) – Timon and Pumbaa are enlisted into a training camp to get in shape. / Zazu has one more problem to deal with before he can enjoy his day off.

“Timon on the Range / The Man from J.U.N.G.L.E.” (11/18/96) – Pumbaa is mistaken for the leader of a gang. / Timon masquerades as a super hero to make money, resulting in the hero’s nemesis kidnapping him.

“Maine-iacs / Fiji-Fi-Fo-Fum” (11/25/96) – Timon and Pumbaa are forced to take jobs at Boss Beaver’s lumber mill. / Timon and Pumbaa live through Jack and the Beanstalk.

“Once Upon a Timon” (12/2/96) – Rafiki tells Zazu about the origin of Timon and Pumbaa.

“Home is Where the Hog Is” (12/9/96) – Timon and Pumbaa must save Pumbaa’s founder from a Guinea fowl.

“Beethoven’s Whiff / Bumble in the Jungle / Mind Over Matterhorn” (12/16/96) – Pumbaa keeps messing up Timon’s efforts to conduct Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. / Timon and Pumbaa try to catch a bumblebee. / Timon and Pumbaa have to get past a Billy goat to get to Paris.

Season 3:

“Whiff / To Be Bee or Not to Be Bee” (1/1/99) – Timon plans to make it rich by playing golf. / Hakuna Matata turns a bee colony into a disaster.

“Luck be a Meerkat / Just When You Thought You’d Cuisine It All” (1/8/99) – Timon and Pumbaa fight over possession of a lucky marble. / Timon suggests they learn how to cook in order to make their bugs tastier.

“Lemonade Stand Off / Big Jungle Game” (1/15/99) – Timon and Pumbaa open competing lemonade stands. / Pumbaa lives out his dream of being an Olympic athlete.

“Boo Hoo Bouquet / Timon…Alone” (1/22/99) – Timon and Pumbaa begin selling flowers in order to attract bees to eat. / When Pumbaa keeps interrupting Timon’s writing, Timon decides he wants to be alone.

“So Sumo Me / Now Museum, Now You Don’t” (1/29/99) – Timon and Pumbaa visit Japan and decide to become sumo wrestlers. / Timon and Pumbaa try to sneak into a museum to eat its bug exhibit.

“Visiting Pig-nataries / The Truth About Kats and Hogs” (2/5/99) – Timon and Pumbaa get mistaken for visiting dignitaries. / Timon and Pumbaa try to get an Animal Behavioral Scientist to study them in order to continue to get free bugs from her.

“Escape From Newark / Truth be Told” (2/12/99) – Timon and Pumbaa end up trapped in Quint’s pet shop. / Rafiki uses a bee sting to force Timon and Pumbaa to tell the truth.

“Throw Your Hog in the Ring / Slalom Problem” (2/19/99) – Pumbaa’s bad breath becomes his secret weapon as a wrestler. / Timon and Pumbaa fake being skiing instructors in order to make money to open a restaurant.

“Circus Jerks / Nest Best Thing” (2/26/99) – Believing the audience loves Timon and Pumbaa more than him, clown Meanie quits the circus. / Pumbaa sets out to build a bluebird a new home, but Timon discovers the bird is actually a criminal.

“Super Hog-O / Don’t Have the Vegas Idea” (3/5/99) – Pumbaa believes he’s a super hero after being struck by lightning. / Timon and Pumbaa become lion tamers in order to make money for lobsters in a restaurant.

“Hot Enough For Ya? / Werehog of London” (3/12/99) – Timon decides to spice up their eating by making bug chili. / A London fortune teller leads Timon to believe Pumbaa is a werehog.

“Bigfoot, Littlebrain / Astro-Nots” (3/19/99) – Pumbaa suggests the pair go and find Bigfoot. / Timon suggests the pair join NASA to find bugs on Mars.

“Robin Hoodwinked / Serengeti Western” (3/26/99) – Timon becomes Robin Hood in order to steal gold rocks from Claim-Jumper Quint to buy bugs. /

“All Pets Are Off / Boary Glory Days” (4/2/99) – Timon and Pumbaa become house pets in New York in order to eat the residence’s cockroaches. / To hunt bugs in peace, Timon makes Pumbaa believe he’s old and decrepit.

“Two for the Zoo / The Swine in the Stone” (4/9/99) – Timon and Pumbaa unwittingly help Quint capture animals for his zoo. / Timon and Pumbaa are tasked by Quint to retrieve a sword from a stone before a dragon attacks.

“You may Have Already Won Six Million Bakra / My Meteor, My Friend” (4/16/99) – Pumbaa wins the lottery. / Pumbaa befriends a meteor rock, making Timon jealous.

“Jungle Slickers / Don’t Wake the Neighbear” (4/23/99) – Pumbaa takes the pair to Kansas in order to live out his dream of being a farmer. / Smolder keeps Timon and Pumbaa from having a noisy party.

“Recipe for Disaster / Going Over-Boar’d” (4/30/99) – Timon and Pumbaa’s bug salsa is a hit, but Pumbaa finds it hard to keep their recipe a secret. / Timon and Pumbaa fight over who should be captain of a ship.

“Ivy Beleaguered / Broadway Bound & Gagged” (5/7/99) – Pumbaa turns out to be popular at college. / Timon and Pumbaa compete to make the best Broadway play.

“Steel Hog / Dealer’s Choice Cut” (5/14/99) – Timon and Pumbaa are inducted into the Smell’s Angels gang. / Timon bets Pumbaa in a poker game and loses him to a man from a meat producing business.

“Space Ham / You Bet Your Tuhkus” (5/21/99) – Timon and Pumbaa are abducted by aliens to become gladiators in their games. / Pumbaa is unwilling to cheat to win a game show.

“No-Good Samaritan / Living in De Nile” (5/28/99) – A leopard princess mistakes Timon and Pumbaa as her rescuers, getting them appointed as her bodyguards. / Timon and Pumbaa are locked in a pyramid for eternity when Timon eats a sacred scarab.

“One Tough Bug / Pirates of Pumbzance” (6/4/99) – Timon is determined to eat a tough bug, but Pumbaa has reservations. / Timon and Pumbaa get jobs as pirates.

“Miss Perfect / Hakuna Matata U” (6/11/99) – An accident wins Pumbaa a beauty pageant. / Timon and Pumbaa start a university to teach Hakuna Matata.

“Pig-Malion / Why No Rhino” (6/18/99) – Pumbaa seeks to become smarter by studying with a smart hedgehog. / Timon and Pumbaa lead a rich couple on a safari to see a blue rhino.

“War Hogs / The Big No Sleep” (6/25/99) – When Timon and Pumbaa joined a warthog army they never expected a war to break out. / Timon and Pumbaa try to stay up all night to see the Porkeswanees.

“Common Scents / Mister Twister” (7/2/99) – Pumbaa starts a perfume business. / Timon and Pumbaa become tornado watchers to get money for the Bug of the Month Club.

“Don’t Be Elfish / Lights, Camera, Traction” (7/9/99) – Timon tries desperately to get off Santa’s naughty list. / Timon wants to become a movie star to impress a female meerkat.

“The Running of the Bullies / Special Defects” (7/16/99) – Timon and El Toro have it out. / Timon and Pumbaa go to Rafiki to have him magically fix what they hate about each other.

“Wishy Washy / Ice Escapades” (7/23/99) – Timon and Pumbaa find a magic lamp. / Timon decides they should become world-famous ice skaters.

“Guru-Some / Jailhouse Shock” (7/30/99) – Pumbaa becomes the guru of the jungle. / Timon and Pumbaa are arrested for eating June Bugs in July.

“Nearly Departed / Early Bird Watchers” (8/6/99) – Believing they’re going to die, Timon and Pumbaa live up their last day. / Timon wants to beat the early bird to the worm.

“The Spy’s the Limit / Ready, Aim, Fire” (8/13/99) – Timon and Pumbaa finish the mission of the secret agent they injure. / Smolder wants a campfire put out, and Quint wants the fire to stay lit.

“Timoncchio / Ghost Boosters” (8/20/99) – Rafiki curses Timon’s tail to grow whenever he brags. / Timon decides to take advantage of a millionaire’s ghost problems in order to get into his mansion and sleep on his comfy bed.

“Stay Away From My Honey! / Sitting Pretty Awful” (8/27/99) – Timon and Pumbaa compete with Smolder for the love of a woman. / Timon and Pumbaa take a babysitting job.

“He’s A Bad, Bad, Bad Sport / Dapper Duck Burgers” (9/3/99) – Timon can’t stand Pumbaa winning every game they play. / Timon and Pumbaa try to fix Smolder’s order that they got wrong.

“It Runs Good / Hot Air Buffoons” (9/10/99) – Pumbaa sells Smolder a bad car that they have to keep running to keep from being hurt by him. / Timon wants to compete in a hot air balloon race, but Pumbaa is afraid of heights.

“Timon in Love / Kahuna Potato” (9/17/99) – Cupid’s arrow causes Timon to fall in love with his own reflection. / Timon and Pumbaa go to Rafiki for help in dealing with bullies that resemble them.

“Mook Island / Cliphangers” (9/24/99) – Timon and Pumbaa end up on an island where a mad scientist wants to clone Timon. / Timon and Pumbaa fall off a cliff and their lives flash before their eyes.