Original airdate: November 18, 1996
Pumbaa races to answer the distress call of a warthog sounder in trouble, only to learn that it's his old sounder, from which he was banished. Now he and Timon must find a way to save the sounder and its bug supply from both the rainy season and a ravenous flock of guineafowl.
This episode contains examples of:
- Artistic License – Biology: Two examples.
- This episode depicts guineafowl as "the warthog's natural enemy and worst nightmare", essentially being feathered piranhas forming flocks of hundreds strong. Actual guineafowl typically form flocks of up to twenty-five indivduals and don't pose a threat to anything bigger than a beetle. Even then, they only consume bugs during the breeding season, with corns, tubers, and seeds being the majority of their diet otherwise. They'd have no interest in competing with warthogs for food and certainly wouldn't strip them of flesh piranha-fashion.
- While Pumbaa correctly describes a sounder as a warthog family group, the sounder has two adult males in it. Sounders are primarily made up of adult females and their young, with adult males living separately and adolescent males forming bachelor groups.
- Baritone of Strength: Played for Laughs. During romantic moments with Sharla, Pumbaa puts on a smooth, deep voice reminiscent of a suave action hero - quite the opposite of his normal, somewhat squealy tones.
- Batman Gambit: Pumbaa pulls off one of these in the final escape plan - he switches the sack of bugs the jeep was carrying with a sack of firecrackers, distracting the guineafowl while the sounder escapes with the real bugs.
- Beware the Silly Ones: The guineafowl look goofy with their wide eyes and penchant for smacking their heads on the ground, but their single-minded desire for food makes them a legitimate threat.
- Chekhov's Gun: At the start of the episode, Timon and Pumbaa find a broken down jeep covered in bugs, from which they happily dine. Midway through the episode, Pumbaa remembers it exists, goes back and repairs it (as well as souping it up) in order to rescue the sounder.
- Cool Car: By the time Timon and Pumbaa are done, the broken-down jeep is a turbo-charged beast capable of ploughing through the guinefowl with no trouble.
- Formula-Breaking Episode: The second of two full-length episodes not divided into separate segments, following on from "Once Upon a Timon".
- Old Flame: Sharla is this to Pumbaa. She still harbours feelings for him even after she banished him from the sounder, and she even offers to take him back in after he risks his life to save the sounder from the guineafowl.
- Origins Episode: Following on from "Once Upon a Timon", this episode expands on Pumbaa's origins by introducing the sounder he was banished from.
- Scylla and Charybdis: The warthog sounder is torn between trying to leave, which would lead to them being devoured by the guineafowl, or staying, which would mean drowning when the rainy season fills up the river valley they're in. Pumbaa and Timon manage to help them Take a Third Option, distracting the guineafowl whilst the sounder escapes.
- Shown Their Work: Pumbaa correctly describes a sounder as a warthog family group, comparing it to a meerkat colony.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Sharla stands up for Pumbaa when the other warthogs call him out for his smell, pointing out that they've done nothing but sit there and whine while he risked his life to answer the distress call.
