Follow TV Tropes

Following

YMMV / The Lion King 1 ½

Go To

  • Accidental Innuendo: "I love the smell of Pumbaa in the morning."
  • Angst? What Angst?: In the scene where Rafiki tells Ma of his encounter with Timon, he seems pretty chipper in spite the fact that, based on the sequence of events in this film, this should be occurring not long after the death of Mufasa and apparent death of Simba, which he was visibly despondent about in the original film.
  • Awesome Art: The animation in this film is far closer to the original than The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. It is generally considered one of the, if not the, best looking of the Disney Direct to Video sequels out there.
  • Badass Decay: Timon and Pumbaa's role in the final battle is retconned to be much more humorous. In the first film, the duo joins the lionesses and actively combats the hyenas, whereas in this one Timon and Pumbaa merely act as a distraction, telling jokes, performing numbers, and proposing to the villains while Ma and Uncle Max set up a trap for them. In particular, Pumbaa goes from single-handedly beating up Shenzi, Banzai and Ed to being cornered and nearly devoured by them.
  • Broken Base: Some fans have expressed outrage in the fact that it completely ignores the Timon & Pumbaa episode "Once Upon a Timon", which was a previously established story of Timon's origin and how he and Pumbaa met, while others appreciate it for being less Denser and Wackier than said episode (and the series in general) and much prefer this version better, feeling it fits better within other works of the franchise.
  • Contested Sequel: While other Disney DTV sequels are infamous for being lambasted by critics and fans of the originals, this movie had a mostly positive critical reception, scoring a 76% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, reception among fans is more divided. Some gave it significant criticism for retconning several plot points to the point of Continuity Snarl, retreading a lot of the ground the original film covered, and for being much Denser and Wackier than its predecessor, even if not to the same extent as the spin-off TV series. Others, especially those already fans of the characters of Timon and Pumbaa, found the comedy to be well-executed, the tone to strike the right balance of irreverent and respectful, and the new characters of Timon's family to be endearing, in addition to thinking it successfully expanded Timon and Pumbaa into more three-dimensional leads.
  • Fanon Discontinuity:
    • Countless fans have expressed outrage in the fact that it completely ignores the Timon & Pumbaa episode "Once Upon a Timon", which was a previously established story of Timon's origin and how he and Pumbaa met. These fans try to pretend this movie doesn't exist. Others simply think it cheapens the first movie, and ignore it for this reason.
    • Some others, who are more accepting of the film, choose to interpret it in Broad Strokes and simply ignore, alter or rationalize the parts that contradict the original,note  or at least assume there's an Unreliable Narrator at work, and also argue that Timon & Pumbaa was never canon to begin with.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: Timon singing ""it's a small world"" before the additions of himself, Pumbaa, and Young Simba to the Small World rides at Hong Kong Disneyland, Disneyland Park, and Tokyo Disneyland.
  • Ho Yay:
    • The aforementioned Timon and Pumbaa, perhaps even more so with the knowledge that "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" was originally supposed to be a duet between them. They particularly stand out because, despite being very popular characters that have shown up in a variety of situations, they've been uniquely spared of any last-minute Distaff Counterpart hook-up in traditional Disney fashion to dispute these claims.
    • While the life-partner nature of Timon and Pumbaa's relationship is covered and elaborated upon in this film, a lot of its plot has tons of blatant Ho Yay shoved into it. First off in one scene, Timon and Pumbaa gaze into each other's eyes as if they were lovers. Then they acted like a married couple when taking care of Simba.
    • The two accidentally sharing a Spaghetti Kiss with a worm during the Hakuna Matata montage.
  • Iron Woobie: If Zazu and the Hyenas were this in the original, both Timon and Pumbaa are this in the midquel. We already know Pumbaa isn't well-liked by other animals because of his "problems" but he still looks on the world in an optimistic way and is usually cheerful and kind-hearted, up until someone calls him a "pig", which will make him cut loose. In Timon's case, we don't really see him as a woobie until this movie; here it shows he wasn't popular in his former colony because he was a daydreamer who fantasized about adventure. Still, his desire to find a place where he's accepted for who he is makes him the Determinator. (Aside from his Moment of Weakness where he initially decides not to help his friends.)
  • Memetic Mutation: Timon and Pumbaa rewind [x] with the Disney guests coming in. Wild Wild West example.
  • Nightmare Fuel: Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed, despite being Loveable Rogues to some, are undeniably more direct threats to the protagonists this time, and as a result can be much scarier to some than they were in the first film. From Max's initial near-mauling to the time they stop playing around at the climax when they nearly pounce on Pumbaa, Ma, and Uncle Max, who just look away and brace for the end, they're presented as true threats.
    • The sequence near the beginning of the film where the camera rapidly zooms all the way from Pride Rock to Timon's old home can be a bit disturbing, thanks to the unsettling music that slowly rises in pitch.
  • They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: It's hard to truly call the hyenas the villains of the film, since they get less than five minutes of screentime. Any of the other characters from the original film who appear sporadically (besides Rafiki, who has a prominent supporting role) could also count, especially with Zazu, who only has two lines.
  • Unexpected Character: At the end of the film, Timon and Pumbaa are joined by countless characters from other Disney properties as they prepare to rewatch the picture, including a couple of lesser-known ones such as Hyacinth Hippo from Fantasia.
  • Unintentionally Sympathetic: The movie frames Timon's initial refusal to join Nala and Pumbaa in helping Simba reclaim the Pridelands from Scar as him selfishly prioritizing his own safety and comfort over his friends, which justifies Pumbaa calling him out on it. That said, it's hard to fault Timon for not wanting to leave the paradise he spent so long dreaming of considering the majority of his life before the film had him being a social outcast in his colony despite, or rather because of, his best efforts to contribute to their survival, and his disastrous stint as a sentry only validated his belief there was no place for him in the colony. Even after striking out on his own and ending up meeting Pumbaa, he had no clue where he was going and was put in one perilous situation after another before finding himself in the oasis purely by chance, so if anything, Timon has every reason not to want to venture out of his haven to risk certain death at the jaws of the very predators he spent his life avoiding.
  • Woolseyism: The part with Timon getting confused over Pride Rock's name ("How can a rock be proud?") tends not to translate too well to languages where a group of lions aren't known as a pride. Translators have needed to get creative, and in some cases they manage to get in some alternate or added jokes.
    • In the Danish version, where Pride Rock is known as "King Rock", Timon asks what idiot would appoint a rock the king of anything.
    • The Italian version also plays on this translation and Timon asks what it has to do with kings in the first place. One doesn't need Pumbaa's response to figure out the punchline.
    • In the Norwegian version, Pride Rock is just known as "Lion Rock", which isn't a confusing name at all... so here Timon just goes on about what a bizarre idea it is to give a rock a name in the first place.

Top