The Lion Male monarch may take been released in 1994, but it is safe to say that the film has non aged a day in the hearts and minds of Disney fans. And then much so that the Mouse Firm decided to bring this story back to life in a 2019 remake starring Donald Glover and Beyonce.

Despite the fact that Timon and Pumbaa are virtually universally dear Disney characters, fans do non know a lot virtually them. With then much excitement and nostalgia surrounding The Panthera leo King once again, it is time to revisit some facts about two of its about important characters and learn more than most them.

xiii TIMON AND PUMBAA'S VOICES Nigh WENT TO Unlike CHARACTERS

This may come as a daze to many The King of beasts King fans, but Nathan Lane (who voiced Timon) and Ernie Sabella (who voiced Pumbaa) were initially brought in to audition for the roles of the hyenas in the moving-picture show. All the same, the film's directors were manifestly worried that King of beasts King was turning out to take likewise dark of a tone.

After Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella auditioned for Disney, the studio started to get different ideas for the moving-picture show every bit a whole. During an interview with the Huffington Mail service, Sabella explained: "There was something in our advertising-libs that made [The Panthera leo King director] Roger think that we could maybe exist the voices of these comic characters that hadn't even been adult yet." All in all, it is safe to say that the idea for Timon and Pumbaa originated from Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella's audition for the roles of the hyenas.

12 HAKUNA MATATA ORIGINALLY HAD A Verse EXPLAINING TIMON'S BACKSTORY

We all know that "Hakuna Matata" explains non only what this catchphrase actually means, but also provides a piffling flake of backstory as to where Pumbaa came from. While we accept all come to accept this wonderful, fun song every bit it is… It withal begs the question: why didn't we also get Timon'southward backstory?

As the story goes, "Hakuna Matata" originally did have an unabridged verse explaining Timon's backstory, which sounds merely similar the verse virtually Pumbaa. However, the verse was eventually cutting out of the song because it was considered to be besides long.

xi PUMBAA WAS THE FIRST Graphic symbol TO EVER FART IN A DISNEY Motion picture

This may come as a surprise to many, simply Pumbaa really holds the very of import championship of beingness the first-ever character to fart on screen in a Disney moving-picture show. That'south correct: earlier The Lion King in 1994, no grapheme had ever farted in an animated feature produced by Disney.

Information technology is safe to say that, if there was ever a character that was able to break the stigma of passing gas in a Disney film, that was certainly Pumbaa.

10 TIMON DISCOVERED THE GREEN JUNGLE PARADISE WHERE THEY LIVE

You know the green jungle paradise where Timon and Pumbaa alive, where they introduce Simba to "Hakuna Matata" and consume slimy things for dessert? Well, co-ordinate to The Lion King i ½, information technology was Timon who constitute that incredible place.

Subsequently 1994's The Lion King, it was implied that Timon and Pumbaa moved to Pride Rock to exist alongside Simba in his kingdom. Withal, the Disney Channel television series Timon & Pumbaa took place virtually entirely in the jungle, significant that these characters moved back eventually. Fun fact: in the Kingdom Hearts II game, it is established that the lionesses of Pride Stone knew of this jungle paradise, but were blocked past Scar to motion there.

9 IN SWAHILI, PUMBAA Means "LAZY"

Many of the words and character names used in The Lion King came from the Swahili linguistic communication, which is considered the common language of diverse parts of Africa, including Republic of kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania, to name a few. For example, "Hakuna Matata" comes from Swahili, where it literally ways "no worries."

Like many other names and terms in The Panthera leo King, "Pumbaa" is also a word in Swahili. Co-ordinate to translators, "Pumbaa" ways things like "lazy," "careless," and even "ignorant." Needless to say, Pumbaa's proper name was actually painting a picture of what the graphic symbol would be.

8 TIMON AND PUMBAA HAVE LAST NAMES

Information technology is not uncommon for fictional characters to have total names that fans were never really aware of. That is because, most times, animated movies but focus on a character's get-go name, making information technology easier for audiences to call back information technology.

Because Timon was developed every bit a character that had Jewish ancestry, it makes sense for his proper noun to have a Jewish origin. In the Disney Channel spin-off series Timon & Pumbaa, it was revealed that Timon's middle name is Leslie and that his last name is Berkowitz. In the same Television receiver series, it was also revealed that Pumbaa's last proper name is Smith.

7 PUMBAA RUBBING HIS BELLY WAS INSPIRED BY A Meaning WOMAN

One of the nearly memorable Pumbaa moments in The Panthera leo King is when the character rubs his belly as he, Timon, and Simba are stargazing and discussing what the stars in the sky really hateful. Well, information technology turns out that the inspiration behind Pumbaa's belly-rubbing came from animator Tony Bancroft'due south pregnant wife, who used to rub her belly that exact same style while he was working on the motion picture.

According to Tony Bancroft, Pumbaa rubbing his belly is ane of his favorite scenes in The King of beasts King. During an interview with MovieWeb, the animator stated, "It was something that I idea added a piffling life to [the scene] and made information technology more than relatable."

6 TIMON HAS Ii KNOWN RELATIVES

Even hardcore Disney fans have failed to sentinel The Lion King i ½, but a lot of Timon's background was actually revealed during that picture. For instance, it is now canon that Timon has two known relatives: his mother, which is officially known equally Ma, and his uncle, who is named Max. However, it is non clear to audiences whether Uncle Max and Ma are siblings or in-laws.

Ma is a caring and supportive mother who fears for Timon's safety just besides wants him to succeed in life. Uncle Max is more than of an irritable character who is oftentimes scared and negative, often reminding Disney fans of an early-on Marlin from Finding Nemo.

5 WHAT KIND OF ANIMAL IS PUMBAA?

Though it may seem odd to many more diehard fans, there are a surprising amount of people out there that but don't know what animals the two characters are. Not to mention quite a few younger fans who are still learning virtually the natural world through fun and memorable movies similarThe Panthera leo King.

Pumbaa is identified by himself in the flick as a warthog. They are big pigs that are ethnic to Sub-Saharan Africa, and are, therefore, a logical choice of brute to see in the movie's setting.

iv WHAT KIND OF Animate being IS TIMON?

Timon, on the other mitt, is a meerkat, a modest mongoose known for its trend to live in large groups and stand on its hind legs to lookout out for danger. They're also natives of southern Africa like warthogs and therefore not odd animals for the area.

Obviously, sure liberties are taken with the realities of the animals, and non everything about Timon's representation every bit a meerkat in the movie is strictly accurate, as our adjacent entry delves into...

3 MEERKATS DON'T Actually WALK ON THEIR HIND LEGS

It is very common for blithe studios to alter certain things about animals in lodge to make them work for the big screen. Ane major change that the squad behind The Panthera leo Rex decided to make early on was to make Timon walk on his 2 hind legs as opposed to following the actual physicality of meerkats.

That is considering, in the real world, meerkats actually walk on their four legs. They only stand on their ii hind legs when surveying their surroundings, and then proceed to walk on all fours once once more. In The Lion Male monarch, yet, Timon is mostly seen walking similar a human being.

two SETH ROGEN AND Baton EICHNER WERE THE FIRST CHOICES FOR THE 2019 REMAKE

Director Jon Favreau was not shy about making it clear that Beyonce was his first choice for the role of Nala, merely many people may not realize that the director already had a clear vision for Timon and Pumbaa in the 2019 remake of The Lion Rex.

From the commencement, Jon Favreau wanted Baton Eichner and Seth Rogen to play Timon and Pumbaa, respectively. However, that casting decision did not come easy. For case, the director asked Eichner and Rogen to get to a black-box theater and run through the unabridged script three times, the last of which without having the script on hand.

1 RECORDING THE VOICES FOR TIMON AND PUMBAA TOOK A Dissimilar Arroyo

It is pretty standard for studios to conduct private sessions when recording the phonation of an actor for an blithe feature. Essentially, this means that near all of the dialogues that y'all've seen in an animated movie were recorded at unlike times and and then edited together.

However, that was non the case for Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella in the 1994 version ofThe King of beasts Male monarch, and that was yet over again not the case for Baton Eichner and Seth Rogen in the 2019 remake. In both cases, Disney actually requested for both actors to record their scenes together, in the aforementioned room and at the aforementioned time.

Next: 4 Reasons The Lion King Live-Action Is The Best (& vi Reasons It's The Original)

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