The Lion Male monarch may take been released in 1994, but it is safe to say that the moving picture has not aged a day in the hearts and minds of Disney fans. Then much and so that the Mouse House 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 near universally beloved Disney characters, fans exercise non know a lot most them. With so much excitement and nostalgia surrounding The Panthera leo King once once again, information technology is fourth dimension to revisit some facts near two of its most of import characters and learn more about them.

13 TIMON AND PUMBAA'S VOICES ALMOST WENT TO DIFFERENT CHARACTERS

This may come every bit a shock to many The Lion Male monarch fans, but Nathan Lane (who voiced Timon) and Ernie Sabella (who voiced Pumbaa) were initially brought in to audience for the roles of the hyenas in the movie. Yet, the moving picture's directors were apparently worried that King of beasts King was turning out to have too nighttime of a tone.

After Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella auditioned for Disney, the studio started to go dissimilar ideas for the movie as a whole. During an interview with the Huffington Post, Sabella explained: "There was something in our advertisement-libs that made [The Lion King manager] Roger think that we could maybe exist the voices of these comic characters that hadn't fifty-fifty been developed nevertheless." All in all, it is rubber to say that the idea for Timon and Pumbaa originated from Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella's audience for the roles of the hyenas.

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

We all know that "Hakuna Matata" explains not simply what this catchphrase actually means, simply also provides a little bit of backstory every bit to where Pumbaa came from. While we have all come to have this wonderful, fun song as it is… It still begs the question: why didn't we too become Timon's backstory?

As the story goes, "Hakuna Matata" originally did have an entire verse explaining Timon's backstory, which sounds just like the verse about Pumbaa. However, the verse was eventually cut out of the song because it was considered to be too long.

11 PUMBAA WAS THE FIRST CHARACTER TO EVER FART IN A DISNEY MOVIE

This may come as a surprise to many, only Pumbaa actually holds the very of import championship of being the first-ever graphic symbol to fart on screen in a Disney movie. That's correct: before The Lion Male monarch in 1994, no character had always farted in an animated feature produced by Disney.

It is condom to say that, if there was e'er 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 live, where they introduce Simba to "Hakuna Matata" and eat slimy things for dessert? Well, according to The Panthera leo Male monarch 1 ½, information technology was Timon who found that incredible identify.

After 1994's The Panthera leo King, information technology was implied that Timon and Pumbaa moved to Pride Rock to be alongside Simba in his kingdom. However, the Disney Aqueduct tv set serial Timon & Pumbaa took place well-nigh entirely in the jungle, significant that these characters moved back eventually. Fun fact: in the Kingdom Hearts Two game, it is established that the lionesses of Pride Stone knew of this jungle paradise, only were blocked by Scar to move there.

ix IN SWAHILI, PUMBAA MEANS "LAZY"

Many of the words and character names used in The Lion King came from the Swahili language, which is considered the mutual language of various parts of Africa, including Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania, to proper name a few. For case, "Hakuna Matata" comes from Swahili, where information technology literally means "no worries."

Like many other names and terms in The Lion King, "Pumbaa" is likewise a word in Swahili. According to translators, "Pumbaa" means things like "lazy," "careless," and even "ignorant." Needless to say, Pumbaa's name was really painting a picture of what the character would exist.

eight TIMON AND PUMBAA HAVE LAST NAMES

It is not uncommon for fictional characters to have total names that fans were never actually aware of. That is because, most times, blithe movies only focus on a graphic symbol'south get-go name, making information technology easier for audiences to call up it.

Because Timon was developed as a graphic symbol that had Jewish ancestry, it makes sense for his proper name to accept a Jewish origin. In the Disney Channel spin-off series Timon & Pumbaa, information technology was revealed that Timon'southward middle name is Leslie and that his last name is Berkowitz. In the same Idiot box series, it was also revealed that Pumbaa's concluding name is Smith.

7 PUMBAA RUBBING HIS BELLY WAS INSPIRED BY A Meaning Woman

I of the most memorable Pumbaa moments in The King of beasts Male monarch is when the graphic symbol rubs his belly as he, Timon, and Simba are stargazing and discussing what the stars in the sky really mean. Well, it turns out that the inspiration backside Pumbaa'south belly-rubbing came from animator Tony Bancroft's pregnant married woman, who used to rub her belly that exact same mode while he was working on the moving-picture show.

According to Tony Bancroft, Pumbaa rubbing his belly is one of his favorite scenes in The Panthera leo King. During an interview with MovieWeb, the animator stated, "It was something that I thought added a little life to [the scene] and fabricated it more than relatable."

vi TIMON HAS TWO KNOWN RELATIVES

Even hardcore Disney fans accept failed to watch The Lion King one ½, but a lot of Timon'due south background was really revealed during that movie. For instance, it is now catechism that Timon has 2 known relatives: his mother, which is officially known equally Ma, and his uncle, who is named Max. Even so, information technology is not 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 condom but also wants him to succeed in life. Uncle Max is more of an irritable graphic symbol who is often scared and negative, often reminding Disney fans of an early-on Marlin from Finding Nemo.

v WHAT KIND OF ANIMAL IS PUMBAA?

Though it may seem odd to many more than diehard fans, in that location are a surprising amount of people out there that merely don't know what animals the ii characters are. Not to mention quite a few younger fans who are even so learning about the natural world through fun and memorable movies likeThe Lion King.

Pumbaa is identified by himself in the moving picture as a warthog. They are large pigs that are indigenous to Sub-Saharan Africa, and are, therefore, a logical choice of animal to run across in the movie's setting.

4 WHAT KIND OF ANIMAL IS TIMON?

Timon, on the other mitt, is a meerkat, a pocket-sized mongoose known for its tendency to live in large groups and stand on its hind legs to picket out for danger. They're also natives of southern Africa similar warthogs and therefore not odd animals for the area.

Obviously, certain liberties are taken with the realities of the animals, and not everything almost Timon's representation as a meerkat in the movie is strictly authentic, as our next entry delves into...

3 MEERKATS DON'T ACTUALLY WALK ON THEIR HIND LEGS

Information technology is very mutual for animated studios to change sure things about animals in gild to make them work for the big screen. One major alter that the team behind The Lion King decided to make early on was to make Timon walk on his two hind legs every bit opposed to following the actual physicality of meerkats.

That is because, in the existent world, meerkats actually walk on their iv legs. They only stand up on their ii hind legs when surveying their environs, and then proceed to walk on all fours once again. In The Panthera leo King, all the same, Timon is mostly seen walking like a human being.

2 SETH ROGEN AND Baton EICHNER WERE THE Commencement CHOICES FOR THE 2019 REMAKE

Director Jon Favreau was not shy near making information technology clear that Beyonce was his first choice for the function of Nala, but many people may not realize that the manager already had a clear vision for Timon and Pumbaa in the 2019 remake of The Lion Rex.

From the get-go, Jon Favreau wanted Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen to play Timon and Pumbaa, respectively. However, that casting decision did non come up easy. For instance, the managing director asked Eichner and Rogen to go to a blackness-box theater and run through the entire script three times, the last of which without having the script on hand.

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

It is pretty standard for studios to conduct private sessions when recording the voice of an actor for an blithe characteristic. Essentially, this means that nearly all of the dialogues that you've seen in an blithe motion-picture show were recorded at unlike times so edited together.

All the same, that was not the case for Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella in the 1994 version ofThe Lion Male monarch, and that was yet again not the case for Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen in the 2019 remake. In both cases, Disney actually requested for both actors to tape their scenes together, in the aforementioned room and at the same time.

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