The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata – The Lion King 1½ (2004)

Directed by: Bradley Raymond | 73 minutes | animation, comedy, adventure, family | Original voice cast: Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Julie Kavner, Jerry Stiller, Matthew Broderick, Robert Guillaume, Moira Kelly, Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, Jim Cummings, Edward Hibbert, Jason Rudofsky, Matt Weinberg, Jeff Bennett

“’The Lion King 3′. Serious?” Yes, the masterminds at Disney really felt it necessary, after ‘The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride’ – the grossly underpowered, clearly purely commercially motivated copy of ‘The Lion King’ – to unleash another sequel to the world, presumably from the need to be able to milk every last cent from this franchise. What now? Simba’s grandson who must take his place on the throne but is thwarted by the progeny of Scar’s neighbor? But no, luckily this kind of cynicism can be quickly brushed aside. ‘The Lion King 3’ has found a golden formula, and one of the few approaches on which a sequel can still work. Although memories of the original are continuously evoked, the form of the film has completely changed – it is almost postmodern – and has become primarily a comedy rather than an (attempted) drama or romance. Despite the title, it doesn’t even feature a lion, but beloved comic sidekicks Timon (a meerkat) and Pumbaa (a wild boar). And even if this means dedicating several jokes to the latter’s flatulence, it all actually works surprisingly well. The references to the original ‘Lion King’ are also refreshing and well-placed here. ‘The Lion King 3’ is a bull’s eye on almost every level.

‘The Lion King 3’ does (at least) two things story-wise: on the one hand it tells the personal story of (the meeting of) Timon and Pumbaa and on the other hand the main events of ‘The Lion King’ are viewed from a different point of view: that of our two pleasantly insane friends to be exact. On yet another level, the viewer follows the antics of Timon and Pumbaa as they watch their own movie, pausing and commenting on the image every now and then. All of this could easily get on your nerves, but it actually rarely happens, largely due to the convincing, catchy voice acting of Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella.

The film opens strongly with the well-known majestic images of ‘The Lion King’ just before Simba is presented to all the animals and the characteristic African song blares through the speakers. And then suddenly Timon roars along on the soundtrack and it is clear what kind of film the viewer has ended up in: in a personal party of Timon and Pumbaa who explain in their own way what all “really” happened. So we see a slightly different reading of iconic moments. We all thought that all animals bowed to the king-to-be out of respect, but it turns out to have something to do with a sometimes uncontrollable tendency of our obese, grunting friend. The tower of animals during the song “I just can’t wait to be king” does not collapse (only) because of its great weight. No, this too is a direct result of Timon and Pumbaa’s antics. Sometimes events even have the opposite effect of what they wanted to achieve, such as when they actually want to break up Simba and his sweetheart Nala, but they make the encounters more romantic by chasing butterflies out of the trees or accidentally knocking them down a hill. push, after which the two lions roll down in a close embrace.

It’s also quite informative to find out exactly how Simba’s upbringing went – ​​and how Timon, for example, had to go into the woods with Simba about ten times a night because he had to pee – or why and how exactly Timon and Pumbaa were friends. have become. More is told about Timon’s personal history than Pumbaa’s, but this is okay, as it is often very amusing. He turns out to have been part of a whole colony of meerkats but was the klutz of the group himself and then decided to look for his luck elsewhere. Stoneware is the meerkats’ “opening song” – “until the hyenas come” – in which they all dig ingenious tunnels underground and have hilarious collective “passes” and look very dry into the camera. In any case, it’s nice what the makers do with the music, sometimes using well-known film music from different genres. For example, a classic western “showdown” scene takes place in which Timon and Simba compete against each other in a snail-sucking competition, complete with extreme close-ups and ‘Good the Bad and the Ugly’ music.

While their part isn’t huge, it’s also really nice that the hyenas are back with the original voice actors, including Whoopi Goldberg. They were a great source of entertainment in the original, and they don’t disappoint here either. The film does not contain much drama or story depth – beyond the importance of friendship [en het vinden van je eigen weg in het leven] the theme doesn’t work – but that doesn’t matter. The humor usually hits the spot, and even though the film slumps in the middle, he manages to wrap things up satisfactorily and on a comedic note, and doesn’t take too long for his modest ambitions. ‘The Lion King 3’ is a fun collage and reinterpretation of well-known ‘Lion King’ moments while also treating the viewer to many amusing moments in the lives of our favorite sidekicks, Timon and Pumbaa. Oh and the animation is again of excellent quality. What more could you ask for from a (second) direct-to-video sequel to a timeless Disney film? Indeed.