The Lion King 1½ (also known as The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata in some countries) is a 2004 American direct-to-video animated comedy movie. It is a third installment and prequel to The Lion King. It is a final installment in the trilogy and the sequel to The Lion King. All three movies were made by The Walt Disney Company. This movie is about the fictional characters Timon and Pumbaa before they met Simba. The movie was released on DVD and video on February 10, 2004.

Release

Re-Releases

Home Media

VHS/DVD on February 10, 2004 to releases. Blu-ray on March 6, 2012 and September 11, 2012.

The story 

Timon and Pumbaa start to watch the original Lion King movie, but Timon keeps insisting to fast forward to when they come in, because they were not seen in the beginning of the story or anywhere until halfway through. Pumbaa suggests telling the audience their story, which begins before Simba's journey begins. Through this, we meet Timon's mother and Uncle Max, discover why he left his meerkat colony, where he learned Hakuna Matata, how he met Pumbaa, and the perils they encountered while searching for their dream home.

Cast 

 Nathan Lane as Timon
 Ernie Sabella as Pumbaa
 Matthew Broderick as Simba (mature)
 Matt Weinberg as Simba (young)
 Cheech Marin as Banzai
 Whoopi Goldberg as Shenzi
 Jim Cummings as Ed
 Robert Guillaume as Rafiki
 Moira Kelly as Nala
 Edward Hibbert as Zazu
 Julie Kavner as Ma (Timon's mom)
 Jerry Stiller as Uncle Max

Soundtrack 
The movie's soundtrack, The Lion King 1½: Songs From Timon and Pumbaa's Hilarious Adventure, was released on CD by Disney Records on February 10, 2004. It includes two songs from the original movie, "That's All I Need" and "Hakuna Matata", reperformed by Nathan Lane who took over the role of voicing the character Timon. The rest of the soundtrack includes various R&B tracks, including remakes of the Kool and the Gang classic "Jungle Boogie" by artist French, and two instrumental pieces from film composer Don Harper.

 "Grazing In The Grass" (Raven)
 "Digga Tunnah Dance" (Lebo M and Vinx)
 "That's All I Need" (Nathan Lane)
 "Hakuna Matata" (Lane, Ernie Sabella, Jason Weaver, Joseph Williams )
 "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (Lebo M)
 "Jungle Boogie" (French)
 "Timon's Traveling Theme"
 "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly"

Awards 

 2005 Annie Award for
 "Best Home Entertainment Production" (Won)
 "Music in an Animated Feature Production" (Nominated)
 2005 DVD Exclusive Awards in the following categories:
 Best Animated Character Performance (Nathan Lane - voice, Alexis Stadermann - animator) for "Timon" (Won)
 Best Animated DVD Premiere Movie (Won)
 Best Director (of a DVD Premiere Movie) - Bradley Raymond (Won)
 Best Editing (of a DVD Premiere Movie) - Joyce Arrastia (Won)
 Best Screenplay (for a DVD Premiere Movie) - Tom Rogers (Won)
 2005 Saturn Award
 "Best DVD Release" (Nominated)

Video game 
A video game version of the movie was published in 2003 for the Game Boy Advance. It had Timon and Pumbaa as the playable characters.

References

Other websites 

 
 
 
 

2004 movies
2004 animated movies
American family movies
Disney animated movies
English-language movies
Sequel movies
The Lion King
Disney direct-to-video movies
Annie Award winners