Uganda Be an Elephant

"Uganda Be an Elephant" is the first segment of the eighth episode of Season 1 of The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa, and the fifteenth episode of the series overall. It premiered on October 6, 1995 on the syndicated Disney Afternoon block, alongside "To Kilimanjaro Bird".
==Official synopsis==
"Pumbaa gets it into his head to reinvent himself as a pachyderm." Accessed 12 November 2019.
==Plot summary==
Timon draws Pumbaa's attention to Ned the Elephant, a prideful pachyderm, and points out all the benefits an elephant enjoys over every other animal, including a trunk for showers, birds that ride on his back, and the utility of long tusks. Pumbaa begins contemplating becoming an elephant and the next morning, he excitedly asks Timon for help in transforming himself into an elephant. Because Pumbaa's reason to change is to be more popular, Timon jumps on the opportunity.
The first step is for Pumbaa to become bigger and fatter. Timon soon begins shoveling worms into Pumbaa's mouth. The warthog is happy at first, but as he becomes full, he becomes miserable and thinks perhaps he should be himself.
The next step, Timon says, is to condition his pal's mind, since elephants never forget. Soon, Timon becomes frustrated by Pumbaa's slow wit and poor memory. Pumbaa points out that the reason Timon is not popular, is because he is grumpy.
The final enhancement Timon attempts to make is to stretch Pumbaa's snout out to be an elephant trunk. He wedges Pumbaa's head between two palm trees and hooks a rope to his nose. He rolls a boulder over the edge which pulls the rope on Pumbaa's nose and stretches it to a disproportionate length. Timon congratulates his pal on his successful transformation into an elephant and convinces him to gloat in Ned's face. Pumbaa, however, does not want to show his elephant form to the pachyderm as he has a feeling that he will get laughed at and made fun of. Timon tells his pal that he will be right there with him and that he'll help him.
When they arrive, Ned and his two hippo friends point and laugh at the "Pumbaaphant." They laugh so hard that, as they're walking away, they plummet over a cliff, making it up to Pumbaa to rescue them. Barely hanging on, Ned still tries to make fun of Pumbaa, who is trying to rescue him and the two hippos. Eventually he grabs onto one of Pumbaa's tusks and is towed up. Ned gets a change of heart and offers Pumbaa an honorary spot in his clique. However, Pumbaa refuses, saying that he is proud to be exactly who he is: a warthog.
==Voice cast==
===Starring===
*Quinton Flynn as Timon
*Ernie Sabella as Pumbaa
===Guest Starring===
*Frank Welker as Ned and the hippos
==Appearances==
==Trivia==
* This episode is likely inspired by The Lion King screenwriter Linda Woolverton's original concept of Pumbaa as an elephant, until he was recommended by George Scribner to be a warthog instead.
* A scene from this episode is shown in the 2000 Disney Channel Original Movie Stepsister from Planet Weird. Accessed 12 November 2019.
==Media==
Uganda Be an Elephant & To Kilimanjaro Bird|The full episodes of "Uganda Be an Elephant" & "To Kilimanjaro Bird"
==References==
Category:Episodes
Category:The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa episodes
Category:The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa: Season 1
Category:Real world