Timon (The Lion King)

Timon is a major character in Disney's The Lion King franchise. He is a meerkat and the son of Ma, the nephew of Uncle Max, the adoptive uncle of Bunga. Timon, along with Pumbaa, serves as one of Simba's best friends, and is also his childhood guardian (after his father was killed by his villainous uncle, Scar).
He was voiced by , who also plays Ernie Smuntz in MouseHunt, Max Bialystock in The Producers and Snowbell in Stuart Little. On occasions, he is voiced by Quinton Flynn and Kevin Schon. In Kingdom Hearts II, Disney Th!nk Fast, and Timon and Pumbaa's Wild About Safety, he is voiced by Bruce Lanoil.
==History==
===The Lion King===
Timon first appears when he and Pumbaa chase vultures away from an unconscious lion cub named Simba in a desert. Upon discovering that Simba is a lion, Timon panics and tries to get Pumbaa to leave with him, but Pumbaa replies that Simba is just a little lion and asks Timon if they could keep him. Timon questions Pumbaa on if he is nuts and says that lions eat guys like them and he will get bigger. When Pumbaa points out that Simba will be on their side, Timon scoffs at this before changing his mind and claiming the idea as his own.
Timon and Pumbaa then take Simba to a shaded area and splash water on his face, which makes him regain consciousness. Timon asks Simba if he's okay to which Simba replies that he guesses so. When Timon tries to claim full responsibility for saving Simba, he gets an angry look from Pumbaa and changes the statement to Pumbaa helping out a little. Simba thanks them before getting up and walking away. 
Timon asks Simba where he is going to which Simba replies nowhere. Timon and Pumbaa catch up with Simba and asks where he is from. Simba replies that he cannot go back to where he came from as he did something terrible, but does not want talk about it. Timon replies that he and Pumbaa do not want to hear about it, but Pumbaa asks Simba if there's anything they can do to which Simba replies not unless they could change the past. Timon tells Simba that he's got to put the past behind stating that when the world turns his back on him, he must turn his back on the world. 
When Simba says that that wasn't what he was taught, Timon replies that Simba needs a new lesson and along with Pumbaa teaches Simba about their way of life; Hakuna Matata. They also teach Simba to give up on meat and eat bugs instead.
Some years later, Timon, Pumbaa and a now young adult Simba stargaze. When asked by Pumbaa what he wonders what the stars are, Timon says that they are "fireflies that go stuck up in that big blueish black thing". When Pumbaa says that he believes that they are balls of gas burning billions of miles away, Timon tells him that to him, everythings gas. When Simba says that someone once told him that The Great Kings of the Past are watching over them, Timon along with Pumbaa, laughs at this and asks Simba what "mook" made that one up, unintentionally hurting Simba's feelings (as the one who had told him about the Great Kings was his late father Mufasa). 
After Simba gets up and leaves, a confused Timon wonders if it was something he said. Sometime later, Timon is out in the jungle with Pumbaa, singing "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", before noticing that Pumbaa has disappeared. Moments later, Timon hears Pumbaa screaming and goes to find him. He finds Pumbaa stuck under a tree root shouting "She's gonna eat me!". 
Timon looks up and sees a lioness racing towards them. Timon tries to free Pumbaa from the tree root before screaming in horror as the lioness lurges at them. Just then, Simba arrives and fights the lioness. As Simba fights her, Timon cheers him on, encouraging him to use lethal force against her. However, the fight is short as Simba recognizes the lioness as his childhood friend from the Pride Lands Nala. When Nala claims that Simba is the King, Timon questions Simba on this. Simba says that he is not the King, stating that maybe he was going to be but that was a long time ago.
After Simba and Nala go to have time alone, Timon and Pumbaa express worry that their trio will be no more now Simba has fallen in love with Nala. The next day, Timon and Pumbaa are sleeping, only to be awoken by Nala, who asks if they have seen Simba as she cannot find him. Just then, a mandrill named Rafiki arrives and tells them that the King has returned. When Timon and Pumbaa react in confusion, Nala tells them that Simba has gone home to challenge his uncle Scar in order to take his rightful place as King. Timon, Pumbaa and Nala catch up with Simba and pledge to aid him in fighting Scar.
Timon and Pumbaa do a hula dance to distract several of Scar's hyenas to give Simba and Nala a chance to get to Pride Rock.
Timon and Pumbaa participate in the battle of Pride Rock and fight several hyenas. At one point, Timon is chased into the royal den by two hyenas named Shenzi and Banzai and goes into a ribcage holding Zazu. Pumbaa arrives and attacks the hyenas and frees Timon and Zazu.
After Simba defeats Scar, Timon along with Pumbaa, Nala, Zazu and the other lionesses watch him ascend Pride Rock and roar in victory and become King of the Pride Lands. Timon is last seen sometime later at the peak of Pride Rock with Simba and Nala, whose newborn cub is presented to the animals of the Pride Lands by Rafiki.
===The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa===
Timon, along with Pumbaa, are the titular main protagonists of this 1995-1999 spin-off TV series. In this series, he and Pumbaa are seen hunting bugs, singing songs, and going on wacky, hijinx-filled adventures.
It is revealed in the series that before Timon met Pumbaa, he had a best friend named Fred, who is a meerkat who enjoys pulling practical jokes. The episode "Isle of Manhood" also reveals Timon taking a manhood test in order to prove himself brave and manly.
In "Timon's Time Togo", Timon dies from eating a poisonous bug, but the meerkat angel sends him back to Earth so that he can perform one good deed in order to enter Meerkat Heaven. Timon, however, decides to never again do any good deeds so that he'll never die and leave Pumbaa forever. In another episode "The Law of the Jungle", Timon breaks the law by touching a forbidden stick. Due to that, he gets sent to a jungle court by the vulture police, where a rhino judge, known as the Wonderful Rhino of Laws, comes up with various tests for Timon to prove his innocence.
In "Timon...Alone", Timon decides to start a new life as a writer and wants to be away from Pumbaa in order to concentrate. He later realizes how lonely he is without Pumbaa and decides to find his friend and quit his new lifestyle as a writer. In another episode "Ice Escapades", Timon reveals that he dreams of becoming an ice skater and suggests that he and Pumbaa become world's famous ice skating champions. It turns out that Timon is not good at ice skating, but Pumbaa suggests that he keeps trying in order to live out his dream, which he does.
In the episode "Once Upon a Timon", a pre-existing version of Timon's backstory was revealed. He lived in a more civilized colony, which was ruled by the Duke Meerkat and his daughter Princess Tatiana, whom Timon had a massive crush on. One day when Timon had guard duty while the Duke was away, he left his post to speak with the princess. While he was gone, a snake invaded the colony and kidnapped Tatiana. As a result, Timon got blamed for abandoning his post and was banished from the colony by the Duke. He soon met and befriended Pumbaa, who was also an outcast. Soon enough, the two came across Tatiana, who was held captive by the snake, and rescued her. When Timon returned to the colony with Pumbaa and Tatiana, he was offered to marry the princess and get the good life, but that would mean leaving Pumbaa. Therefore, he decided to stay with his pal and live a Hakuna Matata life.
===The Lion King II: Simba's Pride===
Timon is seen again in this sequel. He appears with Pumbaa during the presentation of Simba and Nala's cub Kiara where they mistakenly believe that she is a boy and are shocked when Rafiki corrects them and says that Kiara is a girl.
Months later, Timon and Pumbaa are sent out by an overprotective Simba to keep an eye on Kiara. Upon catching up with the young princess, the two snack on bugs, which Kiara considers gross. When Timon and Pumbaa have an argument about whether slimy or crunchy bugs are best, Kiara takes this opportunity to sneak away to the explore the Outlands.
At some point offscreen, Timon and Pumbaa notice Kiara is missing and report this to Simba. They later accompany Simba, Nala and two lionesses to go looking for Kiara and find her at the border between the Pride Lands and the Outlands with Zira (the leader of Scar's followers the Outsiders) and her young son Kovu (whom Kiara befriended). Whilst Simba and Zira face off, Timon tells Zira to get out of "their" Pride Lands, but then cowers behind Pumbaa when Zira roars at him. After Zira and Kovu leave, Timon along with Pumbaa, Nala and the two lionesses return to Pride Rock whilst Simba stays behind to talk with Kiara.
The duo is seen again a years later during a now adolescent Kiara's first hunt and are once again sent by Simba to watch her but are caught out by her where she is angry that her father broke his promise to let her hunt alone and then leaves them.
The next day, Timon and Pumbaa are seen attempting to chase birds away from the bugs they are trying to eat. At the same time, Kovu is teaching Kiara how to hunt and runs into them. Pumbaa convinces Timon to have Kovu get rid off the birds by roaring at them. Kiara and Kovu roar at the birds and along with Timon and Pumbaa chase the birds away. However, the quartet end up running away after encounting a herd of rhinoceros.
The next day, Timon along with Pumbaa, Kiara and Zazu spot Simba limping (after he was ambushed by Zira and the Outsiders whilst out walking with Kovu). Kiara sends Zazu away to get help whilst she goes towards Simba with Timon and Pumbaa. When Timon asks Simba what has happened to him, Simba spurts out "Kovu" "Ambush" before collapsing. Timon then helps Pumbaa carry Simba back to Pride Rock. Later that day, Kovu returns to Pride Rock, where Timon attempts to attack him for supposedly being involved in the ambush. He has Pumbaa hold him back, but then lets go of when Timon says "let me at him". However it is Simba who confronts Kovu and banishes him from the Pride Lands. Timon and Pumbaa are not present when Kiara confronts Simba over his decision to Kovu before going into Pride Rock in tears, presumably going somewhere else to leave the two be believing that they should not get involved. That night, Timon and Pumbaa go inside Pride Rock and find Kiara gone (as she had left to look for Kovu). They then argue over this before Simba comes in and asks what is going on. Timon nervously tells Simba that Kiara is gone. Before Simba can deal with this, Zazu arrives and reveals that the Outsiders are coming to the Pride Lands for battle. Simba sends Zazu to find Kiara whilst he, Timon and Pumbaa 
During the Pridelanders' battle with Zira and the other Outsiders, Timon and Pumbaa distract some of the Outsider lionesses. After that, Timon and Pumbaa are happy after Kiara and Kovu are married and the two prides have reunited.
===The Lion King 1½===
Timon is seen with Pumbaa as silhouettes watching The Lion King on a big screen in a movie theatre. Timon then fast forwards the film to the part where they come in. However, Pumbaa declares that everyone is going to get confused and says that they've got to go back to the beginning of the story. Timon says that they are not in the beginning of the story to which Pumbaa replies that they were there the whole time. Pumbaa then gives Timon sn idea to show people their story and go back to before the beginning.
It is shown that Timon used to live in a meerkat colony far from Pride Rock and is seen as an outcast by the rest of the colony except his mother Ma. Timon is encouraged by Ma to take up sentry duty under the guidance of his uncle Max. However after Uncle Max leaves, Timon starts to sing and does not notice Shenzi, Banzai and Ed approaching until it's too late. Timon is knocked aside as the hyenas attack the colony. After Uncle Max is hurt during the attack, the colony are angry at Timon for not doing his job. Deciding that his place is not in the colony and decides to leave.
During his travels, he meets Rafiki, who teaches him Hakuna Matata and tells him to look beyond what he sees. Timon take the statement literally and sees Pride Rock and decides that it will be his new home. He later meets Pumbaa, who goes with him to Pride Rock, but they see many animals there, not knowing that they are there for Simba's presentation. Timon decides to go to a nearby area instead and walks through the crowd of animals with Pumbaa, who gets nervous and breaks wind, causing some of the animals to pass out. Timon declares that this must be Pumbaa's special power. They then arrive that their new home and Pumbaa makes beds for them. A few months later, Timon is awoken by singing, which Pumbaa says is new neighbours. They go outside and find a tower of animals singing "I Just Can't Wait To Be King". An annoyed Timon hits an elephant at the bottom of the tower, causing the tower to collapse on them.
Timon and Pumbaa then go to the Elephant Graveyard but decide against staying there after watching Mufasa attacking hyenas. They then go to the hyenas lair and see the hyenas goose marching to "Be Prepared" and riverdance away. They then go to the gorge and get caught up in a wildebeest stampede, but survive by landing in a river. However, they're happiness is short lived when they go down a waterfall. The pair survive the fall and comes across the jungle and decide to live there. They later find Simba and raise him.
When Simba becomes a teenager, Timon competes with him in a snail slurping contest, but loses to Simba. When Simba becomes a young adult, he reunites with Nala and they fall in love. Not wanting to lose Simba, Timon and Pumbaa try to sabotage their relationship, but fail. Later, they see Simba storming away from Nala and believe that their plan worked. When Pumbaa and Nala decide to return to help Simba fight Scar, Timon is at first against joining them, but after feeling sad and lonely, he changes his mind after encountering Rafiki who help him realize that Hakuna Mataka was with the ones he loves (not only the place he was looking for).
After distracting the hyenas with the hula dance, Timon and Pumbaa encounter Ma and Uncle Max, who had left the colony to look for him. After hyenas protecting Scar from Simba, Timon makes a plan to trap them. Timon and Pumbaa get the hyenas away Simba and lure them to an area of Pride Rock where Ma and Uncle Max are digging tunnels. In an effort to give them more time, Timon pretends to propose to Shenzi. Uncle Max activates the trap, but it jams. Timon dives into the tunnel and activates the trap again, sending the hyenas to the bottom of Pride Rock where they turn on Scar. Ma at first thinks that Timon perished before he emerges alive.
As he prepares to ascend Pride Rock, Simba hugs Timon and Pumbaa and says that he could not have done it without them. Timon and the others then watch Simba roar in victory. Ma then asks Timon if he found what he was looking for to which he takes her and the colony to live in the jungle.
Back in the theatre, Pumbaa asks Timon if they can watch the film again to which Timon replies that they just saw it and maybe they can watch it tomorrow. Just then, Ma arrives and decides that she wants to watch the film and rewinds it back to the beginning. Uncle Max, Simba and Rafiki then arrive and are soon joined by several other Disney characters to watch the film.
===The Lion Guard===
Timon along with Pumbaa, appears in the 2015 TV film The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar and it's follow up 2016 TV series. It is set in the middle of the second film and centers around Simba and Nala's second child Kion. Also in this series, Timon and Pumbaa serve as adoptive uncles to Kion's honey badger friend Bunga.
==Songs sung by Timon== 
*That's All I Need - After Timon hears the words about avoiding hyenas, he is longing to be in paradise to avoid hyenas.
*Hakuna Matata - Timon and Pumbaa sing this song when they reach paradise in the midquel. Outside the midquel, they sing this song for Simba meaning not to have any worries. The deleted version says that he was a young meerkat.
*Warthog Rhapsody - This song is sung when Timon and Pumbaa talk to Simba. This is deleted, later used for That's All I Need.
*The Lion Sleeps Tonight - Timon sings most of the song. It was shown in the music video of Timon and Pumbaa.
==Vocals==
==Trivia== 
*In an earlier draft of The Lion King, Timon was married to a female meerkat named Tesma.
**Another earlier draft was to feature Timon and Pumbaa distracting the hyenas with a Saturday Night Fever style dance before it was replaced with the hula dance in the final film.
*In the early stages of The Lion King 1½, Timon had a father, but he was cut from the final film as there were too many characters and his lines were given to Ma and Uncle Max.
*It was previously unknown if after the events of The Lion King if Timon and Pumbaa lived in Pride Rock with Simba and his pride or if they visit. It was confirmed in The Lion Guard to be the latter as they are shown to live in an area of The Pride Lands called Hakuna Matata Falls.
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