Smolder the Bear

Smolder the Bear is a recurring character in the Timon & Pumbaa TV series. He is voiced by Jim Cummings.
==Background==
===Personality===
Smolder is shown to have a terrible temper and can get easily annoyed. Usually, the trouble comes from Timon and Pumbaa, such as waking him up from his nap and getting his fast food meal order wrong, which usually results in him threatening to badly hurt them if they continue to annoy him. He also has no problem harming children, as he ate Joey and Suzie for playing with fire, believing that people who do so are bad. He also dislikes being taken advantage of, as he fights Little Jimmy for viewing as a revenge tool on Timon and Pumbaa rather than a friend. Smolder would also threaten anyone who goes anywhere near someone he loves, as he warns Timon and Pumbaa to stay away from Leslie Lambeau, whom he has a crush on. 
Despite being short-tempered and somewhat antagonistic to some, Smolder is genuinely a nice guy. Even though he can be annoyed by Timon and Pumbaa, he later shows compassion towards the two friends and is even willing to help them, as shown when he saves them from being cooked by Quint after realizing they weren't the ones playing with fire and when he consoles the duo after they do the same for him when he loses Leslie, talking about a beautiful warthog they were once in love with. This leads to him eventually befriending the duo. Smolder can also misinterpret a few things, as he believed that Leslie simply greeting him automatically meant she was in love with him.
===Physical description===
Smolder is a large brown grizzly bear. He wears a fireman's hat in the episode "Ready, Aim, Fire".
===Powers and abilities===
With his strength, claws, and sharp teeth, Smolder is perfectly capable of breaking and damaging things such as trees, mailboxes, statues, and even bars. He uses those objects to warn others what would happen to them if they do anything to make him angry, proving to them that he is really not to be messed with. 
==Role in the series==
==="Slalom Problem"===
While Timon and Pumbaa are walking in the snow, cold and hungry, they find a restaurant that serves bugs. The duo enter but get kicked out since they have no money. Timon sees a poster about skiing instructing and it says that they can make money. This gives Timon an idea, but Pumbaa tells his friend that they can't ski.
Timon and Pumbaa meet Smolder. Timon tells him that he and Pumbaa are skiing instructors and Smolder tells the two that he has a problem with falling and forces them to not let him fall. Pumbaa sneezes and accidentally pushes the bear off the hill, and he's about to fall. Timon and Pumbaa try various ways to stop Smolder from falling.
When Smolder makes it down the mountain unharmed, he decides to have Timon and Pumbaa teach him more lessons about skiing. Pumbaa insists on telling the bear the truth, but Timon instead tells him that he graduated and became a natural skier.
Now that Timon and Pumbaa made money, they are about to reenter the restaurant, with Pumbaa still having doubts about what happened with Smolder. But then, Smolder takes Timon and Pumbaa to go to the Pro-slope with him as he believes that they did a good job teaching him how to ski. While they are on their way, a man asks the three for lift tickets and since Timon and Pumbaa don't have the tickets, he takes their money, with Pumbaa telling Timon that he should have listened to him about telling Smolder the truth.
Timon, Pumbaa, and Smolder are now at the top of the slope, with Smolder warning the duo that if he hits anything on his way down, they will be in trouble. When the three ski down the slope, Timon and Pumbaa accidentally covers Smolder's eyes with his ski hat, causing him to not see anything. Timon and Pumbaa see various obstacles in Smolder's way and quickly remove them before Smolder runs into them.
Smolder then gets caught on fire, causing his skis to burn down. Seeing what just happened, Timon tells Pumbaa that they need to give the bear more skis before he wipes out. Smolder then falls off the edge of the mountain and lands on the duo. When they get down the mountain, Smolder decides to ski on the Super Pro-slope. Eventually, Timon confesses to the bear by telling him that he and Pumbaa don't really know how to skis and are therefore not really skiing instructors. Instead of hurting the duo, Smolder decides to teach them how to ski, causing Timon to glare at Pumbaa for making him tell the truth.
==="Don't Wake the Neighbear"===
Having taken up residence in a townhouse style apartment, Smolder is the neighbor of Pumbaa's aunt.
Timon and Pumbaa arrive at the apartment, as Pumbaa tells his friend that his aunt lives on the second floor and thanks him for helping him house sit while she's away. Timon, who is carrying a boom box, is excited about having a party at Pumbaa's aunt's house, but Pumbaa tells his friend that he has to be careful not to break any of his aunt's stuff, saying that they are priceless family heirlooms.
After Timon almost breaks one of Auntie's stuff with his music, Smolder shouts at Timon to tell him to quiet down, only for the meerkat to force him to come upstairs and make him. Timon and Pumbaa then see that the neighbor is Smolder. When Pumbaa opens the door, Smolder tells the two friends that he sleeps during the daytime since he works at night and warns them that if they don't quiet down, he'll put them in a rocketship that will take them to "a world of hurt."
After Smolder's warning, Pumbaa suggests that Timon and his friends have a quiet party, but Timon tells the warthog that his friends don't understand the word "quiet." Timon is about to call his friends to cancel the party, but it's too late as his friends, an elephant, a hyena, and a lion, have arrived. While Timon and Pumbaa go to the kitchen to feed their friends in order to make them be quiet, the elephant turns on some music and dances by stomping his feet hardly on the floor. When Timon turns off the music, Smolder opens the door and tells Timon and Pumbaa that they probably weren't listening to him before, so the bear becomes more specific about what he will do if they don't quiet down.
After the conflict with Smolder, Timon has an idea to make the bear not hear what's going on. Timon goes in Smolder's room with two croissants and puts one of them in each of his ears. After seeing that Smolder cannot hear him, Timon tells his friends that they can now party, but still quietly. The party, however, goes out of control as Timon's friends keep almost messing up Pumbaa's aunt's floor. Pumbaa has had enough and he and Timon make Timon's friends leave the house, suggesting that the party is over.
A feather from a pillow lands on Smolder's nose, which makes Smolder wake up and get mad. Timon and Pumbaa hear the bear and Timon hammers planks on the door, but Smolder is strong enough to open it. The bear sees the croissants in his ears and is now about to hurt Timon and Pumbaa. Luckily, it's time for Smolder's job and Smolder leaves Timon and Pumbaa alone.
Timon and Pumbaa are relieved not only about them not getting hurt by Smolder, but also about Pumbaa's aunt's stuff not being broken. But then, a female hippo named Mrs. Finch from the third floor, with Smolder as her dance instructor, dances by stomping hardly on the floor, causing all of Pumbaa's aunt's stuff to break. Pumbaa's aunt shows up and is about to hurt Timon and Pumbaa for what just happened.
==="Jailhouse Shock"===
Timon and Pumbaa are enjoying their summer while eating June Bugs. Suddenly, a policeman shows up and arrests the duo for eating June Bugs in July. When Timon asks him since when eating June Bugs in July is illegal, the policeman tells him that it was Little Jimmy who convinced him so.
When Timon and Pumbaa find Little Jimmy, Pumbaa believes that it's a coincidence while Timon corrects his friend by telling him that the bluebird framed them. After reminding Pumbaa about the last time they saw Little Jimmy, Timon fears on what the bluebird might do to them, but Pumbaa states that since he's only a bird in a cage, he can't do anything painful to them. As Timon and Pumbaa prepare to get tough on Little Jimmy, they realize that he is cellmates with Smolder. When Little Jimmy convinces Smolder that Timon and Pumbaa were about to hurt him, the bear states that if they do so, he is going to hurt them. This makes Timon and Pumbaa try to figure out a way to get out of jail.
When Timon and Pumbaa are doing aerobics, Pumbaa tells his friend that life in prison isn't so bad, until they have to work a rock pile with Smolder and Little Jimmy. Little Jimmy gives Timon and ax and makes Smolder believe that Timon hit him with it. As the bear prepares to hurt the two, Timon and Pumbaa flee from them.
While Timon and Pumbaa try to find a way to get out of jail, Smolder and Little Jimmy talk about the painful things Smolder will do to the duo. Little Jimmy soon reveals that he is using Smolder as a revenge on Timon and Pumbaa for turning him in. When Timon and Pumbaa attempt to make a quick escape, they run into Smolder and Little Jimmy, who prepare to hurt the two until they receive a pardon. As Smolder and Little Jimmy leave the cell, Little Jimmy reveals to Smolder that he has been taking advantage of him, causing them to start a fight.
Timon and Pumbaa realize that with Smolder and Little Jimmy gone, they are fine in their cell. However, Smolder and Little Jimmy get sent back to the cell for fighting. When they agree that it is Timon and Pumbaa's fault, the two friends escape by running into the wall, making Timon question why they haven't thought of that before.
==="Ready, Aim, Fire"===
When Timon and Pumbaa get to a cold national park, they rest by a fire. Smolder shows up and forces the two to turn off the fire otherwise he'll eat them, just like he ate two children. After Timon and Pumbaa turn off the fire, they run into a French-like Quint, who forces them to relight the fire.
While Timon and Pumbaa are on their way to relight the fire for Quint, they run into Smolder. Instead of telling the bear the truth, Timon makes up an excuse by telling him that he and Pumbaa use the fire for them to walk on hot coals. After Smolder makes Timon and Pumbaa walk on hot coals, he still doesn’t find it to be a good excuse and warns them once again about eating them if he ever catches them with another flame.
When Timon and Pumbaa run to the water due to their feet being hurt from the hot coals, they run into Quint again, who finds them without a fire. Timon tells the lumberjack that he and Pumbaa dropped it somewhere in the water. After Quint sends the duo back to the volcano, Pumbaa gets an idea.
Pumbaa makes Timon dress up like a fire to distract Smolder while he gives the real fire to Quint. When the warthog leaves, Smolder walks up to Timon, who tries to distract the bear. Smolder is then about to hit Timon with a shovel, making the meerkat run. The bear ends up hitting Pumbaa and is about to eat the warthog. In order to save his friend’s life, Timon paints a picture of fire on Smolder’s back so that the bear can panic while the two friends escape him. When they once again run into Quint without a fire, Timon is about to make up an excuse of why they don’t have the flame. However, Quint kicks Timon and Pumbaa back to the volcano.
As Timon is about to get some fire, Smolder turns it off and chases Timon and Pumbaa around the volcano. They then bump into each other and fall off, with Timon and Pumbaa landing next to Quint and his fish. When Timon is about to tell Quint the truth, the lumberjack realizes that the duo smells good and is about to eat them instead of his fish.
While Quint roasts Timon and Pumbaa, Pumbaa asks Timon why he didn’t tell Smolder the truth in the first place, which the meerkat replies that it is sometimes easier to lie. Smolder then shows up angry at the duo. Timon and Pumbaa let Smolder know that Quint is the reason they were using fire, making the bear realize they they are not bad guys after all.
Smolder frees Timon and Pumbaa, destroys the fire, and eats Quint. While Timon and Pumbaa are leaving the north, Quint is now inside Smolder with Joey and Suzie.
==="Stay Away from my Honey!"===
While at a hotel swimming pool, Smolder gets a greeting from Leslie Lambeau, which makes him believe she's in love with him. He then finds Timon having a crush on the woman and tells the meerkat to stay away from her or else he'll hurt him and Pumbaa. Leslie, however, makes it clear to Timon and Pumbaa that she and Smolder are not dating.
When Leslie leaves, Pumbaa tells Timon that he's in love, but Timon states that Leslie is not for him, not only because she is human and he is a warthog, but Smolder will hurt them if they go anywhere near her. He then forces Pumbaa to stay away from Leslie, much to his dismay.
When Timon and Pumbaa put ice cubes from a vending machine on a bucket for their larvae lemonade, they run into Leslie again. While Pumbaa becomes very attracted with the woman, Timon tries to remind Pumbaa about Smolder. Leslie then invites Pumbaa to dinner and when she leaves, Smolder shows up, causing Timon to hide in the bucket of ice cubes. Smolder asks Pumbaa where Timon is, to which Pumbaa replies that he said that Leslie is a "dangerous dog." He then tells the bear that Leslie is at dinner, awaiting her true love, making Smolder decide to join them, hoping not to disappoint the woman.
Timon sees Pumbaa sitting at a table with Leslie and Smolder. He hides under the table the three are and tries to get Pumbaa's attention by tapping on his foot, but Pumbaa, thinking it was Leslie touching it, kicks the meerkat, making him accidentally hit Smolder's leg. Smolder thinks Leslie was touching his leg and he unknowingly steps on Timon and scratches him with his toenails.
After Pumbaa plucks flowers, he gives Leslie a bouquet of flowers and tells her how he feels about her. Leslie tells Pumbaa that she likes him, but not in a romantic way. Smolder then shows up and threatens Pumbaa to stay away from Leslie. Leslie tells the bear to leave Pumbaa alone and that she is not his girlfriend. She tells Pumbaa and Smolder that she just wants to think of them as friends. Pumbaa feels disappointed but decides to leave Leslie's room while he still has some dignity, with Smolder following him.
When Timon sees Smolder following Pumbaa, he thinks that the bear is going to kill his friend. He quickly goes to Smolder to tell him that Pumbaa didn't mean to fall in love with Leslie and he then believes that he will kill both of them. However, Smolder starts to cry, heartbroken by what just happened between himself and Leslie. His tears create a big flood, breaking the lounge apart. After the three are swept outside, Pumbaa tells Smolder that he was once in love with a beautiful warthog, but he got laryngitis and was unable to tell her how he felt, and that she moved away. Timon then tells them that he was in love with the same warthog who had told him that she loved Pumbaa and not him. Pumbaa then gets angry at Timon for not telling him so, and the two start fighting.
Smolder breaks up their fight and consoles the two by telling them that they still have each other, and the three all feel better and are about to go get something to eat together, with Smolder now thinking of Timon and Pumbaa as his new friends.
==="Dapper Duck Burgers"===
Timon and Pumbaa are working at a fast food restaurant called Dapper Duck Burgers. Smolder orders a jolly meal with no onions on his burger. However, while Smolder's order is being prepared, Timon claims that he doesn't know how to exclude onions from the burger, so he puts some anyway, assuming Smolder will be gone once he realizes he messed up his order. After Smolder gets his order and sees the onions, the bear returns to the drive-thru window and tells Timon and Pumbaa that onions make him mad and so does people getting his order wrong. He forces the duo to remove the onions before he gets any madder.
While Timon and Pumbaa remove the onions from Smolder's burger, a can falls over them, spilling out an orange powder revealed to be onion crystals all over the burger. When Pumbaa panics, Timon tells his friend that the onion crystals only grow when they get wet, therefore it's okay. However, when Smolder gets his order and is about to eat the burger, his drool lands on it, causing the onions to grow in his car.
When Smolder comes back and confronts Timon and Pumbaa about the onion crystals, Timon tells the bear that he and Pumbaa are new at the job, which makes him understand. Timon then gives Smolder a burger with no onions, but he returns to let the duo know that they forgot to put ketchup on the meal, which makes him very angry.
After Timon and Pumbaa's last attempt to get Smolder's order right, the bear returns and asks them if he could have a jolly meal duck toy. Timon opens the toy box and sees that they ran out, so he disguises himself as a toy and Pumbaa puts him in Smolder's bag. While Smolder leaves with Timon in his back, Timon tries to have Pumbaa say "Come again soon" like he did the previous times Smolder confronted them about his orders, but Pumbaa refuses, stating that he was right about the catchphrase being a jinx. Smolder then starts playing with his "toy", which later sprays mustard in his face to distract him while he's escaping.
Smolder gets very angry and chases Timon back to Dapper Duck Burgers. To keep Smolder out, Timon and Pumbaa put barriers on the door and turn off the lights to make it seem like the restaurant is closed, but Smolder is not convinced. He then manages to remove the barriers and enter the restaurant to hurt Timon and Pumbaa for not giving him a real toy, but luckily for the duo, it's time for Smolder's night job, which is at a Mexican restaurant.
After their conflict with Smolder, Timon and Pumbaa quit their new job at Dapper Duck Burgers and are back to living their Hakuna Matata life. Having ordered food from another restaurant, Timon sees an anteater leaving with his order, making him complain to the employee about his and Pumbaa's orders not being given to them yet, hinting that they ordered before the aardvark. The employee Timon confronted reveals to be Smolder, who is about to hurt Timon and Pumbaa, making the duo run out of the restaurant while he's giving chase.
==="It Runs Good"===
Having seen Timon and Pumbaa's car ad, Smolder asks Pumbaa for a car that runs good and states that he has been sold problem cars before and that he will get very angry if he ends up with another lemon. When Pumbaa sells Smolder the last car, telling him that it is in perfect working order according to Timon, Timon sees the bear trying to drive it. At this point, he confesses to Pumbaa that the car he sold Smolder is actually a lemon.
Timon and Pumbaa now have to make the car run good in order to keep Smolder happy. They do so by getting under the hood and run over the fan belt, resulting in Smolder being able to drive the car.
Smolder begins to test the car's speed by driving it up a hill, making Timon and Pumbaa run on the belt as fast as possible. After Smolder makes it to the top of the hill with no problem, he decides to test the car's brake pedals, which Timon and Pumbaa realize don't work. They therefore get out of the hood to try to make the car go down the hill slowly and safely.
As Smolder continues to drive, he states that he better not feel a bump, otherwise he will hurt Timon and Pumbaa. When Timon and Pumbaa overhear Smolder's words, they realize that the car is getting a flat tire. So the two friends get out of the hood once again to each grab an axle.
Later, while Smolder continues to drive, rain is coming towards him and he decides to test the convertible top, which doesn't work either. Therefore, Timon and Pumbaa make themselves be the convertible top while the poor weather happens.
When Smolder gets stuck at a traffic light in his new red car, Leslie Lambeau shows up in a blue car with her boyfriend. After Smolder and Lambeau greet each other, Lambeau's boyfriend challenges the bear to a race at Dead Man's Drive to see whose car runs better. When they get there, they start racing, during which Timon and Pumbaa watch out for various obstacles. As they get to the end of the road, Lambeau's boyfriend chickens out and leaves Lambeau alone in the moving vehicle. When Smolder sees the helpless Lambeau trying to get out of the car, he jumps over to the blue car to drive it. This leaves the red car moving without a driver, and Timon and Pumbaa have to throw everything the car had overboard.
==Gallery==
==Trivia==
* Smolder's name and appearance is an obvious reference to Smokey the Bear, a mascot created to educate people about the dangers of forest fires.
* Despite "Smolder" being his name, it is only utilized in the episode "Ready, Aim, Fire". Other episodes refer to him as "Bear" or "Mr. Bear".
* Smolder has a strong dislike for onions (especially dehydrated onion crystals), as they make him mad."Dapper Duck Burgers"
* Much to his embarrassment, Smolder likes playing with toys.
==References==
Category:Bears
Category:Males
Category:Disney characters
Category:Characters
Category:Adults
Category:Neutral characters
Category:Anthropomorphic characters
Category:Timon & Pumbaa characters
Category:TV Animation characters
Category:The Disney Afternoon characters
Category:American characters
Category:Animated characters
Category:Anti-heroes