My Lion King Forum

After Pumba says "thanks" in "Hakuna Muatata", there's an odd scene where he appears in a completely different setting. The script doesn't seem to notice it:

{Back into song}



Timon:
Why, when he was a young warthog...

Pumbaa:
{Italian counter-tenor range} When I was a young wart hoooog!

Timon:
{Speaking, cleaning ear} Very nice.

Pumbaa:
Thanks!

Timon:
{Singing} He found his aroma lacked a certain appeal
He could clear the savannah after every meal

Pumbaa:
I'm a sensitive soul, though I seem thick-skinned
And it hurt that my friends never stood downwind
And oh, the shame

Timon:
He was ashamed!

Pumbaa:
Thoughta changin' my name
[Oh, what's in a name?]
And I got downhearted
[How did you feel?]
Ev'rytime that I...

Timon:
{Speaking} Pumbaa! Not in front of the kids!

Pumbaa:
{Speaking} Oh... sorry.


{String pizzicato. Simba looks into the camera, surprised.}


Is this in every version, or are there two versions, one where Pumbaa doesn't appear in the different setting?

BTW, this whole part is weird in general.

That's because Timon & Pumbaa were explaining why Pumbaa had no friends/why nobody wanted to be around him because of his nasty gas. It was a sort of a flash black sort of thing.

Yeah...what exactly was wit that? Any respect I had for that character was gone with that moment.

And...couldn't they have explained it in a more...I dunno, RESPECTABLE manner?

The whole point is that Timon and Pumbaa are not the most "respectable" of animals. But if these two, with their problems, can find happiness with Hakuna Matata, then Simba can as well. That was the point of the song.

Plus it's crude for the comedy factor.

[quote="EdtheHyena"]Yeah...what exactly was wit that? Any respect I had for that character was gone with that moment.

And...couldn't they have explained it in a more...I dunno, RESPECTABLE manner?[/quote]


Probably not. Timon and Pumbaa aren't exactly considered polite. Especially Timon.

It`s a flashback explaining why Pumbaa was outcast/shunned by other animals. I personally think it was handled discreetly enough without being downright crude.

It was very weird. I don't know why they even made the character a gasshole to begin with. It's just downright creepy.

[quote="EdtheHyena"]It was very weird. I don't know why they even made the character a gasshole to begin with. It's just downright creepy.[/quote]
He is a odd/cast out character. So the directors needed a way to make him an outcast, while still keeping it light-hearted (just like the characters themselves). So they came up with him having bad gas.

Or at least thats what I think.

There's a thousand other ways they could do that.

The hyenas are odd, outcast characters, yet they manage to be clean in that area.

No, there was no excuse for that.

Also, it could have been established better. That flashback sort of introduced it out of no where.

Also, if he's a good character, he's supposed to be someone the audience likes, and making him that sick DRASTICALLY decreases any fondness the audience has for the character.

I sort of liked Pumba as a kid, although I mainly knew him (and Timon) from their show, which I saw only a handful times. Now, being schooled in it, I've seen that it's far from perfect, but finding out this about Pumba was just a kick in the ass.