A Most Parsimonious Timeline...
Posted: October 4th, 2016, 11:35 pm
So earlier in one of the other threads (http://www.mylionking.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1390159#p1390159) I discussed the ages of the main characters of the first movie based on real-world biology, which to the credit of Disney, the cartoon franchise seems to generally follow (with obvious caveats). Here in this thread that I'm probably going to make a multi-part just because I don't have the time to write out everything all in one sitting -- plus the fact that I cannot get a good timeline template from any online program -- I'm just going to write out the general series of events based purely on the characters' ages and the evidence I use to support my theories. Once I eventually manage to find a good template, I'll post that to sort of bring everything together into a nice, single, synthesized graphic.
I figure the best way to start is just to establish what I'm considering canon. I'm trying to be as parsimonious as possible, which means looking at what's shown in the films and generally taking that as literally as possible, thus my own ideas are few and far between. In doing these kinds of projects, I like to live by the creed that if I've properly followed the evidence, the results will surprise me even after double checking my work. That said, here's what seems to be canon, as indicated by Disney:
The Lion King, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, The Lion King 1 1/2, and The Lion Guard.
Now, I like all of these movies, even Timon and Pumbaa's thing, mostly because it adds a bit of levity to a fairly heavy story arc and there was a point during my childhood where I didn't really like thinking about Mufasa's death all the time. Do I think it was a wasted opportunity and made a bunch of weird retcons for the sake of getting a bunch of jokes in? Yes, and I'm not considering those conflicts canon as a result. That said, it does flesh out some aspects of the story.
What about Kopa and those books? Disney says they're not canon, so they're not canon as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure I angered a bunch of people with that assessment, but the overall story arc of the televised films/programs is already convoluted enough what with all the plot holes and such. I'm not one of those people who gets heated over Kopa, not to mention that I had no idea of his existence until around the time The Lion Guard was announced, so I'm neither attached to, nor vehemently against the character. Thus, for the purposes of this little project, I'm only going with what's onscreen.
So, here's the overall layout of events as seen onscreen.
Day 1
Timon leaves his colony and meets Pumbaa later than night.
Day 2
Simba's presentation ceremony occurs, which Timon and Pumbaa witness before settling into that little pond area nearby Pride Rock.
Month 3, Day 1
Mufasa shows Simba the Pride Lands, "I Just Can't Wait to be King" happens, Timon and Pumbaa leave their little home for whatever reason, the elephant graveyard scene happens, and Scar sings "Be Prepared".
Month 3, Day 2
The wildebeest stampede happens, Timon and Pumbaa find their new jungle home, and Scar ascends the throne while Simba runs away into the desert.
Month 3, Day 4
Timon and Pumbaa find and rescue Simba.
Month 8
Timon and Simba have a snail-eating contest.
Month 10
The adolescent Simba we see walking across the log in "Hakuna Matata" in the first movie.
Year 3, Month 3, Day 1
The end of the "Hakuna Matata" musical number; that evening Scar and the hyenas have their talk about the state of the drought and food shortage while Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa have their stargazing conversation.
Year 3, Month 3, Day 2
Rafiki finds out Simba is alive, Nala hunts Pumbaa and reunites with Simba, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" (they mate and conceive), Simba sees Rafiki and has his 'talk' with Mufasa before leaving, not quite knowing the way back home.
Year 3, Month 3, Day 3
Nala and Pumbaa head off back to the Pride Lands, while Timon stays until convinced otherwise by Rafiki.
Year 3, Month 3, Day 4
All four meet up in the Pride Lands that evening, the final battle occurs, Simba takes over as King.
Year 3, Month 7
Kiara (as seen in Simba's Pride) and Kion's (as seen at the end of The Lion King) presentations. Kiara's happens early in the morning as she receives the fruit juice mark on her head, customary for the firstborn and future ruler; Kion is brought out later in the day as Timon and Pumbaa are seen cheering, happy that Simba did indeed have at least one boy after their earlier freakout over Kiara being a girl.
Year 3, Month 10
Kiara has her adventure in the Outlands and meets Kovu; "We Are One" and "My Lulluby" is sung.
Year 4, Month 1
Kion assembles his lion guard.
Year 5, Month 7, Day 1
Kiara goes off on her first solo hunt, 'rescued' by Kovu from the fire; Kovu is cautiously accepted into the pride.
Year 5, Month 7, Day 2
Kiara and Kovu have their outing and fall in love (unrealistically quickly).
Year 5, Month 7, Day 3
Simba takes Kovu to talk, gets ambushed by Outsiders; later that evening Kovu returns to Pride Rock but gets exiled; Zira and the Outsiders invade and a battle is waged overnight.
Year 5, Month 7, Day 4
The battle ends, the two prides reunite in peace.
This is just the timeline of onscreen events -- not counting any of the The Lion Guard episodes; I'm waiting for the first season to end before attempting to figure out any sort of chronology with those -- which means that I haven't really addressed the ages of the various other characters since this is chiefly based on Simba and Kiara's ages at various points throughout the story. I also haven't covered various offscreen details like when various characters were born or when Zira and the rest of her group were exiled, as well as seasonal events which could help to better pinpoint how much time passes when time skips are a bit more ambiguous (such as figuring out more precisely how old Kiara is in the latter half of Simba's Pride), but such things will be addressed and updated in additional posts to this thread, so if you're interested in seeing what I have to say, be sure to check back at some point.
What do people think of this for a start?
I figure the best way to start is just to establish what I'm considering canon. I'm trying to be as parsimonious as possible, which means looking at what's shown in the films and generally taking that as literally as possible, thus my own ideas are few and far between. In doing these kinds of projects, I like to live by the creed that if I've properly followed the evidence, the results will surprise me even after double checking my work. That said, here's what seems to be canon, as indicated by Disney:
The Lion King, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, The Lion King 1 1/2, and The Lion Guard.
Now, I like all of these movies, even Timon and Pumbaa's thing, mostly because it adds a bit of levity to a fairly heavy story arc and there was a point during my childhood where I didn't really like thinking about Mufasa's death all the time. Do I think it was a wasted opportunity and made a bunch of weird retcons for the sake of getting a bunch of jokes in? Yes, and I'm not considering those conflicts canon as a result. That said, it does flesh out some aspects of the story.
What about Kopa and those books? Disney says they're not canon, so they're not canon as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure I angered a bunch of people with that assessment, but the overall story arc of the televised films/programs is already convoluted enough what with all the plot holes and such. I'm not one of those people who gets heated over Kopa, not to mention that I had no idea of his existence until around the time The Lion Guard was announced, so I'm neither attached to, nor vehemently against the character. Thus, for the purposes of this little project, I'm only going with what's onscreen.
So, here's the overall layout of events as seen onscreen.
Day 1
Timon leaves his colony and meets Pumbaa later than night.
Day 2
Simba's presentation ceremony occurs, which Timon and Pumbaa witness before settling into that little pond area nearby Pride Rock.
Month 3, Day 1
Mufasa shows Simba the Pride Lands, "I Just Can't Wait to be King" happens, Timon and Pumbaa leave their little home for whatever reason, the elephant graveyard scene happens, and Scar sings "Be Prepared".
Month 3, Day 2
The wildebeest stampede happens, Timon and Pumbaa find their new jungle home, and Scar ascends the throne while Simba runs away into the desert.
Month 3, Day 4
Timon and Pumbaa find and rescue Simba.
Month 8
Timon and Simba have a snail-eating contest.
Month 10
The adolescent Simba we see walking across the log in "Hakuna Matata" in the first movie.
Year 3, Month 3, Day 1
The end of the "Hakuna Matata" musical number; that evening Scar and the hyenas have their talk about the state of the drought and food shortage while Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa have their stargazing conversation.
Year 3, Month 3, Day 2
Rafiki finds out Simba is alive, Nala hunts Pumbaa and reunites with Simba, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" (they mate and conceive), Simba sees Rafiki and has his 'talk' with Mufasa before leaving, not quite knowing the way back home.
Year 3, Month 3, Day 3
Nala and Pumbaa head off back to the Pride Lands, while Timon stays until convinced otherwise by Rafiki.
Year 3, Month 3, Day 4
All four meet up in the Pride Lands that evening, the final battle occurs, Simba takes over as King.
Year 3, Month 7
Kiara (as seen in Simba's Pride) and Kion's (as seen at the end of The Lion King) presentations. Kiara's happens early in the morning as she receives the fruit juice mark on her head, customary for the firstborn and future ruler; Kion is brought out later in the day as Timon and Pumbaa are seen cheering, happy that Simba did indeed have at least one boy after their earlier freakout over Kiara being a girl.
Year 3, Month 10
Kiara has her adventure in the Outlands and meets Kovu; "We Are One" and "My Lulluby" is sung.
Year 4, Month 1
Kion assembles his lion guard.
Year 5, Month 7, Day 1
Kiara goes off on her first solo hunt, 'rescued' by Kovu from the fire; Kovu is cautiously accepted into the pride.
Year 5, Month 7, Day 2
Kiara and Kovu have their outing and fall in love (unrealistically quickly).
Year 5, Month 7, Day 3
Simba takes Kovu to talk, gets ambushed by Outsiders; later that evening Kovu returns to Pride Rock but gets exiled; Zira and the Outsiders invade and a battle is waged overnight.
Year 5, Month 7, Day 4
The battle ends, the two prides reunite in peace.
This is just the timeline of onscreen events -- not counting any of the The Lion Guard episodes; I'm waiting for the first season to end before attempting to figure out any sort of chronology with those -- which means that I haven't really addressed the ages of the various other characters since this is chiefly based on Simba and Kiara's ages at various points throughout the story. I also haven't covered various offscreen details like when various characters were born or when Zira and the rest of her group were exiled, as well as seasonal events which could help to better pinpoint how much time passes when time skips are a bit more ambiguous (such as figuring out more precisely how old Kiara is in the latter half of Simba's Pride), but such things will be addressed and updated in additional posts to this thread, so if you're interested in seeing what I have to say, be sure to check back at some point.
What do people think of this for a start?