The Lion King 1½

The Lion King 1½
Directed by	Bradley Raymond
Produced by	George A. Mendoza
Screenplay by	Tom Rogers
Story by	Roger Allers Irene Mecchi Bill Steinkiller Raymond Singer Evan Spiliotopoulos
Starring	Nathan Lane Ernie Sabella Matthew Broderick Julie Kavner Jerry Stiller Robert Guillaume Moira Kelly Whoopi Goldberg Cheech Marin Jim Cummings Edward Hibbert Jason Rudofsky
Music by	Score: Don Harper Lebo M Ennio Morricone Songs: Tim Rice Elton John Seth Friedman Martin Erskine
Editing by	Joyce Arrastia
Studio	DisneyToon Studios
Distributed by	Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Release date(s)	February 10, 2004 (2004-02-10)
Running time	77 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Preceded by	The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998)

The Lion King 1½ (also known as The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata in some countries) is a 2004 American direct-to-video animated comedy movie and the prequel to The Lion King. Both movies were made by The Walt Disney Company. This movie focuses on the fictional characters Timon and Pumbaa before they met Simba. The movie was released on DVD and video on February 10, 2004.

The story

Timon and Pumbaa start to watch the original Lion King movie, but Timon keeps insisting to fast forward to when they come in, because they were not seen in the beginning of the story or anywhere until halfway through. Pumbaa suggests telling the audience their story, which begins before Simba's journey begins. Through this, we meet Timon's mother and Uncle Max, discover why he left his meerkat colony, where he learned Hakuna Matata, how he meet Pumbaa, and the perils they encountered while searching for their dream home.

Cast

• Nathan Lane as Timon
• Ernie Sabella as Pumbaa
• Matthew Broderick as Simba (mature)
• Matt Weinberg as Simba (young)
• Cheech Marin as Banzai
• Whoopi Goldberg as Shenzi
• Jim Cummings as Ed
• Robert Guillaume as Rafiki
• Moira Kelly as Nala
• Edward Hibbert as Zazu
• Julie Kavner as Ma (Timon's mom)
• Jerry Stiller as Uncle Max

Soundtrack

The film soundtrack, The Lion King 1½: Songs From Timon and Pumbaa's Hilarious Adventure, was released to CD by Disney Records on February 10, 2004. It includes two songs from the original film, "That's All I Need" and "Hakuna Matata", reperformed by Nathan Lane who took over the role of voicing the character Timon. The rest of the soundtrack includes various R&B tracks, including remakes of the Kool and the Gang classic "Jungle Boogie" by artist French, and two instrumental pieces from film composer Don Harper.

1. "Grazing In The Grass" (Raven)
2. "Digga Tunnah Dance" (Lebo M and Vinx)
3. "That's All I Need" (Nathan Lane)
4. "Hakuna Matata" (Lane, Ernie Sabella, Jason Weaver, Joseph Williams)
5. "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (Lebo M)
6. "Jungle Boogie" (French)
7. "Timon's Traveling Theme"
8. "The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly"

Awards

• 2005 Annie Award for
  • "Best Home Entertainment Production" (Won)
  • "Music in an Animated Feature Production" (Nominated)
• 2005 DVD Exclusive Awards in the following categories:
  • Best Animated Character Performance (Nathan Lane - voice, Alexis Stadermann - animator) for "Timon" (Won)
  • Best Animated DVD Premiere Movie (Won)
  • Best Director (of a DVD Premiere Movie) - Bradley Raymond (Won)
  • Best Editing (of a DVD Premiere Movie) - Joyce Arrastia (Won)
  • Best Screenplay (for a DVD Premiere Movie) - Tom Rogers (Won)
• 2005 Saturn Award
  • "Best DVD Release" (Nominated)

Video game

A video game version of the movie was published in 2003 for the Game Boy Advance, featuring Timon and Pumbaa as the playable characters.

Other websites

• The Lion King 1½ at AllRovi
• The Lion King 1½ at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• The Lion King 1½ at the Internet Movie Database
• The Lion King 1½ at Rotten Tomatoes