September 8, 1995 – The Animated Series The Lion King’s Timon & Pumbaa Premieres on The Disney Afternoon
“Here’s your grub: I hope you choke. Augh! I mean, I’m Timon and I’ll be your waiter!”
On September 8, 1995, the animated series The Lion King’s Timon & Pumbaa premiered as part of the Disney Afternoon programming block. Based on the characters from the hit 1994 animated feature film, the show was about their adventures in various settings. The show ran for three seasons, with 85 full episodes. The show starred Nathan Lane, Kevin Schon, and Quinton Flynn as Timon (split in various episodes), and Ernie Sabella as Pumbaa.
The first half episode, “Boara Boara,” begins with Timon and Pumbaa being washed up on the shore of an island, although they were hoping to end up in a snowy place for a ski vacation. They decide to make the best of it and enjoy the beach. Unfortunately, they aren’t alone, as a tribe in the island has decided to take Pumbaa to make them their meal. Timon panics when he can’t find his friend, while Pumbaa is being served up to the king of the tribe. The King, however, beats his henchmen when they realize that Pumbaa resembles their god. Timon braves through the jungle to find his friend, and is irritated to find his friend being revered. When he attempts to take Pumbaa away, the tribe captures Timon and takes him to the volcano as a sacrifice, although Timon mistakes it as them making him King. When they reach the top of the volcano, Timon is thrown into the lava, and barely manages to make it out alive, and begs the tribe to keep him alive, offering to do anything. The anything he ends up doing though is serving Pumbaa hand and foot. After a while, Pumbaa is asked to make fire for the tribe, but is soon revealed as an imposter. Timon and Pumbaa attempt to escape, when they decide instead to distract the tribe with a samba. In the end, the tribe members decide to leave, and Timon and Pumbaa head back to the beach, where they discover that developers have taken over.
The second half, “Saskatchewan Catch,” begins with Timon and Pumbaa bug hunting in a forest for the best-tasting bug in the universe: the Saskatchewan Sky-High Beetle. Timon is just about to catch it when he falls from his perch and lands on a branch. A flying squirrel falls from a height and hits Timon, and the two fall to the ground. Pumbaa then states that Timon has fallen sixteen times, and maybe they could use some help. Pumbaa suggests that they get the help of the flying squirrel, and Timon tries to butter her up to help her. She promises to help them, only if they help her get the affections of another flying squirrel. Timon sets to work in getting the male squirrel’s attention, but to no avail. They are finally able to capture the male squirrel, and they trick him into having dinner with the female squirrel. He is taken with her on first sight, and the romance between them begins to bloom. However, Timon disagrees with the male’s take on love, as the male squirrel wants to give up all of his freedom to be with woman. In the end, although they get the lovers together, they are unable to get the bugs that they wanted, as the squirrels fly off into the night together.
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