Pumbaa
Pumbaa is a warthog who is best friends with Timon and Simba. He is a supporting character in The Lion King and The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, and the deuteragonist of The Lion King 1½
Character Information:
Name: Pumbaa
Meaning: Foolish, Silly, Simpleton Gender: Male Species: Warthog Affiliation: Pridelanders Personality:
Pumbaa is a very likeable character as he's truly loyal to Simba and very protective of Timon. He loves to consume grubs, and longs for friends who won't abandon him. In The Lion King 1½, it is revealed he feels awkward when in crowds, which creates a problem he has with his stomach that causes him to flatuate. However, he displays child-like naivety which is sometimes confused for stupidity, but actually, he comes up with some intelligent plans and insightful ideas, which Timon rapidly claims as his own.
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Information:
Pumbaa is a warthog that grew up very lonely. He was always neglected because of his smell and gas problem. Later on in life, he found a meerkat named Timon. They quickly became best friends. For a long time, the friends searched for a home, upon finding a beautiful haven, to which they decided to settle down. Eventually they adopt young Simba after he runs away, and raise him. Pumbaa is very caring and is the protector of Timon. After the success of The Lion King, Timon and Pumbaa were given their own spin-off TV series, which ran for 86 episodes between September 1995 to November 1998, and occasionally had cameos of other Lion King characters.
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Pumbaa's Life:
The Lion King I:
In the film, Pumbaa is seen along with Timon trying to rescue young Simba by "bowling for buzzards". Upon looking at him, Pumbaa wants to adopt Simba in to which Timon at first refuses, but Timon warms up to the idea. When Simba recovers from his exhaustion, he walks off and thanks them. But, Timon and Pumbaa follow him and question his background. When Simba tells Timon about his troubles, Timon teaches the young cub to the philosophy of "Hakuna Matata" (Swahili for "no worries"). Pumbaa, along with Timon, also teach Simba to eat grubs instead of his usual diet consisting of zebras, antelopes, and hippos.
When Simba fully matures into an adult, Pumbaa along Timon and Simba gaze out at stars. Days later, he is singing back-up to "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" with Timon until Pumbaa runs off to eat a dung beetle. When the dung beetle flies away, he sees Nala in the grass and screams in panic. She ferociously chasing after him until Pumbaa gets stuck in a tree root. Timon tries to help him, but Simba rescues them. After a brief fight between Simba and Nala ends, he meets Nala and learns that Simba was to be a king. Simba tells him and Timon to leave so he can catch up with Nala. Seeing Simba and Nala embrace each other, Pumbaa questions Timon's belief that Nala will end their friendship with Simba in the opening verse and later sings the ending verse of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight".
The next morning, Pumbaa is frightened when Nala awakes him. When Rafiki tells him, Timon, and Nala that Simba is going back to the Pridelands, he learns more about Simba's backstory through having a conservation with Nala. He finds Simba with Nala and he agrees to help Simba win back his rightful place as king. When they are close to Pride Rock, Simba calls for him and Timon to find a way to distract a group of hyenas crowding Pride Rock. They agree to it and Pumbaa sings back-up to Timon's hula song which gets some hungry hyenas to chase after them clearing the path for Simba to encounter Scar at Pride Rock.
He is finally seen during the climatic battle at Pride Rock. When Banzai calls him a "pig", he screams "They call me Mister Pig!" and successfully fight off the hyenas. After Simba and the Pridelanders defeat Scar and the hyenas, he witnesses Simba taking back his rightful throne and is seen at the presentation of Simba and Nala's newborn cub.
The Lion King II (Simba's Pride):
After Kiara is presented to the animals at Pride Rock, Pumbaa faints along Timon when Rafiki corrects them by telling them that Kiara is a girl, not a boy. Months pass and Kiara becomes a young, adventurous cub like her father. When Kiara runs off to play, Simba instructs him and Timon to look after her so she doesn't run off to the Outlands. They sneak up from behind Kiara while on a rock, and she and Pumbaa with Timon scream in panic until Kiara falls into a pond. Pumbaa dives in after her and Timon tells him that he is "babysitting" on her. Eventually, she runs off when he and Timon debate over the type of bugs they like. Pumbaa is seen again when Zira encounters Simba and they leave after the confrontation. When Kiara matures into an adult, Simba again instructs him and Timon to make sure she doesn't get hurt. They stalk Kiara in a James Bond-esque style until she notices when antelopes run over them. She questions their presence, and Timon responds by telling her that he is shopping for various items for the den. Kiara realizes he's lying, and runs away again. He along with Timon go after her again, but they lose her.
The next morning, when Kovu is teaching Kiara how to hunt, Kovu accidentally runs into Timon. Timon, frightened, thinks he is going to eat him. But, when Kiara appears, Pumbaa asks Timon about getting Kovu to scare off the birds from their feeding grounds, but Timon comes up with the same idea moments later, and enlists them for their help. It soon turns into a chase until they run into a herd of rhinoceros.
The next morning, when Kovu is teaching Kiara how to hunt, Kovu accidentally runs into Timon. Timon, frightened, thinks he is going to eat him. But, when Kiara appears, Pumbaa asks Timon about getting Kovu to scare off the birds from their feeding grounds, but Timon comes up with the same idea moments later, and enlists them for their help. It soon turns into a chase until they run into a herd of rhinoceros.
When Simba is injured from the ambush by Zira and the Outsiders, Pumbaa along with Timon, Kiara, and Zazu find and assist him back to Pride Rock. Soon after that, Pumbaa and Timon engage in another argument when they lost Kiara again until Simba finds them. They tell a story to tell Simba that Kiara ran away again. Quickly, Zazu warns Simba that Zira and the Outsiders are approaching the Pridelands to fight. Immediately, Pumbaa stands alongside Simba and the Pridelanders and mock Zira. During the battle, some Outsider lionesses surround Timon and Pumbaa, which causes Timon to comically use Pumbaa's tail as a shotgun that results in scaring them off. Finally, after the battle is over, he looks alongside Timon and Zazu at Kovu and Kiara's wedding on top of Pride Rock.
The Lion King 1 1/2:
The film begins with Timon and Pumbaa in silhouette while watching the original Lion King film. When Timon fast-forwards the movie to when they first appear, Timon and Pumbaa argue for a moment until they both agree to tell the viewers about their backstory. After Timon sets off to find his place in life, he meets Timon for the first time and Timon uses him to protect him from predators. Timon tells Pumbaa about his search for a dream home and Pumbaa agrees to accompany him. When they arrive at Pride Rock, he and Timon find the animals gathered around Pride Rock. With the option of Pride Rock as his dream home gone, Pumbaa tells Timon to look beyond the "big, pointly rock" until Timon find an oasis near Pride Rock. When Timon tries to get there through entering the crowd, Pumbaa is reluctant as he "doesn't do so well in crowds". But, when Timon and Pumbaa enter the crowd, Pumbaa gets a bad feeling in his stomach, and when Timon pulls Pumbaa's tail, which causes him to fart. This makes the animals pass out and appear to be bowing, where the other animals bow before the newborn prince. Timon and Pumbaa take their new home until it destroyed by the animals singing "I Just Can't Wait to be King". They later venture into the Elephant Graveyard and the gorge when they enter a wildebeest stampede. Having survived a waterfall, Timon gives up and tells Pumbaa to go home. But, Pumbaa tells him he doesn’t have a home that causes Timon to understand and they finally become best friends overnight. The next morning, the two are awakened to a jungle in front of them to which they claim as their "dream home". After a short period of time, they take young Simba in and raise him under the philosophy of "hakuna matata". When Simba grows into a full grown adult, he meets and falls in love with his old friend Nala causing Timon to think Simba's love for her will spell doom for his friendship with him. Along with Timon, they try several ways to keep the new couple "from feeling the love tonight" and fail.
When awakened by Nala the next morning, she tells the two that Simba needs their help in order to defeat Scar. Thinking Simba ran out on him, Timon decides to stay behind which causes him to break his friendship with Pumbaa who wants to help. Pumbaa goes alone leaving Timon behind until Timon finds him in a desert and he restores his friendship with Pumbaa. After the two beat off the hungry hyenas that they sang to, Pumbaa meets Ma and Uncle Max and devise a plan to keep the hyenas away from Simba. After mocking the hyenas, they try several tactics to keep the hyenas busy so Ma and Uncle Max can finish their tunnel. Eventually, they defeat the hyenas thus helping Simba reclaim his rightful place as king. After the movie ends, Pumbaa wants to see the movie again, but Timon refuses until several Disney characters come along to see the movie. Timon later surrenders, but Pumbaa warns Timon that he still doesn't do so well in crowds.
