Hating on T&P

My least favorite characters from the original Lion King are Timon and Pumbaa. I know, I know, I’m a heartless soulless monster who doesn’t like anything fun. I don’t really have anything against the pair – I just don’t like them as much as any of the other characters. I like lions and hyenas, and I prefer both the personality and the designs of Zazu and Rafiki over T&P.

I suppose one of my problems with the comedic duo is the fact that they are so referential. In order to be funny to a modern audience they play up the allusions in a way that dates the movie and reduces it from being a more powerful, timeless tale to “dressing in drag and doing the hula”. I know that TLK is necessarily a product of its time, and that all of the characters have moments where they slip into the moment (“It’s a Small World”; “cub sandwich”). But T&P are definitely more to blame than the rest, IMO. Their TV show, naturally terrible as a movie-derivative tends to be, is waaaay too much like this for me.

I also am not a fan of the character designs for the pair. Warthogs are inherently unappealing creatures, so I guess the animators did they best they could with Pumbaa, but Timon to me is not a good adaptation of a meerkat. Far too personified for my taste, especially with those extremely human, clawless hands and his tendency to walk upright everywhere. The “Disney look” doesn’t really suit a meerkat either, with the massive nose and ears.

And since the pair are the comedic duo – both male of course – there is a big slow guy (seemingly dimwitted but really quite insightful) and a small skinny guy (seems to be running the show, snappy and quick) which is kind of a tired combination. Look at some Disney variations on this theme in Horace/Jasper (101 Dalmatians), Pain/Panic (Hercules), Trusty/Jock (Lady and the Tramp), Gus/Jaq (Cinderella), and Sulley/Mike (Monsters, Inc.). One thing I like about the more recent Pixar work is the experimentation of new kinds of comic relief (go, Dory!) that doesn’t rely as much upon old standards. But I digress from my initial rambling.

In summary, T&P are too referential, have bleh designs, and are a tired comic relief trope. These are my own opinions, and you are free to disagree with me. But in my TLK hierarchy, this pair is on the bottom rung.

My Pet Pride

Y’all probably know how much I’m into drawing Lion King canon and subcanon, but you may not know about my little pet side project – my pride of melanistic lions.   They’re black lions…hypothetically similar to black leopards or jaguars, the dark coloring due to a high amount of the pigment melanin.  It’s relatively unknown whether true melanistic lions are possible (read this page for more info) but I love the idea of them.

And apparently I’m not the only one.  Most of my melanistic pride of lions was actually adopted off of the TLKFAA Trading Tree.  I don’t know why I collect them, but I just find them very aesthetically appealing, and no two black lion designs are exactly alike.  (And yes, I admit that I am a collector.  I don’t honestly see any harm in “collecting” digital characters…you can’t “neglect” them, and if any of the people who adopt them out to me want them back, I’ll be happy to oblige.  I see it as incorporating these characters into a pride that I cherish, which is better than them being left forgotten in someone else’s characters section.)  To me it’s fascinating to see how different fanartists create such an assortment of unique designs from a limited palette…much in the way I find making stories out of the limited confines of LK canon fascinating, I suppose.

I’m always on the lookout for new black lion designs up for grabs.  So if you see one pop up on the Trading Tree, don’t be surprised if you see my name there applying for it!  My Melanist Pride always has room for new friends. ^^

Just for the record…

…my favorite character of the Friendly Five is Chumvi.  I like Malka’s design the best, but I am a lot more interested in the fanon plot story I’ve created for Chumvi.

Here’s the short form: As a cub, Chumvi realizes that if he is to survive Scar’s reign, he has to join Scar’s side.  When he gets older, he becomes Scar’s right-hand enforcer.  Zira approaches him to be the father of her cub (Kovu) after she learns she and Scar are half-siblings.  Chumvi ultimately undermines Scar by allowing Nala to escape the Pridelands and later by distracting the lionesses sympathetic to Scar’s rule so they are not there when Simba returns to fight him.  (See the comic I made for the last site contest.) He leaves the Pridelands with an outsider lioness so he does not threaten Simba’s rule, and when Zira and her followers are banished he tries to install himself as their leader but fails.  Finally he goes southwest to the steppes where his outsider mate originally came from and reestablishes a pride in that area, where he lives for the rest of his life.

In summary, I heart Chumvi.  And I will continue to draw pretty pictures of him. <3