Pumbaa

Background

Before Timon and Pumbaa find the jungle, Pumbaa says he is alone. According to a flashback featured in Hakuna Matata, Pumbaa had problems with gas when he was younger. They mention that Pumbaa once went to a water hole in the savanna but let out very smelly gas, causing monkeys to fall from the trees to the ground because of the stink. When Pumbaa came to drink the water, his smell caused all the nearby animals to flee. For Pumbaa, it was very embarrassing and left him afraid of socializing. The Timon & Pumbaa episode "Home Is Where the Hog Is" reveals that Pumbaa was a member of a warthog sounder, where he had a mate named Sharla. He was banished from the sounder due to his gas odor, which was appalling even by warthog standards, and spent his life as an outcast until he met and befriended Timon.

Development

In the earliest versions of The Lion King, Pumbaa and Timon were children residing in the Pride Lands that grew up with Simba. It was finally decided that the two would be changed to outcasts; this gave Simba someone to turn to after his exile. Before Hakuna Matata, Pumbaa and Timon were to sing Warthog Rhapsody. This song was an inside look at Pumbaa's life as he and Timon taught Simba how to live in bliss. When the song selection was changed to "Hakuna Matata", Timon's backstory was primarily the focal point instead of Pumbaa's. However, the filmmakers felt Timon's verse wasn't working, so they scrapped it in favour of Pumbaa. Pumbaa's secret intelligence came when writing the "under the stars" sequence for the movie. Roger Allers suggested that Pumbaa's hypothesis about what stars are should be closer to the truth than Timon's. This will, of course, imply to the audience that Pumbaa is knowledgeable despite his apparent stupidity.

Personality

Pumbaa is a loving, open-hearted character who sometimes shows childlike naivety and innocence that is sometimes confused for stupidity. Though Timon would say otherwise, Pumbaa is the actual brains of the outfit, having both common sense and impressive knowledge of things from nature to science, which he often tries to teach the more dim-witted Timon, but to no faithful avail (as seen in the stargazing scene in The Lion King where Pumbaa defines what stars are). Even so, Pumbaa's childish nature sets the two apart. Whilst Timon can be selfish and greedy, he is still, overall, more mature than Pumbaa, thus explaining why he is the de facto leader of the duo, along with the fact that Pumbaa can be very absent-minded at times. Not only that, Pumbaa is not without his stereotypical dim-witted moments, specifically seen in the television series. For example, in the episode "Boara Boara", he mistook a starfish for an oversized snowflake, and in "Never Everglades", Pumbaa believed he was the mother of a newly hatched alligator, despite Timon telling him otherwise for obvious reasons. He also tends to react literally, such as in The Lion King II: Simba's Pride when he (albeit accidentally) "babysat" Kiara with Timon admonishing Pumbaa for the action in a way that implied that such hadn't been the first time Pumbaa did something like that.

Personality

Despite his history of being abandoned and possibly even mistreated due to his foul smell, Pumbaa has a strong sense of loyalty and devotion towards his friends, mainly seen when Timon's selfishness gets him into trouble despite Pumbaa's warnings, thus resulting in the warthog having to save the day, still willing to call Timon his closest companion. That is also seen in The Lion King 1½ when Timon refuses to leave for Pride Rock to help Simba, whereas Pumbaa, believing it is the right thing to do, decides to do it despite knowing he might die in the battle against Scar.

Physical appearance

Pumbaa is an obese adult brownish-red warthog. He has two white tusks on the top of his mouth, along with buck teeth. He has a black mane and smaller legs with black hooves and fingers. He has a brown stomach with a long tail with a fluff on its end. He also has a pink snout and small ears.

Appearances

After running away from his home in the Pride Lands, Simba passes out due to heat exhaustion. As a flock of buzzards begins to surround Simba's unconscious body in preparation to eat him, Timon and Pumbaa arrive, scaring the predators away as part of their game, Bowling for Buzzards. After the buzzards retreat, Pumbaa spots Simba's body. He asks Timon if they can take him in, but Timon refuses because Simba is a predator and lion. However, Pumbaa convinces Timon that Simba might be on their side, and they take him back to the jungle. In the wilderness, Simba awakens and befriends Timon and Pumbaa. They teach him the philosophy of Hakuna Matata and eat bugs as they do and offer him a spot in their home. At the same time, they explain Pumbaa's problem, that he has gas problems. As time goes by, Simba develops a very close bond with Pumbaa and Timon as they raise him as his adoptive fathers. Underneath the joy years later, however, Simba's past begins to haunt him again, as he feels his father's death was his fault due to his villainous uncle's manipulative trickery. While stargazing, Pumbaa asks Timon what the "sparkly dots" are; Timon says they are fireflies, though Pumbaa reveals that he thought they were balls of gas burning billions of miles away (which is technically accurate since stars are balls of gas burning billions of miles from Earth), when asking Simba what he thinks they are, he says that someone told him that great kings of the past are up there watching out on them, much to Pumbaa and Timon's amusement.

Appearances

One day, while bug hunting, Pumbaa gets spotted by a hungry lioness, and a chase begins. Pumbaa gets stuck in a raised tree root and desperately tries to break free. Timon arrives and attempts to save his friend but to no avail. Simba suddenly comes and battles the lioness. After the battle, the lioness reveals herself as Nala, Simba's childhood friend. Pumbaa and Timon are introduced to her and learn that Simba is a king and that his uncle Scar has taken control of his kingdom during his absence. Timon, however, feels that Nala will destroy the Hakuna Matata trio, getting Pumbaa to believe so as well. Later, Pumbaa and Timon are woken up by Nala, looking for Simba. Rafiki, Simba's mandrill friend, appears and tells them that Simba has returned home to reclaim his throne. At Pride Rock, he and Timon dance the hula to distract the hyenas so that Simba and Nala can get by, and Simba would have a clear shot at Scar. With Simba and the other lionesses engaging hyenas after Scar confessed what he had done to Mufasa to the pride, Timon and Pumbaa both charged into battle as they did with buzzards in an attempt to fight them off. During the fight, Pumbaa comes to Timon and Zazu's rescue, expressing anger when Banzai calls him a pig since he likes being called Mr Pig, charging straight at him and Shenzi before quickly thrashing and chasing the both of them out of the den.

Appearances

After Scar's death, Timon and Pumbaa watch Simba ascend the throne of Pride Rock, destined to him years before. They are then seen at the film's end with the presentation of Simba and Nala's newborn cub.