Most of the marketing thus far for Disney’s upcoming “live-action” remake of The Lion King has focused on Mufasa, Simba, Scar and the broad strokes of the familiar story, but we haven’t seen too much of Timon and Pumbaa. Thankfully, Seth Rogen has remedied that, sharing a new clip from the film that really lets fans see the personalities of everyone’s favorite comedic meerkat and warthog duo. Check it out:
They may be moving into the CGI realm and have different actors voicing them, but The Lion King’s Timon and Pumbaa are clearly still the hilarious best friends we all fell in love with 25 years ago. In this clip, Billy Eichner’s Timon is his usual somewhat bossy self, letting Simba know the way things are done in their neck of the woods, which is wherever they feel like being.
It’s no wonder Seth Rogen shared this clip on Twitter, because it really shows how well his voice fits the lovable warthog Pumbaa. He really nails the happy-go-lucky personality of Pumbaa and how he is both kind and well intentioned while also coming off as a bit clueless.
The contrasting personalities of Timon and Pumbaa is what makes them so entertaining as a pair and this clip gives us a sense of that with some funny back and forth. Timon and Pumbaa’s taste for bugs and grubs is well known and should prove even grosser in live-action and Pumbaa’s bit about the delicacies being local is pretty funny and very much in character.
This clip also gives us a better look at the animals in the film talking than the main trailers have done. For me, I think this aspect will take a little getting used to. The photo-realism means that the animals can’t be anthropomorphized and emote unnaturally but it also makes their mouth movements less pronounced. It looks like Jon Favreau and his team managed to strike a good balance, though.
The marketing for The Lion King has also largely kept the film’s iconic songs close to the vest, only giving us brief snippets of them like “Hakuna Matata.” Here we get Timon and Pumbaa humming the harmony to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” which, it turns out, is not originally from The Lion King and is the subject of a new Netflix documentary about its long and complicated history.
The somewhat slumping summer box office is hoping for a kingly performance from The Lion King and it just might get it. The film is breaking pre-sales records and tracking has it pegged to possibly open in the $200 million range. Of course, tracking has been especially hit and miss of late. Regardless of where it ultimately lands, audiences are definitely excited to see Timon, Pumbaa and the rest of the Pride Lands gang onscreen again.
The Lion King roars into theaters on July 19. Check out our 2019 Release Schedule to prep for all the other movies coming in the second half of this year and stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest in problem free philosophies.
