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Meerkat Musings

Timon and Pumbaa are the True Villains… whaaaaaaaaaaaaat???

Posted on July 19, 2020July 19, 2020
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It’s a head-scratcher, that’s for sure

Look, far be it for me to deride someone else’s opinion, and fair play to anyone who has the conviction to put that opinion out there, on the internet, for the whole world to see, dissect and pick apart. I can appreciate that there are nuances to everything, including opinions on popular culture, and they should be allowed – hence why, for all my opposition to the gatekeepers within the Star Trek and Star Wars fandoms, I believe people have a right to criticise the things I like.

That’s why, for all my opposition to what Matt has to say on The Lion King duo Timon and Pumbaa, I accept the appearance of a different point of view. It’s hardly going to be the popular view, but that doesn’t matter – Matt has every right to express his opinion.

I of course, have every right to express my opinion of his, erm, opinion, which I shall do… Starting now.

It’s thinking cap time

Are Timon and Pumbaa responsible for nearly destroying Simba’s future? Did they lure Simba astray from his rightful destiny? Were they at times selfish? That all depends. Sure, they encouraged Simba to live a different life to the one that was ordained for him, but that was largely out of necessity – Simba wasn’t exactly forthcoming with what had happened (believing that he’d gotten his father Mufasa killed by accident when he met Timon and Pumbaa) and never volunteered the truth at any point. Timon and Pumbaa tried – in their own unique way – to encourage Simba to let go of his pain, rather than wallow in it. They didn’t understand everything, because they lacked all the facts.

Let’s not forget that they also saved Simba from dying in the desert.

There’s also another issue here. Simba’s life is pre-planned, prior to Scar’s coup. He was already feeling a bit of that weight when he initially rejected the idea of marrying Nala, right before ‘I Just Can’t Wait to be King’. When he had the chance to experience a life that was his own, not one planned for him… Well, we all want to feel in charge of our own destiny. He was also carrying a lot of deep, emotional pain, and he’s only human – er, lion – to want to keep that locked away, where it cannot hurt him. His friends Timon and Pumbaa are unaware of this, because Simba, even after the passage of an untold number of years, hasn’t opened up.

It’s not Timon and Pumbaa that cause Simba to refuse to go back with Nala to the Pride Lands. Yes, they wanted Simba to stay, out of a selfish desire to maintain their trio, but wanting a friend to stay close is natural. In the end though, Simba won’t go back because he’s harbouring incredible guilt that he feels he just cannot face.

And in the end, when Simba finally has his revelation, Timon and Pumbaa choose their friendship with him over their carefree life, risking their own lives to help him reclaim his kingdom. Not exactly villainous.

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5 thoughts on “Timon and Pumbaa are the True Villains… whaaaaaaaaaaaaat???”

  1. Matt (Walking The Shoreline) says:
    July 19, 2020 at 10:54 pm

    Haha love it. Very true about how they saved his life and it was probably more on Simba! I just see people in real life surround themselves with Timon and Pumbaa friends who never challenge them and this was probably the motivation for the use of “villain”.

    Some pretty convincing counterpoints! Thanks for taking the time

    Reply
    1. DarthTimon says:
      July 20, 2020 at 8:43 am

      Thank you for writing the original piece!

      Reply
  2. Overly Devoted Archivist says:
    July 20, 2020 at 12:01 am

    Oh this is weird for me because I remember sort of having this debate with my dad when I was 8 or so. Like I was REALLY into The Lion King at that age, and I suppose Timon and Pumbaa’s DGAF attitude (new and exciting to an 8 year old) started bleeding into my own attitude to schoolwork and bedtime and the like, because at one point I remember dad gave me a sort of talk along the lines of,

    Him: You know you can’t actually use Hakuna Matata and all that as an actual thing to avoid doing stuff you’re supposed to be doing.
    Me: But Timon and Pumbaa-
    Him: TIMON AND PUMBAA ARE NOT ROLE MODELS.
    Me: 😮

    I think at the time and after several rounds of misheard Lion King lyrics being sung at him all hours of the day and night my dad would *definitely* have agreed with the OP.

    Reply
  3. Ariel Lynn says:
    July 22, 2020 at 12:44 pm

    Also, they may be selfish later in the movie, but they are pretty selfless rescuing a lion cub in the first place. They *are* prey animals, after all! 😉

    Reply
    1. DarthTimon says:
      July 22, 2020 at 2:13 pm

      Parenthood is a big responsibility!

      Reply

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