Timon and Pumbaa are an animated meerkat and warthog duo introduced in Disney's popular 1994 animated film The Lion King. Timon was portrayed through his many appearances by Nathan Lane (in all three films and early episodes of the show), Max Casella (the original actor in the The Lion King Broadway musical), Kevin Schon (in certain episodes of the show), Quinton Flynn (in certain episodes of the show), and James Arnold Taylor (in Kingdom Hearts II), while Pumbaa is voiced by Ernie Sabella (in all of his animated speaking appearances), and was portrayed by Tom Alan Robbins in the original cast of the Broadway musical (who still plays that same role to this day). Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella first came to audition for the roles of the hyenas, but when the producers saw how well they worked together they decided to cast them as Timon and Pumbaa.

Lyricist Tim Rice however was pulling for Rik Mayall (for Timon) and Adrian Edmondson (for Pumbaa) to play the roles, as he got the idea for the lyrics to Hakuna Matata by watching their show Bottom. As with many characters in Lion King, Pumbaa's name derives from the East African language Swahili. In Swahili, pumbaa (v.) means "to be foolish, silly, weakminded, careless, negligent".

Timon is one of the few characters whose name has no meaning in Swahili, Timon being a Greek historical name, taken to mean "he who respects". These meanings are contrary to the demeanors of both characters, as Pumbaa has always been depicted as a caring friend and Timon as self-centered. Timon's name may also possibly derive from Shakespeare's tragedy Timon of Athens, a reference to the Shakespearean origin of the film's plot.

They are among Disney's most beloved characters for their comical antics and musical skills. Timon is a wise-cracking and self absorbed meerkat who is known for claiming Pumbaa's ideas as his own (possibly a reference to the running gag of Napoleon and Lafayette from The Aristocats), while Pumbaa has an unpleasant farting problem, letting out large amounts of very smelly gas. However, Pumbaa is also a fierce warrior, charging into battle like a battering ram, and taking great offense if anyone who's not his friend calls him a pig (at which point he exclaims, "THEY CALL ME MISTER PIG!" - a reference to the line "They call me Mister Tibbs!" from the movie In the Heat of the Night).

Unlike real meerkats, Timon can walk on his hind legs, while in real life, meerkats walk on all fours and can only stand on their hind legs.

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