Overall, Lion King 1 1/2 is a sadistic experiment in throwing pop culture and toilet humor into the original classic. However, it could have been good. It does bring a few good ideas to the table. Timon's back story isn't executed too poorly, and the idea of giving Timon and Pumbaa a back story was a great idea. However, the execution of the plot was horrendous, as it can never make up its mind; is it a parody of the first film or a serious back story? There are also numerous continuity errors between this and the original Lion King. For example, in the original Lion King Rafiki tells Timon and Pumbaa that Simba has went to fight Scar, but here, it is Nala. Why did they do this? Simple; in this film Rafiki serves as Timon's guardian angel, a plot element thrown in to make this film a cheezier midquel (Kudos on the honest title by the way, this is not a Lion King 3 and I'm sick of midquels and prequels being paraded as sequels). Classic scenes from the original such as the sunrise, the animals bowing to baby Simba, the "Be Prepared" musical number, the stampede that KILLED MUFASSA, and just about every serious moment are ruined by Timon and Pumbaa's unfunny commentary and fart jokes including cutting to QVC footage, Pumbaa breaking wind numerous times, and literally pausing the movie to parody Mystery Science Theater (disrespecting fans of that show as well). If you respect the original, I suggest not only avoiding this film, but throwing any copied of this film in the nearest blender you can find ASAP. This movie may not be a complete disaster because of its decent execution of the story it is telling by itself, but the way it literally pastes jokes on the original film to pander to the little kiddies is a disgrace. A disgrace to everyone who loved the original, everyone who worked on the original, and a disgrace to people who value film as an art-form in general. From a moral perspective, it is perhaps the most tasteless, disgusting, and sickening heap of trash ever designed by the utterly worthless Disney Toon Studios.
Review of The Lion King 1½
