Once Upon a Timon

"Once Upon a Timon" is the 43rd episode of Timon and Pumbaa, and the first of the only two half-hour episodes of the series.

Part One
Zazu informs Rafiki about Simba's royal reputation being at stake, and is a bit concerned about Timon Berkowitz and Pumbaa Smith. He had just given them a proper form, which they returned, cut into a sign that says "Hakuna Matata". And because he knows about Pumbaa's being an outcast (due to his odor), Zazu has yet to know about Timon's being an outcast. Rafiki tells Zazu a story of what happened...

Our story begins long ago in an ordinary meerkat colony. The Duke Meerkat was going out for perform some royal duties, leaving Fred in charge of guarding the castle, and his daughter, Tatiana, at home alone. Timon, for instance, is guarding the back gate of the colony, which nobody ever goes through unless they are banished, and minds his own business while thinking about Tatiana. Meanwhile, Fred informs Timon that the Duke is gone for the day, and that Tatiana is alone. Timon doesn't think that he and she would go out, and that she needs a brave, cunning, resourceful meerkat. Fred then tells him that all Timon needs to impress her is with candy and flowers (and a bath). Timon vetoes the idea, saying that if he abandons his guard post, he'd be banished. But as Fred sees it, not if Timon doesn't get caught, and he later returns to his post at guarding the castle. Timon thinks about what Fred says, and seeing is how he was right, he places a mop, as a dummy, in place of his spot at guarding the back gate, and gets into the colony to buy some candy and flowers for Tatiana.

Little did he know was that a cobra has seen that the back gate was unprotected. And as Timon was going home to get ready for his date with Tatiana, the cobra goes into the colony to take Tatiana away. This saddens the entire colony, even the Captain of the Guard (whose main duty is to also guard the front gate), but he denies it, however, saying that the cobra didn't go through the front gate to capture Tatiana. After Fred says that nobody goes through the back gate, the Captain senses that Timon isn't with the other guards, and asks where he is.

Timon, getting out of his house, finally ready for his now-canceled date, is shocked at the colony's suspicions, and, after a nervous giggle, he runs off, with the guards giving chase. Timon runs into a dead end after facing the Duke, and is put on trial for abandoning his guard post. The jury finds Timon guilty for that, and is sentenced to live in banishment, cast out of the colony.

Rafiki attempts to end the tale of how Timon became an outcast, but Zazu wants to know more about what happened, how he met Pumbaa, and what happened to Tatiana. Rafiki thinks that Zazu has important business with Simba, but Zazu thinks it can wait a little longer, and asks for Rafiki to tell the rest of the story...

Part Two
After Zazu demands to know the rest of the story, Rafiki continues...

Lost and alone, Timon feels a little scared, walking around the shadow-filled jungle. He the gasps at the sound of burping, and finds himself inside the mouth of a hyena--Ed to be exact. He runs out of Ed's mouth, and runs into Pumbaa, who was captured by the hyenas. Pumbaa asks Timon if they invited him over for dinner. Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed gang up on them, saying that they'll have a little "'kat"-nip, and that they'll "pig" out. Timon and Pumbaa make a run for it, away from the hyenas, and they say their goodbyes and go their separate ways. However, that wouldn't last...

The next morning, after they hunt for breakfast, Timon and Pumbaa run into each other again, with the latter asking the former if he was going to the colony. After noticing that their breakfast was getting away, they introduce each other, and finally catch the bug. However, after Timon hears Pumbaa's breaking-wind, Pumbaa, breaking into song, tells Timon how he feels when other animals tell him to go away, and that he's a loner. Timon tells Pumbaa that he is banished from his colony and stranded, and thinks that in a cold and mean world, the two of them should be "Alone Together", that two heads are better than one. Pumbaa hears what Timon is saying correctly, and that they should become the bestest of friends.

After singing, Pumbaa would choose being Timon's friend other than anything he could ever want. Timon feels the same way. However, the silence of the jungle was broken after Timon hears Tatiana's cries for help. She's about to become a sacrifice for the cobra. Pumbaa feels that once Timon saves her, Pumbaa would be alone again, but Timon doesn't think so, saying that once he rescues Tatiana, Pumbaa would join the colony, and that he would no longer be an outcast. Pumbaa is overjoyed by this, and the two of them rescue Tatiana, safe and sound.

Later, after seeing that Tatiana is saved, by Timon, the colony opens the front gate in joyous celebration. At the trial, all charges against Timon are dropped for the brave, cunning, resourceful rescue of Tatiana. And as an added bonus, the Duke offers Timon the Key to the colony, and Tatiana offers her hand to him in marriage. And after Pumbaa reminds him, Timon asks the Duke to declare Pumbaa a member of the colony--but the Duke says that only meerkats are allowed to live in the colony, and gives Timon a choice between anything he could ever want (power, riches and love) or being Pumbaa's friend...

Rafiki stops the story here, saying that Zazu could go see Simba at any time now. Zazu, however, wants to hear the end of the story, and feels that Simba should "have his diaper changed". Little does Zazu know that Simba has overheard, and wants to know the end of the story, too.

Rafiki concludes the story, saying that Timon chooses to be Pumbaa's friend. From that day forward, neither of them are to worry about anything, and the two of them give this philosophy a name... "Hakuna Matata".

Trivia

 * Although Tatiana was to appear only in this episode, she, or what looks like her with red hair, seems to appear again in "Timon in Love" in a cameo.
 * This is also the only time that a song, being "Alone Together", was featured in an episode. The other three songs, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", "Stand By Me", and "Yummy, Yummy, Yummy" were featured after the episodes "South Sea Sick", "Can't Take a Yolk", and "Truth or Zaire" respectively.