With Mufasa: The Lion King movie just around the corner, Lion King fans eagerly await to watch the story of Mufasa and Scar unfold. Mufasa and Scar are not the only characters that fans are excited about. Timon and Pumbaa are two of the most iconic side characters not only in the Lion King franchise but also in all of the animated movie genre. This duo has been the source of comic relief in every Lion King movie and they are coming back in Mufasa: The Lion King. However, it seems as if they do not age the same as the age of Rafiki since they appear in every Lion King movie and TV series. In this article, we will figure out the current age of Timon and Pumbaa to help you get a better picture of the Lion King timeline.
Timon and Pumbaa Age
Timon and Pumbaa Don’t Seem to Age – Or Do They?
Timon and Pumbaa have been a part of almost every movie, spin-off, and TV series in the Lion King franchise. The duo has entertained fans in the following movies and TV series:
- The Lion King (1994 and 2019)
- The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride (1998)
- The Lion King 1 & ½
- The Lion Guard
- The Lion King’s Timon & Pumbaa
- The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar
- The Lion King’s Timon & Pumbaa
This raises a question: Do these characters even age? Does following the ‘Hakuna Matata’ philosophy grant immortality? Well, it seems that Timon and Pumbaa do not age but they actually do upon closer inspection. Since the Lion King franchise is about lions, which have shorter lifespans than those of Timon and Pumbaa, hence it creates an illusion of the duo being immortal. More of that later in the article so keep reading.
Timon and Pumbaa As Real-Life Animals And How Long Do They Live
Timon is a cartoon version of an animal known as a meerkat. Meerkats are small mongoose-like insectivores that dig burrows and live underground. As shown in the movie The Lion King 1 & ½, Meerkats are highly sociable creatures, existing in packs of 35-40. Now the important bit. An average Meerkat lives up to 12-15 years, which is something that we should take into account while calculating Timon’s age.
Pumbaa is a voracious warthog who appears as the partner-in-crime to Timon. Warthogs are similar to wild boars and have long tusks for protection, aggression, and food scavenging. Warthogs are omnivorous, feeding on grubs, berries, grass, roots, eggs, insects etc. Average warthogs live up to 15-18 years.
Age Estimation of Timon
The Lion King 1 & ½ shed light on Timon’s origin story. During his early years at home, Timon was a young careless individual who always abandoned his burrowing duties and wanted to live freely in the open savannah of Africa, without being afraid of hyenas and other predators. He was always pampered by his mother and scolded by Uncle Max and fellow meerkats for messing things up. When Timon left his homeland, he was probably around 3 years old. When he first encountered Simba in the Hakuna Matata Jungle, he was 5. During his stay at the Hakuna Matata Jungle, Simba grew from a cub to an adult lion. It takes 3-4 years for a lion cub to reach adulthood. Hence, if we do some Math, Timon’s age was 8 by the time Simba left the jungle to reclaim his throne as the king.
The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride brought Simba and Nala’s daughter, Kiara into the picture. Kiara grew from a baby lioness to an adult lioness, which takes about 3-4 years. So, by the end of this movie, Timon was probably almost 11. Moving on to Lion Guard. This TV series featured the adventures of Kion, son of Simba and Nala. Kion is depicted as a lion cub, who is younger than Kiara. Hence, by the end of this TV series, Timon is probably 12 years old.
Pumbaa’s Age Estimation
Fans of the Lion King franchise had the pleasure of watching Pumbaa’s origin in the TV series Timon & Pumbaa. In the 20th episode of Season 2, titled “Home is Where the Hog Is”, Pumbaa gets a distress signal from other warthogs in the vast jungle of Africa and rushes in for help. Later in this episode, he reveals that his sounder banished him for his stink.
Now for Pumbaa’s age. Judging by Pumbaa’s actions, it seems that he is a couple of years older than Timon. We also know that Warthogs live up to 18 years. Hence, Pumbaa was 5 years old when his sounder banished him. He was probably 6 and 7 years old when he befriended Timon and Simba respectively. At the end of The Lion King(1994), Pumbaa was 10. Similar to Timon’s age estimation at the end of The Lion King II, Pumbaa turned out to be 13 years old. During Lion Guard, Pumbaa is depicted as an uncle-like figure to Kion. Hence we can safely say that currently, he is 15-16 years old.