It's been a while since I've posted in any of the topics in this LK film sub forum aside from the Line by Line thread.
But as you can see from my avatar, member name and profile, yes I like Timon a lot from the films. Especially this one, being foremost about him. But, I'm going to try and take a neutral stance on this post and I hope it'll be of at least some help to you and others who read this, even though this may be a little long, because I'm one of the few on this forum who know a lot about this film.
What I really want to mention first about this film concerning it up-front and a character, is that if you don't mind seeing Timon at all on-screen for 70 minutes, then you should give this film a go at least once. You may actually be surprised with what is shown about my fav' on this film compared to what you see of him on the other ones, because this is really his own film (not actually "Timon and Pumbaa" as many or Disney itself classifies it), just like LK 1 is foremost Simba and LK 2, Kiara.
Since Timon's the main protagonist of this film, there
are scenes that go uniquely in-depth with this meerkat character that define him as much more than a simple comic relief and in many ways, thoughtfully too (humor included). There are scenes/moments on this film, to my initial surprise, that move me and some are even lovely with Timon and his mother, Ma. And I don't find any of these things to be exaggerated about Timon, himself.
I find that while storyline or plot is not something big on this film as it is in the other ones, the characters and certain moments of themselves still have a good deal of power on this film.
Many people in the fandom won't really mention these things because I've concluded from my experiences in the past on this that many choose not to look at this film on all sides and it's probably also because it deals directly with a non-lion character. Especially with what on the film that I've mentioned in the previous paragraph. It may also simply be that some don't know and Timon is not as widely recognized from 1 1/2 as he is from the other LK films.
Yes. There are
some scenes that are not "top of the line" on this film and I'll admit too that I find that it could've done better without, for ex., the silhouette scenes of Timon and Pumbaa in a movie theater, and even with Timon in-depth, who's a non-lion character. But since this is the third film of the trilogy, it has a legit excuse to not be the same overall quality as the previous ones.
I accept it for everything that it shows about Timon here and it's one of the reasons why I like it the most, because when I first saw the trailer back before it was released, I was also thinking too that the film wasn't going to be good because I thought it actually was going to be just a joke thing about Timon and Pumbaa. Just like their TV show. Until I saw it entirely for the first time two years ago when I came back to Timon and LK.
From what I've been seeing since around the time I joined this forum and from my experience, true universal LK fans and people who like Disney films in general don't really have a problem with the film. It's mainly those who are hardcore on the lion characters that despise it. After all, when Lion King was put back on television for a while after the original film was re-released in theaters back in 2011 here in the USA, they would only air the original and this one on Disney Channel and ABC Family. But never SP. So that tells me that the audience, in general, has a better response to this film of 1 1/2 more so than the sequel.
Bottom line, if you like or don't particularly mind Timon and seeing why he's considered to be a misunderstood or unsung LK film hero, then I really recommend giving it a go. But if you're expecting to see something new about the lions (save Simba's life with Timon and Pumbaa in the jungle) or the like, I won't sugarcoat it, but you'll probably be rather disappointed on this aspect.
True. As the other posters in this topic mentioned above my post, when it comes to TLK story itself, you may not be missing too much else. But it doesn't mean in any way that there's nothing valuable to take from this film and the characters of it. Especially for me, since I'm always foremost driven by the characters from these films, themselves. So, in my book & as a standalone film, it's worth watching more than once.
P.S. Based on what I also read from your topic post, there isn't really much toilet humor (with just a short, big one of Pumbaa farting), and more of the film's humor is generally quite mature in that it doesn't just appeal to 5 year old people.
"I found a place that was beyond my wildest dreams. But..., it still wasn't home." - Timon; Lion King 1 1/2 (3)
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- If you were to die today, where will you spend eternity?