The Lion King 1½

The Lion King 1½ (2004) is Disney's animated spin-off you can watch online on iFILM. Director Bradley Raymond hands the story to the duo who spent the original film lounging in the background: Timon the meerkat and Pumbaa the warthog, voiced again by Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella.

The film runs as a kind of parallel cut — familiar scenes from the 1994 Lion King replay from a different angle, and it turns out Timon and Pumbaa were lurking just off-frame the whole time. Before any of that, though, the story goes back to Timon's claustrophobic life in the meerkat colony, where his uncle Max (Jerry Stiller) and his anxious mom (Julie Kavner) made every day feel like a team disaster drill. Running away felt like the only option. Meeting Pumbaa felt like luck. Adopting a lion cub named Simba — that was clearly a mistake neither of them saw coming.

Produced by DisneyToon Studios, the film works well as a companion piece to the original and holds up on its own for younger viewers. Stream The Lion King 1½ (2004) online on iFILM.