Timon and Pumbaa's Virtual Safari is a bonus feature from the 2003 Platinum Edition release of The Lion King, and later the 2004 DVD release's of The Lion King 1 ½ and The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. It stars the eponymous Timon and Pumbaa as they take players on a "virtual safari" through the Pride Lands and other locales, often encountering characters from the films and other strange oddities. Each game has the player choose left or right at designated checkpoints, with different encounters and characters found in each choice, up to and including how the climax of the ride will play out.
The first edition of the game, as previously mentioned, debuted on the second disc of the 2003 Platinum Edition DVD release of the original film. Here, Timon and Pumbaa can take the player on either a jeep or boat tour of the Pride Lands. The second edition, known as Timon and Pumbaa's Virtual Safari 1.5, has Timon's Ma and Uncle Max along for the ride as Timon tries to take the group on a Disney Theme Parks-inspired ride through an indoor facility. The third and final installment, 2.0, has a more back-to-basics approach as Timon and Pumbaa ride an elephant named Gertie instead of a vehicle.
This game consists of the following tropes:
- Animal Stampede: A mandatory plot event in the first game has Timon and Pumbaa get caught in another wildebeest stampede.
- Bad Guy Bar: The restaurant operated by the hyenas in the first edition appears to be this as their menu consists of food using meerkats and warthogs.
- Batman Can Breathe in Space: Timon and Pumbaa get launched into space towards the end of 2.0 and can still breathe just fine, let alone survive their journey back to Earth.
- Call-Back: The Rafiki animatronic in 2.0 quotes lines from both of the previous movies - "Look beyond what you see - so what are you going to do?"
- The Cameo: In one ending of 2.0, Stitch makes a cameo while Timon and Pumbaa are floating in space.
- Carnivore Confusion: In the parody of Pirates of the Caribbean in 1.5, a hyena pirate chases a citizen for a plate of grubs, and Timon's Ma even asks why he's trying to get grubs in the first place.
- Denser and Wackier: While the first edition was already zany, 1.5 really ramps it up to accommodate the midquel also being much wackier in tone with lots of Disney theme park references.
- Drive-Thru Antics: In the first edition, Timon and Pumbaa come upon a split path where they can choose to go through one drive-thru window or the other.
- If they go through the left side's drive-thru, they get to feast on bug-related foods and leave content.
- If they go through the right side's drive-thru, they learn that the restaurant is run by the hyenas who serve meerkat and warthog-based foods to customers and have to escape before Banzai and Ed catch them.
- Elephant Graveyard: The location appears in all three editions of the game.
- Heinous Hyena: The hyenas are recurring threats throughout the three games.
- In the first installment, they are running a fast food restaurant specializing in meerkats and warthogs, and are later shown at the Elephant Graveyard before chasing the duo through a cave.
- In 1.5, they appear towards the end of the tour to menace the group, and are also seen in various decorations such as the paintings parodying the Haunted Mansion.
- In 2.0, the player may choose to inadvertently briefly strand Timon and Pumbaa in the Elephant Graveyard where they'll briefly menace them.
- Incredibly Lame Pun: Pumbaa makes a few in the first edition to Timon's frustration.
- Misplaced Wildlife:
- In the first edition, Timon says the river is full of alligators. Pumbaa corrects him stating that alligators are in North America, whereas Africa has crocodiles.
- Timon's Ma even asks why there's a Yeti underground near Pride Rock in 1.5, and Timon chalks it up to "artistic license".
- Never Smile at a Crocodile: In the first edition, Timon and Pumbaa ride their boat through a bunch of hungry crocodiles who attack them.
- Production Foreshadowing:
- In the first edition, the player may ride past Pride Rock which is observed by Timon and Pumbaa, though Timon complains about how a rock can be proud, quoting himself in the then-unreleased midquel.
- In 1.5, the group may encounter a Yeti randomly underground near Pride Rock. Given the focus on parodies of Disney theme park rides, this was probably a nod to the forthcoming Expedition Everest on its way to Animal Kingdom at the time.
- Shout-Out: One of the main themes of 1.5 is the prevalence of parodies of Disney theme park rides. We see parodies of the Haunted Mansion, It's a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean, and even the forthcoming Expedition Everest.
- Verbal Backspace: After the first edition concludes, Timon gives a cheery farewell to the player, and Pumbaa worriedly asks if that's all he's going to say after all they've been through. Timon insists it was just a ride, and Pumbaa immediately backpedals and claims he knew it was a ride the whole time.
