

The plot of the movie seems to be inspired by Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, a tragicomedy that tells the story of Hamlet from the point of view of two minor characters.

A majority of the original voice cast from the first film returns to reprise their roles, including Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella as the voices of Timon and Pumbaa, respectively. The third and final installment released in the original Lion King trilogy, it is based on The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa and serves as an origin story for the meerkat/warthog duo Timon and Pumbaa while the film is also set within the events of The Lion King. Perhaps the soundtrack's target audience probably won't notice or care much about its heavily recycled track list, but considering that the album is only eight songs and 22 minutes long, it still seems like Disney could have offered more to Lion King fans.The Lion King 1½ is a 2004 American animated direct-to-video musical comedy film produced by the Australian branch of Disneytoon Studios and released direct to video on February 10, 2004. Even the album's best track, Ennio Morricone's theme to "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," comes from somewhere else. Nathan Lane's performances do rescue The Lion King 1 1/2 somewhat, even if the album reprises "Hakuna Matata" from the original Lion King, and "That's All I Need" was originally written for the "Warthog Rhapsody" from Rhythm of the Pride Lands. Likewise, Lebo M.'s contributions, "Digga Tunnah Dance" (which also features percussionist Vinx), "Timon's Traveling Theme," and a cover of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (which was also included on the Simba's Pride album) do an admirable job of incorporating African elements into the film's music, but aren't especially distinctive.

& French's "Jungle Boogie" is fun enough, but doesn't add anything to the Kool & the Gang original but a little bit of blandness. Raven's overworked cover of "Grazing in the Grass" opens the album, and while she's not a bad singer, the fussy arrangement and frenetic pace of the song don't do her any favors. Continuing the trend of most Disney soundtracks and films since the late '90s, the album features nearly as many performances from the entertainment giant's stable of teen pop artists as it does original songs written for the movie. Much like the direct-to-video movie it supports, The Lion King 1 1/2 pales in comparison to the soundtrack of the original Lion King.
