Somebody to Love – Deleted Scenes
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Originally, when Timon and Pumbaa were taking Zina with them to the oasis, the scene was going to imply that Zina ate the scorpion that Timon had been after. It would also have Pumbaa start to describe the oasis to her, but Timon would interrupt him by saying that they shouldn't spoil the surprise. I cut that scene because the chapter was getting a bit on the long side and I thought of a better way (in my opinion) to end the scene. I also realized that if Zina had eaten the scorpion, she probably wouldn't hold onto the tail for that long and if she did, Pumbaa and Timon would probably have noticed it in her hand by the time they met her.
Timon then got on after her.
"By the way, Pumbaa," he said, "you didn't happen to find any grubs, did you?"
"Uhh… no. Did you?"
"Well, I found a scorpion, but then I kinda got distracted."
"Oh… were you gonna eat that?" Zina asked.
Zina let out a burp, followed by a nervous chuckle as she held up the scorpion's severed tail.
"Sorry." she said.
"Aw, don't sweat it." Timon replied, "We got plenty to eat back home."
"Yeah, and that's not all." said Pumbaa, "It's got spectacular waterfalls, porch swings, a hot spri-"
"Whoa now, Pumbaa!" Timon interrupted, "Let's not spoil the surprise, shall we?"
"Oh, right. Sorry. Well, you'll love it."
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When I wrote the first tickle fight scene, Zina was originally going to be in control throughout the whole 'fight.' But I soon decided that it was only fair to give Timon a fighting chance, so to speak. Also, I thought it'd be best if Timon knew from experience that Zina was ticklish before he started the other tickle fight at the end.
Timon laughed uncontrollably as Zina started tickling him. After a while, Swifty wandered by.
"Excuse me," he said, "have either of you seen my son? His name's Gus and he's about this tall. I think he was playing near the water earlier, but now I can't find him."
"I'm sorry, I haven't seen him." Zina said.
"Me neither." added Timon.
"Oh. Well, thanks anyway."
Swifty walked away, calling out to Gus. Zina turned back to face Timon, but he was now nowhere to be seen.
"Timon? Where'd you go?"
Zina looked around until she finally saw Timon tiptoeing away.
"Aha!"
Timon started to run, but Zina soon caught up to him. She jumped on him, pinned him to the ground, and continued her tickling assault.
"Hey, nohohohoho fair!" Timon cried, "Quihihihihit it!"
Zina suddenly stopped when she heard a small voice cry out, "Help!"
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In this deleted scene, I was going to reference the TV show, Sledge Hammer. In one episode of that show, while Sledge tries to disarm a bomb, his fellow officers see it happening on the news and start cheering him on by shouting, "Go, Hammer, go! Go, Hammer, go!" Meanwhile, the Captain; who despises Hammer, shouts, "Go, bomb, go! Go, bomb, go!" Then he stops and says, "Go, Hammer, go! Go, Hammer, go!" Anyway, I had decided to reference that show by putting a similar scene in the part when Zina goes to save Gus from drowning. But as cruel as Max seemed in the movie and in the DVD bonus features, I decided that maybe I was making him too much of a bastard.
Gus coughed as Zina swam towards the shore as fast as she could. Shortly afterwards, Max appeared with Pumbaa and the rest of the meerkats.
"What's going on here?" Max asked.
"My baby's in the river!" cried Sherri, "And she's saving him!"
Max looked and saw Gus holding onto Zina for dear life as she struggled against the current to get to the shore.
"Go, Zina, go!" the meerkats started shouting, "Go, Zina, go!"
"Go, current, go!" Max said, "Go, current…"
Max stopped, gave a sigh and mumbled, "Go, Zina, go. Go, Zina, go."
Soon, Zina and Gus neared the shore.
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Here's a scene I was going to have right after Timon and Zina talk about Timon's embarrassing marriage proposal to Shenzi. I deleted this scene because I thought the chapter was getting kind of long and I couldn't figure out where to go from Timon's final line. Though I suppose I could've ended the scene there.
"I wonder what's keeping them?" a meerkat asked another.
The other meerkat just shrugged.
"You think maybe they're having a fight?" asked Pumbaa.
"I sure hope not." said Nina, "I know how desperate he's been to find a mate and if they had a fight, it would probably tear him apart."
Soon afterwards, Swifty spotted Timon and Zina returning.
"There they are." he said.
He then noticed them holding hands and smirked.
"And I think you can rest easy." he whispered to Nina.
"Alright, how we doin' so far?" Timon asked the meerkats.
"Well, it wasn't easy getting out," one of them replied, "but we've finished the hole."
Timon walked up to the hole and surveyed it.
"Excellent." he said, "Good work, fellas. This'll do fine. Now let's get to work on the cover. Somebody get up that tree and see if you can find me a strong vine."
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Originally, the battle with the hyena pack was going to be completely different. There was only going to be one trap and it would be similar to the one that they used in TLK 1.5. And of course, Lakota would be the only one who wouldn't fall for it, so Timon would have to save Zina from him again until Simba and Nala showed up to save the day. To distract the hyenas, the meerkats would do a song and dance number; which… well… you gotta see for yourself. Just go to YouTube and type in "Moskau" in the search bar, press enter, and select either the first or second video on the list. Go ahead, I'll wait for you to come back.
Finished? Yeah, that was pretty crazy, wasn't it? Anyway, I dropped that idea because I got a little confused about how to work that Moskau number into the scene. Plus, I eventually decided that it was better for the hyenas to be defeated one by one. I also wanted to have Stumpy and Swifty demonstrate their amazing talents again, during the battle.
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Here's a scene I had planned for when Lakota is holding Timon by the foot and is about to eat him. Actually, I was thinking about changing the official version of the scene to this version, but I never got around to it and eventually decided that what I had was fine and the change wasn't really necessary.
Timon then looked around for a weapon and found a big stick just a few feet away. But just as he started running towards it, Lakota suddenly snapped his jaws at Timon and grabbed onto his right foot.
"YEOWWWW!" Timon screamed.
"Timmy!" Nina shouted.
"Timon!" shouted Pumbaa and Zina.
Lakota chuckled and walked up to the stick.
"Go ahead, Timon." he taunted the meerkat, through his clenched teeth, "Grab it."
The hyena lowered his head until the stick was just barely in Timon's reach. But just as Timon reached for it, Lakota lifted his head up again.
"Aw, too slow! Try again! Come on!"
He lowered his head again and Timon reached for the stick. But Lakota lifted his head again before Timon could get it. Then he swiped at the stick with his paw, knocking it out away.
"Whoops! Clumsy me!" the hyena chuckled, "Looks like you lose, meerkat!"
"Correction, hyena," a voice shouted, "YOU lose!"
Lakota turned around. Then he dropped Timon and screamed as a male lion pounced on him, pinned him to the ground, and delivered a fatal bite to his neck.
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Here's a funeral scene I was considering for the final chapter; which includes the meerkats' version of a 3-volley salute. I never actually got around to writing this scene until now, otherwise I might've put it in.
"…but despite how cruel he seemed on the outside, I know that on the inside he was a loving brother, a loving uncle, and I think we can all agree that he was a good leader."
Timon wiped away another of the many tears that had come to his eyes as he gave his eulogy.
"May his soul rest in peace. Thank you." he concluded.
Everyone applauded as Timon went back into the crowd. He then nodded to Flinchy; who emerged from the crowd with three groups of four meerkats. Each of them was holding a small rock.
"Present rocks!" Flinchy shouted.
The meerkats in the first group held their rocks up, ready to throw them.
"Ready, throw!"
They threw the rocks in salute, then they returned to the crowd while the second group got into position. The salute continued until all twelve of the meerkats had thrown their rocks and returned to the crowd.
"Alright, everyone," Timon said, putting his arm around Zina, "let's go home now and prepare for the wedding."
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And… that's it. Yep, that's all the deleted scenes. So… bye. Oh, and one more thing. If you liked this story, then stay tuned for the sequel entitled The Double Agent, coming soon. See ya!