Daniel Tiger and The Lion King 11/2

Chapter 1

ounds of morning on the savannah. A lion roars in the distance. Sunrise over the Pride Lands—exactly as in TLK 1. Animals of all types (rhinos, meerkats, cheetahs) raise their heads as the sun rises, preparing to march to Pride Rock.

MS

♪ Nants ingonyama bagithi baba ♪

BS

♪ Sithi uhhmm ingonyama ♪

MS

♪ Ingonyama ♪ Nants ingonyama bagithi baba ♪

Timon

{offscreen, simultaneously, imitating the singer} ♪ Whaaaat's on the menu? It could be ceviche, it's stinky—ooh, it's Pumbaa-aah... ♪

Pumbaa

{offscreen} I gotta tell ya, Timon... that song always gets me right here.

Timon

Yeah, Pumbaa. {pause} Well, enough of that. {He holds up a remote control and begins fast-forwarding through the movie}

Camera pulls back to show Timon and Pumbaa in silhouette in a row of theater seats, Mystery Science Theater 3000-style.

Pumbaa

Uh... Timon? What are you doin'?

Timon

I'm fast-forwarding to the part where we come in!

Pumbaa

{aghast} But you can't go out of order!

Timon

Au contraire, my porcine pal. I've got the remote!

Pumbaa

But everyone's gonna get confused! {He grabs a second, bigger remote} We gotta go back to the beginning of the story. {He begins rewinding the movie}

Timon

We're not in the beginning of the story! {He pauses the movie on Rafiki holding up Simba, with a monkey screech; the movie begins fast-forwarding again}

Pumbaa

Yes, we were—the whole time! {rewinds; the film reverses on a shot of Timon looking in bewilderment at Simba and Nala's reunion, with a squawk of confusion}

Timon

But they don't know that! {indicates the audience; switches the movie direction again, on Nala pinning Simba, with a lion-roar sound}

Pumbaa: Then why don't we tell them our story? {pauses the movie on a snarling close-up of the three hyenas; Timon and Pumbaa both shriek and dive under their seats}
Timon: {slowly re-emerging} Hey, I got an idea. Why don't we tell them our story?

Pumbaa: Oh—I like the sound of that.

Timon: A little backstage tour. Take 'em behind the scenes for a revealing and intimate look at the story within the story.

Pumbaa: 'Cause what they don't know is how we really were there even though they didn't know we were there, y'know?

Timon: Couldn't have said it better myself! {rewinds the movie again}

Pumbaa: So does this mean we're going back to the beginning?

Timon: {melodramatically} Oh, no, Pumbaa. No. We're going way back... to before the beginning.

{The sunrise plays backwards, looking like a sunset; the screen goes black along with African drumbeats; the title "Daniel Tiger and "The Lion King" crashes onto the screen, followed by a 2, then a 1, then another 1, followed by a diagonal line which forms the crooked "1 1/2" logo.  Cracks appear across the screen image, and the black screen shatters and falls from the field of view in fragments, leaving a view of Pride Rock in daylight.}