Series: The Lion King
Company: Mattel
Release date: 1994
Size: 20~25 cm
Main distribution: Europe / United States of America
These are a set of 5 plush of the side characters of the Lion King, with a plush body and a vinyl head.
Bring home all the jungle pals inspired by Disney’s animated film, The Lion King so you can relive the story again and again!
The set exist out of 5 different plush; Pumbaa, Rafiki, Shenzi, Timon and Zazu. Each on is characterised by its vinyl head.
I have 5/5, the complete set.
Pumbaa
Even though he’s a little slow-witted, Pumbaa, the warthog still has a heart of gold!
Pumbaa’s top half of his head is made out of vinyl, giving his face a great sculpt. He has his iconic colours; brown with black hoofs, and he has long fluffy black hair for a mane and tail tip. His body is made of a thick, low pile plush.
His proportions are ok. His legs are thicker than his animated counterpart due to the plush material but this allows him to stand freely and makes for easier play. He has bendable wire in his front paws, although there isn’t much to pose differently due to his build. His tush tag is on his right side along his belly. It shows “Authentic The Lion King”, as well as a second one with all the legal informations.
Rafiki
Rafiki, the wise old baboon points Simba toward the pathway of truth!
Rafiki’s head is made out of vinyl, giving his face a great sculpt. He has his iconic colours; grey with brown paws, and he has long fluffy white hair around his face. His body is made of a thick, low pile plush.
His proportions are ok. His arms, legs and tail are thicker than his animated counterpart and his hands seem smaller. This is due to the plush material but this allows for easier play. He’s lacking his colourful bum and his tail is a bit long. He has bendable wire in his arms. He’s a bit hard to pose though and due to the way his legs are attached hard to stand too. His tush tag is on his left side along his bottom. It shows “Authentic The Lion King”, as well as a second one with all the legal informations.
Shenzi
Shenzi is a wicked hyena who causes lots of trouble!
Shenzi’s head is made out of vinyl, giving her face a great sculpt with an evil grin. She has her iconic colours; grey/brown with darker spots and black paws, and has long fluffy black hair for a mane and tail. Her body is made of a thick, low pile plush.
Her proportions are great. Her legs are a bit thicker than her animated counterpart due to the plush material but this allows her to stand freely and makes for easier play. She has bendable wire in her front paws, although there isn’t much to pose differently due to her build. Her tush tag is on her right side along her belly. It shows “Authentic The Lion King”, as well as a second one with all the legal informations.
Timon
Timon, the meerkat is a motor-mouth and a loyal, true friend!
Timon’s head is made out of vinyl, giving his face a great sculpt. He has his iconic colours; tan with a lighter belly and hands and dark brown finger and toe tips. He has long fluffy brown hair on the top of his head. His body is made of a thick, low pile plush.
His proportions are great. He’s overall a bit thicker in most areas compared to his animated counterpart due to the plush material but this allows him to stand freely and makes for easier play. He has bendable wire in his arms and can turn his head, which makes him the best poseable out of all of them. His tush tag is on his left bottom. It shows “Authentic The Lion King”, as well as a second one with all the legal informations.
Zazu
A real fussbudget, Zazu, the hornbill keeps an eye on Simba!
Zazu’s head is made out of vinyl, giving his face a great sculpt. He has his iconic colours; blue with a white inner body and darker blue tips on the wings and tail, as well as yellow feet. His body is made of a thick, low pile plush.
His proportions are ok. He’s overall a bit chubbier compared to his animated counterpart due to the plush material but this makes for easier play. He’s hard to stand up and requires a bit of help from his wings. He has bendable wire in his wings, and can spin his head a little. His tush tag is on his left bottom. It shows “Authentic The Lion King”, as well as a second one with all the legal informations.
The Lion King Mattel plush has got to be my favourites! Although when it comes to Disney I usually prefer the Disney World / Disney Land / Disney Store plush, Mattel is the exception to the rule. There is something nostalgic about them.
The Lion King was the first film I had ever seen in the cinema. And I was instantly a major fan. My entire family knew this too, and I would always get Lion King gifts for my birthdays since. On the fun fair that year, at the Pusher, you could collect points to exchange for these plush. I wanted them all! And my family played madly all week in an attempt to get them for me. They liked playing the Pusher but didn’t necessarily liked the prizes so this was a win-win. In the end they managed to get little me 3 of them; Timon, Zazu and Rafiki.
I loved Timon. He was the cool uncle. I played with him the most. I made his hair look cool like a mohawk, and he and Simba would always get into trouble. He was nice to play with and easy to pose. He has a small hole in his foot now from all the play.
I had a plush like Pumbaa, also from the fun fair out of the Balco Rotor, possibly a Kimmies seeing they ripped off Disney designs, but it was just a brown warthog. He would accompany Timon and Simba in my play. I didn’t like Pumbaa’s half face design of this line, so he was last on the list to get and in the end I didn’t got him. The Pumbaa lookalike I no longer own; I got rid of him when I had to downsize and he wasn’t “official”.
Zazu was the annoying babysit. I played him following Simba and Simba would run away from him. He was probably played with the second most of this line. His wings got quite dirty from it.
Rafiki was the wise family friend who would give advice. Simba would sometimes look for help from him. I didn’t play that much with him though.
Years later, finally having settled, I decided to keep an eye out to complete the collection. I didn’t want to spend too much so I was looking for good deals.
I managed to find Pumbaa quite quickly on eBay for a good price.
Shenzi was harder to get. Bad guys often don’t get merchandise, as kids would apparently not like them (and maybe they had a point, Shenzi was 4th in line for me to get back then), and so Shenzi has become a bit of a collector’s item. The hyena plush from the Disney Store also became quite popular at this time which heightened this Shenzi’s popularity too. But patience paid off and I eventually found her for a good price too.
Now I had the set finally complete.
These may not be the best plush, but these are super nostalgic to me. It’s also nice that side characters got merchandise. I will probably keep these forever, definitely my childhood three.
I’m sure many Disney / Lion King collectors would love these plush. However, if you’re not a fan of the vinyl heads and prefer full plush, or want something closer to the movies and have no nostalgic feelings for this line, you might want to opt for the Disney Store ones instead.
Got any more details / information you think I should add? Or did I get something wrong? Do you own the same plush? Do you agree or disagree with my findings? Let me know in the comments below!