Go back with me, if you will, four years ago.



Remember this? With a track list of just eight songs, this album literally left out a lot to be desired.

First track is Grazing in the Grass by Raven. I can stomach this song okay, but it isn't from the film itself - it's in her music video that accompanies it. Next is Digga Tunnah Dance by Vinx (who?), and while it's a fun rendition of the song, once again it's not the version played in the movie, but rather in the credits. Since when is the credits rendition of a song given precedence over the rendition found in the film itself?

At last, That's All I Need, a song taken from the actual 77 minutes of the sequel, and unlike the movie it has an actual ending; remember, the hyenas cut Timon off. Maybe that's the problem here - TLK 1 1/2 has so many interruptions during the course of the film that it never has a chance to complete its own songs?

Apparently that is the case, because next is a cut-and-paste of the original TLK Hakuna Matata. At this point I was wondering why I even bothered with this CD, even at its pathetically inexpensive $5.99 sticker. Similar story with The Lion Sleeps Tonight by Lebo; even though this song is in the movie, we've heard this all before, on Rhythm of the Pride Lands as well as Return to Pride Rock.

Drew K. & French add their version of Jungle Boogie, but again, not the version heard in the film.

Now here's the funny part. Tacked onto the end are just two of Don L Harper's original orchestral score - Timon's Traveling Theme and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. It's an odd end to the album, if indeed it had much of a beginning, and it's so short to begin with.



So why on earth am I doing a review four years later? (Or perhaps the better question is, why on earth do I keep disappearing and reappearing on this forum?)

My answer is, despite the erratic, stop-and-go nature of TLK 1 1/2, there is still plenty to like about the score to this film. I especially enjoy the stirring, expressive theme given to Timon as he decides to leave his mom and the meerkat colony in search of something better - and this refrain can be heard many times over as the movie progresses.



Don L Harper's work on this sequel must be commended, for while he was compelled to re-score pieces from TLK for the scenes that coincide with the original, the rest of the film is filled with great musical moments - like a fun salsa number when Timon and Pumbaa first discover paradise...



...the forward-moving Timon Traveling Theme...



...and the moving piece for Alone in the World (a moment completely destroyed when the scene is paused and Timon sobs).



So the message I'm driving home is, isn't it a shame that the true redeeming quality of this sequel, its score, never gets to be enjoyed fully - not in the movie itself, and not on CD either.