By The list of my top favourite Disney movies is definitely a long one, but if I had to pick only one Disney movie as my ultimate favourite Disney movie, it would definitely have to be The Lion King. The Lion King is a very special movie to me. It was the first movie I had ever watched at the cinema and I loved the movie so much that I would watch it on repeat all day long. I can now recite the entire movie without even having to watch it! There have now been a number of sequels and spin-offs, the most recent being The Lion Guard. Of course, my favourite is still the original Lion King and I absolutely love collecting retro looking Lion King toys such as this 1994 McDonald’s Happy Meal set.
Ths is the UK Happy Meal set and it consists of 4 toys: Timon & Pumbaa, Simba, Zazu, and Scar. It’s a very small set, but it is a very retro and cute set for any nostalgic Lion King fan.
Timon & Pumba
A Lion King set would not be complete without the lovable Timon & Pumbaa. I think it only made sense to include the pair as one toy because we all know they’re inseparable. The gimmick of this Happy Meal toy is that you can push Pumbaa along while Timon spins around on Pumbaa’s back while he’s moving. I think Pumbaa looks really nice and happy as usual. Timon on the other hand has a very strange expression on his face, which looks borderline evil. I think Timon’s strange expression is more funny than creepy because this is a very old Happy Meal toy, so we can’t expect too much detail. If anything, it just gives the toy a nice retro look, which I think is fabulous.
Simba
Obviously a Lion King set is not complete without a Simba. This Happy Meal Simba has a very happy expression on his face and again, while he may not be the most film accurate toy, he looks absolutely adorable and has a great retro look. The gimmick is very simple, but I think it is an adorable reference to the movie. You push Simba down so that he’s laying low to the ground, and then he pounces back up! He’s clearly been practicing his pouncing because the gimmick works really well.
Zazu
I’m really glad Zazu was included in this set because he was one of my favourite characters in the movie.He added a lot of humour in Simba’s early days and the I Just Can’t Wait to be King song was my favourite song in the entire movie. This Zazu toy is a wind-up toy. Zazu does not have a very impressed look on his face, probably because he’s been looking after the cubs all day, and has his wings spread ready for flight. The wings are posable so you can push them straight upwards or push them halfway down as if he is flying. When you wind Zazu up, he starts hopping around and it looks like he’s pecking the ground. I think he looks really cute hopping around.
Scar
The last toy in this collection is the evil villain, Scar. While he may not be a favourite character, he of course needed to be included in the collection. Scar is also a wind-up toy and when you wind him up, he starts walking towards you slowly as if he’s coming to get you. McDonalds of course included the scar on his left eye and a an angry, evil look. Although these toys pre-date the second Lion King movie, I think this Scar toy looks a lot like Kovu from the second movie, The Lion King: Simba’s Pride.
While these toys may not be the most film accurate toys, I think for Happy Meal toys from the early 90s, these toys are very cute. It’s unfortunate that Mufasa was not included in this set, but if you’re a Mufasa fan, he was included in the Burger King Lion King set. While I don’t think these toys will be worth any significant money in the future, if you loved The Lion King as a child like I did, these would make a nice addition to any collection. They will definitely bring a smile to your face and take you down memory lane.