Timon and Pumbaa's "Alternative Lifestyle"

In Gael Sweeney’s article, “What Do You Want Me to Do? Dress in Drag and Do the Hula? Timon and Pumbaa’s Alternative Lifestyle Dilemma in The Lion King”, she assert the claim that Timon and Pumbaa are Disney’s first homosexual couple. Some of the reasons I take issue with this assertion are as follows:

• Disney’s “first” gay couple
•  It is one thing to argue that Timon and Pumbaa are a gay couple, but proving that they are the “first” gay couple is a much harder task. To do this, one would have to address every other potentially gay couple in Disney proceeding The Lion King. Sweeny gives no mention to any of these couples.
• Stereotyping
•  Too often, Sweeny uses stereotypes to support her claim that Timon and Pumbaa are gay. Examples include when Sweeny equates flamboyance and a love for theater with gayness. Additionally, Timon and Pumbaa being outcasts can not be used as evidence for them being gay (in this case Simba would be gay too). For Sweeny to use these stereotypes, she at least should have tried to justify why stereotypes can be considered relevant – perhaps an animator could be quoted who discussed how he uses stereotypes to anthropomorphize animated characters.
• Use of word that imply finality or fact
• “certainly the first openly gay animated characters”(130)
•  “obviously a same sex couple”(131)
• “decidedly queer characters”(134)
• By using words that imply absoluteness, Sweeny weakens her argument by distancing herself from her audience who might not find her conclusions ‘obvious’. If instead, Sweeny said “one might interpret…” or “it  is reasonable…” it would be harder to disagree with her claims
• Male relationships vs homosexual relationships
• It is clear that Timon and Pumbaa have a strong bond, but the film never directly suggest that their relationship is anything more than two close pals. In my watching of the film, I considered Timon and Pumbaa as two bros comparable to Spongebob and Patrick, or Wazowski and Sullivan.

I think that it is reasonable to believe that the relationship between Timon and Pumbaa is unusual and “alternative,” but I don’t think there is substantial evidence to claim the Timon and Pumbaa are, “obviously a same-sex couple.”(131) I think that Sweeny’s argument could have been made stronger by using her evidence to suggest that Disney has created a new image for men, much like how Gillam and Wooden discussed Pixar’s “New Man” in their article.