The Lion King 1½ "Meerkat Rhapsody". The film was animated by Walt Disney Animation Australia studio in Sydney, Sparx and Spaff Animation. Upon its initial home video release, "The Lion King " was accompanied by with a marketing campaign tie-in with McDonald's with six Happy Meal toys including Simba, Rafiki, Timon, Pumbaa, Mufasa and Ed. In May 2003, the DVD edition was confirmed to include music videos, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes views of how the movie was made, and two featurettes: "Timon -- The Early Years"; a mockumentary tracing Timon's childhood through tongue-in-cheek interviews with family and friends; and "Disney's Funniest Moments," highlighting Disney animated
Simba "lazy and troublesome." "The Austin Chronicle"s Robert Faires felt that Simba and the other "Lion King "characters, though "true", were simply unoriginal retreads of preceding animated characters who were "swiped from other Disney cartoons." Hal Hinson of "The Washington Post" gave the character a negative review. Labeling Timon and Pumbaa the only interesting characters in "The Lion King", Hinson questioned Simba's role as the film's hero. Kenneth Turan of the "Los Angeles Times "agreed, "A movie's heroes may have their names above the title, but often as not it's the sidekicks who get the real work done." Turan went on