Speedy the Snail is a talking and singing snail who is a recurring character in Disney's television series Timon & Pumbaa. Timon and Pumbaa plan to eat him at first, but his ability to talk and sing, and his good-humored attitude gets them to form a friendship with him.
Background[]
Speedy is a snail who lived within or close by Timon and Pumbaa's jungle. Like many superheroes, he has saved many lives in the past.
Personality[]
- “Ooh Timon, he's so cute, he can talk and sing! We cannot under any circumstances eat this snail! Never, never, never!”
- ―Pumbaa to Timon after realizing how amiable Speedy is
Kind-hearted, loyal, easygoing, and jolly, Speedy is a quite amiable snail. He is also shown to be brave and strong, as he teams up with Timon and Pumbaa to stop Quint from revealing "Super Duper Hero X's" secret identity to the Pride Landers.
Speedy is always shown to find himself in danger, such as being cooked or having his shell turned into an earring. In these instances, Speedy demonstrates a rather cowardly side as there is nothing he can do to get out of these situations and thus, it is always up to Timon and Pumbaa to save their friend.
Physical Description[]
- “You got cute little gumdrop eyes, a swirly curly cue shell, and you're a snail.”
- ―Timon describing Speedy's appearance to him
Speedy is a grayish-blue snail with cute little gumdrop eyes and a large shiny red shell. In addition to that, he wears a yellow fedora. In "Ocean Commotion," Speedy's shell becomes gold with rubies, emeralds, and sapphires due to a married couple wanting to make an earring out of it. Speedy states that he is going to keep the gold shell, however, it later turns back to its normal color.
The episode, "The Man From J.U.N.G.L.E." reveals that Speedy is a superhero called Super Duper Hero X. As a superhero, Speedy wears a red mask, his shell is yellow with a big, black X on each side, and he has a red cape attacked to the back of his shell.
Role in the series[]
"French Fried"[]
- “Looks like you and me and Timon are going to be lifelong friends.”
- ―Speedy to Pumbaa, as he meets and befriends him and Timon
Timon and Pumbaa find Speedy crawling and they stalk and trap him, only for them to get trapped in a crate themselves. Timon is about to eat Speedy, but the snail starts talking and he tells the two that he can also sing. So Pumbaa suggests that he and Timon don't eat him and Timon agrees and decides that he and Pumbaa should be friends with him.
Speedy and Timon
The three get delivered to Paris, France, where they encounter Culinary Quint. who kidnaps Speedy to turn him into a meal at the Eiffel Tower. It is up to Timon and Pumbaa to rescue their new friend from Quint.
While Culinary Quint prepares to cook Speedy, who is trapped in a cage, Pumbaa interrupts by telling Culinary Quint that Jerry Lewis is here, But the chef is not convinced, saying that he is not a fan of the said celebrity. He then realizes that he got tricked as he sees that Timon just freed Speedy from the cage and the two friends escape with the snail. However, Quint manages to catch Timon and Pumbaa and throws the duo out of the Eiffel Tower. The two friends land in the Louvre Museum, where the Mona Lisa painting falls on Timon. Timon comes up with an ultimate plan to rescue Speedy.
Speedy and Pumbaa
Timon and Pumbaa disguise themselves as one costumer. Timon asks for a table for one and Culinary Quint brings him to a table and gives him a menu. Timon asks for a raw snail that is still alive with cute little gumdrop eyes and a swirly curly cue shell. This plan of rescuing Speedy almost works until Pumbaa starts talking, making Quint recognize them and throw them out of the Eiffel Tower once again.
While Culinary Quint is about to cook Speedy, Timon and Pumbaa show up on time to fight Quint for their snail friend. After Timon gets Speedy out of the pot and Speedy lands on Pumbaa's head, the meerkat runs into Quint and then falls into the pot, making him burn and rush to a freezer where he sits on an ice to cool himself.
Quint traps Timon in the freezer and starts chasing Pumbaa and Speedy, who repeatedly outwit the chef. When Pumbaa and Speedy get out of the kitchen and get to the elevator, Quint sees them, pulls out two kitchen weapons, and walks to them. Pumbaa and Speedy enter the elevator and quickly close the door before Quint catches them, much to their relief. However, their luck doesn't last as Quint manages to send them back to the top of the Eiffel Tower and finally catch them. But then, Timon shows up sliding with a big ice cube, which hits Quint and makes him fall out of the Eiffel Tower and land in the Louvre, where a sword falls in between his legs, making him pass out. With Culinary Quint defeated, Timon and Pumbaa can now take Speedy home.
"Ocean Commotion"[]
- “I gotta hand it to you fellas, you sure are a fearless duo if ever I saw one.”
- ―Speedy to Timon and Pumbaa after they rescued him from the married couple
After Speedy rescues Timon and Pumbaa from being thrown off the ship by Captain Quint for being stowaways, Timon suggests to Pumbaa that they should ditch the snail, as they always end up having to save him from someone who tries to eat him. Then, a jeweler]] and his wife notice Speedy's shell and suggest that it would make a perfect earring. The couple kidnaps Speedy, leaving it up to Timon and Pumbaa to rescue their friend.
While the diamond collector and his wife are about to make an earring out of Speedy's shell, Timon and Pumbaa drill a hole in the ceiling/floor and Timon takes a hook to save Speedy. The diamond collector sees the hook and throws it in the ocean, and Timon accidentally catches an octopus, who attacks the two friends.
Speedy's shell as an earring
On their second attempt to rescue Speedy, Timon and Pumbaa disguise themselves as pirates who want Speedy, but the diamond collector's wife wants to be their pirate queen. After Pumbaa tells the truth, he and Timon get kicked out of the cabin. Timon and Pumbaa are now underwater for their third attempt. Timon spots the room where Speedy and the couple is. The meerkat then drills a hole on the bottom of the boat, while Pumbaa tries to stop him. This makes the boat fall and lands on the two.
Timon and Pumbaa now put various obstacles to trap the married couple and save Speedy. But the plan backfires as the couple passes all the obstacles safely. Timon and Pumbaa then see that Speedy is now made into an earring for the jeweler's wife, realizing that they are too late. The couple enter the ship lounge and, knowing that they can't just remove Speedy from the diamond collector's wife's ear in front of all the other passengers, Timon and Pumbaa decide to be sneaky.
Speedy begins to like his new gold shell
Timon and Pumbaa successfully remove save Speedy from the couple without being noticed. While the three friends are walking on the deck, they get caught by the couple, who have just realized that Speedy is missing from one of the woman's ears. Timon, Pumbaa, and Speedy get chased by couple until they enter the captain's room. Timon makes all the passengers (including the couple) get out of the boat by tricking them into thinking that there is gold underwater. When Pumbaa makes Timon realize that the passengers would get back on the boat after discovering that there really isn't any gold, the meerkat decides to move the ship.
Timon pulls the lever, but accidentally makes the boat move too fast. After the meerkat repushes the lever to make the boat stop, the three friends make it to Speedy's home. But then, they get caught by the couple once again. So Timon pushes the lever to make the boat move backwards so that he, Pumbaa, and Speedy get off with the couple is still on the ship, defeated by the trio.
With Speedy home safe and sound (and with his new gold shell), he says his goodbye to Timon and Pumbaa, only to get captured by a seagull, making it up to Timon and Pumbaa to rescue him once again.
"Washington Applesauce"[]
Speedy makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in this episode, when one of the pies gets thrown on him when Timon tries to rescue Pumbaa from the worm.
"The Man From J.U.N.G.L.E."[]
- “I'll tell you what I do when things like this happen, I sing”
- ―Speedy talking to Pumbaa
When Timon (who is disguised as Super Duper Hero X to make money) gets kidnapped by Hero X's archenemy, Chromosome Quint, Pumbaa worries about his friend getting abducted and wonders who could help him. Speedy then shows up, stating that he's here to meet Hero X. Pumbaa breaks the news by telling his friend that the hero got kidnapped in Quint's aircraft. Speedy states that whenever something goes wrong, he sings. After Speedy performs a song, Pumbaa suggests that they should find Timon.
Speedy sings a song
Meanwhile, Quint introduces himself to Timon, whom he mistakes for Hero X. He tells the meerkat that he is going to reveal Hero X's secret identity to all the jungle animals, who are gathering around Pride Rock for the presentation of a newborn lion cub. Timon tries to tell Quint who he really is, but his enemy still thinks he's a superhero.
Pumbaa and Speedy find the aircraft getting close to Pride Rock. The two friends get to the very top of the rock to try to enter the aircraft. When Pumbaa wonders how he and Speedy could get inside, the snail suggests that they should sing, causing them to slide down to the inside of the aircraft where Timon and Quint are. Timon tries to get Pumbaa to tell Quint that he's not Hero X, but the warthog states that he is.
Pumbaa then gets trapped by Quint, who runs out of the room. Pumbaa shows Timon that he brought Speedy with him, but the meerkat doesn't believe that a snail could help them escape. Speedy reveals to his friends that he is Super Duper Hero X. After the hero frees Timon and Pumbaa from Quint's trap, the three prepare to defeat their enemy.
Speedy reveals that he's Super Duper Hero X
Quint is about to reveal Hero X's secret identity to the animals. But then, Timon, Pumbaa, and Speedy turn off the power, believing that Quint is defeated. But little do they realize, turning off the power means causing the aircraft to stop flying. The aircraft is about hurt the animals and destroy Pride Rock, with the narrator questioning what would happen next.
The scene then switches to Speedy's home, where Timon and Pumbaa say goodbye to their friend and also thanking him for saving Pride Rock and all the jungle animals. Timon finds it funny how after they have been risking their lives saving Speedy, he was a superhero all along while Pumbaa is glad that Chromosome Quint will remain locked up behind bars.
Every episode featuring Speedy ends with Timon and Pumbaa saying goodbye to him when he returns home, only to get captured by a seagull and Timon and Pumbaa have to save him once again. At the end of "The Man From J.U.N.G.L.E.", it is revealed that the seagull is actually an aircraft controlled by Chromosome Quint.
Printed media[]
Mall I Want For Christmas[]
Speedy in a cage at the Bug City shop
While at a mall during Christmastime, Timon and Pumbaa plan to eat some bugs at a store called "Bug City". However, when Timon uses a telescope to see what kind of bugs the store offers, he discovers that Speedy is one of the meals. Timon and Pumbaa therefore change their plan to rescue their friend.
The store clerk, Shopkeeper Quint, sees Timon and Pumbaa freeing Speedy from his cage and chases the three. Timon suggests that they split up to confuse Quint and Pumbaa agrees. Pumbaa runs into Santa Clause's throne and finds the Santa costume. He decides to disguise himself to avoid getting caught by Quint.
The pals rescue Speedy from his cage
Meanwhile, while Timon is running away from Quint, he reminds himself that Speedy is a snail and therefore can't run fast. After grabbing Speedy, who almost got captured by Quint, the meerkat comes up with a distraction. He finds a shoe store and writes down that all the shoes are 100% off, leading to the shoppers to stampede and run over Quint. With Quint defeated, Timon and Speedy can now go safely back to the jungle and they go find Pumbaa. Pumbaa, however, cannot leave yet because he's busy playing Santa to a line of children, with the real Santa watching in shock.
Trivia[]
- Speedy's voice and mannerisms are likely based on those of Bing Crosby.
Gallery[]
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