Discover

, known in the United States as '''Kimba the White Lion''', is a Japanese animated series from the 1960s, created by Osamu Tezuka, and based on his manga of the same title which started in 1950. It was the first color TV animation series created in Japan. The entire series of manga was first published in serialized form in Manga Shonen magazine.
This anime series has enjoyed immense popularity worldwide — most notably in Australia, the United States, Europe and even in Middle East especially among Arab viewers — from the middle 1960s to today.

Contents

Story

Characters

Chronicle

Worldwide translations

''The Lion King'' controversy

Kimba in pop culture

Music

References

See Also

Further reading

External links

Story

Africa, mid-20th century: In the face of the encroachment of mankind, a white lion, Caesar, seeks to give all wild animals a safe haven, free from fear. And, to a very large degree, he is successful. His mistake is to liberate the cattle from nearby villages.
A professional hunter, Viper Snakely, known as Ham Egg in the original Japanese, is called in to stop these raids. He avoids directly attacking Caesar — instead, Snakely records the sounds of Caesar and uses that as bait to trap his mate, Snowene, who then becomes bait in a trap for Caesar. Caesar is killed, and the pregnant Snowene is shipped overseas, destined for a zoo.
Kimba is born on the ship. Snowene teaches him his father's ideals. As a huge storm approaches, she urges Kimba out to leave through the bars of her cage. The storm wrecks the ship, leaving Kimba floundering in the ocean. The fish help him to survive and learn to swim. As he begins to despair, the stars in the sky form his mother, and she encourages him with loving guidance. Guided by butterflies, Kimba makes it back to land.
Kimba lands far from his ancestral home and is found and cared for by some people. Kimba learns the advantages of human culture, and he makes up his mind that when he returns to his wild home he will bring civilized culture to the jungle and stand for peace like his father.
The show follows Kimba's life after he returns to the wild (still a young cub) and shows his learning and growing during the next year. One thing Kimba soon learns is that true peace will require communication and mutual understanding between the animals and humans.
'''Kimba the White Lion''' has been immensely popular in Japan since its first broadcast in 1965. English and Spanish versions were created in 1966, creating a worldwide fan base that persists to this day. The show has also been translated into many other languages (see Worldwide Translations, below).
The show has such appeal that, with the rights to the original translations lost due to legal complications, ''new'' English and Spanish versions were produced in 1993. These are currently being broadcast in the US and Europe. Some plot details of the original Japanese version, which were "softened" in the original English translation, have been allowed to remain in this new version. For example, in 1966 we were told that Caesar freed the cattle to live in the jungle; the original plot had him taking the cattle as food for the jungle predators. However, each episode in the new translation has been shortened by three minutes or more, and key plot elements were cut out from some episodes.

Characters

''Note: The original Japanese names are given first, with the English names given in Parentheses. If no English name was given to replace the character's original name, then no parentheses are given. If there are parentheses or names with question marks, then it is unknown what the Japanese, or English, name is at this time.

★ '''Panja (Caesar):''' Leo's father and Emperor of the Jungle. He is killed by Ham Egg while trying to rescue his wife and Queen.

★ '''Eraiza/Eliza (Snowene):''' Leo's mother who is used as bait by Ham Egg and shipped overseas. While on the ship, she gives birth to Leo and urges him to escape, before the ship is overturned during a storm with her on it.

★ '''Leo (Kimba):''' The main character of the story whose life is detailed from birth to death. He believes that it is possible for there to be peace between animals and humans alike if given a chance to understand each other.

★ '''Leona (Reona):''' Leo's sister. She was his aunt in the 1989 remake.

★ '''Lyre (Lea/Kitty/Raya):''' A lioness who would later be Leo's mate and bear him two lion cubs. She tends to notice things that Kimba sometimes overlooks. She is always there for Kimba when he needs advice or a shoulder to cry on.

★ '''Rune/Lune (???):''' Leo's son who would go on adventures and seek an understanding of humans just like his father.

★ '''Rukio/Lukio (???):''' Leo's daughter who is more cautious than her adventurous brother.

★ '''Tommy (Bucky/T.K.):''' An antelope that tends to always get into some kind of mischief, and is almost always seen wearing a straw hat (as Leo had used to appoint him Secretary of the Jungle Economy)

★ '''Coco (Pauley Cracker):''' A parrot who spent some time living with humans and believes that he should be put in charge of mentoring Leo and Lune.

★ '''Mandy/Burazza (Dan'l Baboon):''' A wise, aged mandril who acts as Leo and Rune's mentor. In the original Japanese, he has been known as Mandy in the original anime series, but his name was changed to "Burazza" for the 1997 feature film according to Osamu Tezuka's website.

★ '''Pagoola(Kelly Phunt):''' A stubborn elephant who has absolutely no trust for humans or human culture whatsoever.

★ '''Bizu (???):''' Pagoola son who often bosses around Leo's son Lune.

★ '''Bubu (Claw/Jamar):''' A one-eyed lion who wants nothing more than to see Leo and his family dead so that he may take the role of Jungle Emperor for himself.

★ '''Totto (Cassius/Shaka):''' A black panther working with Bubu to see Leo and the white lions dethroned. He often acts as Bubu's advisor on what moves they should make next.

★ '''Dick (Tom):''' A tall lanky hyena working with Bubu and Totto who assists them in their fiendish plans. He helps provide the comic relief aspect of the villainous animals. He is almost always seen with Bo.

★ '''Bo (Tab):''' A short, squat hyena working with Bubu and Totto who assists them in their fiendish plans. He helps provide the comic relief aspect of the villainous animals. He is almost always seen with Dick.

★ '''Kenichi Shikishima as "Kenichi" ("Roger Ranger"):''' Shunsaku Ban's nephew who takes in Leo after he is washed ashore. After about a year living with Leo in human civilization, he decides to go to the jungle with Leo and live among him and the other animals. He plays a pivotal role in teaching the animals how to speak to humans.

★ '''Mary/Tonga:''' A young girl who works with Kenichi as he lives with the animals. However, on occasion she can have outbursts of a split-personality where she becomes Tonga, a woman who has no compassion for animals.

★ '''Shunsaku Ban/Higeoyaji as Himself (Mr. Pompous):''' Kenichi's uncle who helps take care of Leo at the Arabian peninsula. He goes on to help return Leo to the jungle, and is one of the first to discover Mt. Moon. However, he often tries to get his nephew, Kenichi, to return to human civilization.

★ '''Duke Red as "Dr. Plus":''' A chief representative of the Science and Technology Agency who is willing to pay Ham Egg for leading them to the source of the Moon Stones. He has also gathered plenty of information on Ham Egg's activities and seems to be willing to blackmail him if necessary.

★ '''Notaarin as "Dr. Minus":''' A member of the Science and Technology Agency that hopes to use the Moon Stone to provide a clean and potent energy source for the planet. His assistant is Mr. Lemonade.

★ '''Tick/Ramune as "Mr. Lemonade":''' In place of Kenichi and Mary for the 1997 movie, Mr. Lemonade is an associate of the Science and Technology Agency seeking the Moon Stone. He, like Shunsaku Ban, is apalled at Ham Egg's actions.

★ '''Ham Egg as Himself (Viper Snakely):''' A nasty poacher who will do anything for money, regardless of the consequences. He is responsible for most of the death and tragedy that befalls Leo's jungle. He is interested in the Moon Stone with the hopes of making a fortune from it.

★ '''Kutter as Himself (Tubby):''' A sidekick to Ham Egg, but who has reservations about what the two of them are doing.

★ '''Rommel as Himself (???):'''

Chronicle

★ 1950 — Original ''Jungle Emperor'' story started in ''Manga Shonen'' (Comic Boy) magazine.

★ 1965 — Anime series started as the first color TV anime series in Japan.

★ 1966 — Theatrical version of ''Jungle Emperor'' (Dir. Eiichi Yamamoto) released in Japan. ''Jungle Emperor Symphonic Poem'' (by Isao Tomita) released on LP. ''Kimba The White Lion'' (translated version of Jungle Emperor TV series) airs in U.S. A sequel series, ''Janguru Taitei: Susumu Leo!'' (''Jungle Emperor: Onward, Leo!'') airs in Japan. Features Leo (Kimba) as an adult.

★ 1967 — ''Jungle Emperor'' theatrical feature awarded the St. Mark's Silver Lion Award at the 19th Venice International Film Festival.

★ 1978 — Adult Leo character becomes mascot for Seibu Lions baseball team.

★ 1984 — ''Jungle Emperor: Onward Leo!'' finally comes to the US, as ''Leo the Lion'' on the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN).

★ 1989 — Dr. Osamu Tezuka dies at age 60 on February 9. A new version of ''Jungle Emperor'' is made and shown in Japan. This series is nothing like either the original manga nor the first TV series.

★ 1991 — A new animated film is created, using the Symphonic Poem for its audio.

★ 1993 — The first ''Jungle Emperor/Kimba The White Lion'' series is dubbed into English again.

★ 1994 — In Japan, over 1100 manga and anime artists and fans sign a petition requesting that the Disney company acknowledge that their movie ''The Lion King'' was based on characters and situations from ''Jungle Emperor''.

★ 1997 — New ''Janguru Taitei'' theatrical feature (''Jungle Emperor Leo''; Dir. Hiroo Takeuchi) released in Japan, based on the second half of Dr. Tezuka's original manga story.

★ 2005 — The original 1966 dub of Kimba The White Lion is released as an 11-disc DVD set by Madman Anime of Australia and Right Stuf International of the U.S. It was a best seller.

Worldwide translations

This is a list of translations into various languages of the original '''Kimba the White Lion''' (ジャングル大帝/''Janguru Taitei''/"Jungle Emperor") TV show.

★ Arabic: "الليث الأبيض" (El Leith El Abyad)

★ Chinese: "森林大帝"

★ Croatian: "Kimba Bijeli Lavic"

★ Dutch: "Kimba de Witte Leeuw"

★ Finnish: "Kimba Valkoinen Leijona"

★ French: "Le Roi Léo"

★ German: "Kimba der Weiße Löwe"

★ Hungarian: "Kimba a Fehér Oroszlán"

★ Hebrew: "קימבה האריה הלבן" (Kimba Ha-Arie Ha-Lavan)

★ Italian: "Kimba il Leone Bianco"

★ Portuguese: "Kimba o Leão Branco"

★ Russian: "Кимба"

★ Slovenian: "Kimba Beli Levcek"

★ Spanish: "Kimba el León Blanco"

★ Turkish: ''need information''

''The Lion King'' controversy

In 1994, controversy arose over the possible connection of Disney's animated feature ''The Lion King'' with ''Kimba the White Lion''. Fans in Japan and the U.S. called for the Disney company to acknowledge the use of characters and situations from the Japanese production in the Disney movie. The situation has remained a controversy due to the Disney Company's statement that no one in the company had heard of ''Kimba'' until after ''The Lion King'' was released — in spite of the fact that people related to the production of ''The Lion King'' had referred to "Kimba" as the main character of The Lion King.
For example, in 1993, a person asked Roy Disney in a Prodigy session that whether there would be any nice motherly figures in future Disney animated films, and Disney replied that ''Kimba's mother in the following year's ''The Lion King'' will be lovely.
Matthew Broderick stated that he understood he was being hired as a voice actor for a Disney remake of ''Kimba The White Lion''.^[5][6][7][8]
Additionally, an early presentation reel of the film, included in the Platinum Edition DVD of ''The Lion King'', features a piece of concept art depicting a white lion cub.

The controversy does not involve the story of ''The Lion King''. Disney movies often diverge from the story of the works on which they are based, so this cannot be considered as proof one way or the other. It is the similarity of characters and certain specific scenes and situations that are in question.
It has been reported numerous times that Tezuka Production Company Ltd. was looking for a U.S. animation company to bring Kimba back to the North American audience. Trade publications stated that they were in talks with the Disney Corp. It is theorized that The Lion King was developed from the pieces of the Kimba pilot made for Tezuka.
The Tezuka/Disney connection extends back for years. Dr. Tezuka sought out and obtained the license to adapt Disney's ''Bambi'' into manga for the Japanese market. Tezuka met Walt Disney at the 1964 World's Fair, at which time Disney said he hoped to "make something just like" Tezuka's '''Astro Boy'''. And Disney animators were hired to train Tezuka's crew in the use of color when production was started on the ''Jungle Emperor/Kimba the White Lion'' TV series.
An odd coincidence is that when the English version of ''Kimba'' was in production, the character was to be named "Simba" (which means 'lion' in Swahili). But, since "Simba" was considered untrademarkable, they changed the "S" to a "K", and came up with the name "Kimba" that is now known in almost every country of the world. (Kimba is known as "Leo" in Japan, his country of origin and also in France where the series is known as ''Le Roi Léo''.)

Kimba in pop culture

''The Simpsons'' brought the Lion King controversy to the general public in the episode "'Round Springfield". At the end of the episode, Mufasa appears in the sky as he did in ''The Lion King'' and says: "You must avenge my death, Kimba... dah, I mean Simba." The picture at the right references the look and usage of imagery in The Lion King; see Kimba episode 13 ("The Trappers") for how that series addressed the concept of "avenging" the death of Kimba's parents.
Kimba has made cameo appearances in several video games. Two of these are '' (as Pook, a shape-shifting robot) for the Game Boy Advance, and ''Columns'' with a large number of other Osamu Tezuka characters.
Kimba has made several cameo appearances in the anime series Black Jack.
Kimba's adult form serves as the logo for the popular Japanese baseball team, the Seibu Lions.
Some fans point to the appearance of a white lion in an Astro Boy (1960s) episode ("The Snow Lion") as a sort of cameo appearance, but this character is similar to the adult Kimba in appearance only; it is not meant to be the same character.

Music

★ English Theme (1966 version): "Kimba the White Lion" written by Bill Giant, Bernie Baum, Florence Kaye ...sung by Bill Giant

★ Japanese Opening Theme (1966 version): "Janguru Taitei [Jungle Emperor]" written by Isao Tomita

★ Japanese Ending Theme (1966 version): "Leo no Uta [The Song of Leo]" written by Isao Tomita

★ Japanese Opening Theme (1989 version): "Past the Savanna (Sabanna no Koete)" written by Misuzu Taniuchi

References

1. . Accessed on 2007-06-13.
2. . Accessed on 2007-06-13.
3. . Accessed on 2007-06-13.
4. . Accessed on 2007-06-13.
5. Peter Schweizer and Rochelle Schweizer, "Disney: The Mouse Betrayed", pp. 167-168.
6. Trish Ledoux and Doug Ranney, "The Complete Anime Guide: Japanese Animation Video Directory and Resource Guide", p. 16.
7. Charles Buress, "Uproar Over 'The Lion King'", The San Francisco Chronicle July 11, 1994, pp. A1, A13.
8. uncredited article, "Did Japanese Animator Inspire 'Lion King'?", The Washington Times July 15, 1994, p. C15.

See Also

★ Jungle Emperor Leo, the 1997 feature movie based on the last half of the manga.

★ Leo the Lion, the sequel anime series to Kimba the White Lion.

★ List of Osamu Tezuka anime

★ List of Osamu Tezuka manga

★ Osamu Tezuka

★ Osamu Tezuka's Star System

Further reading

★ Fred Patten ''Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews''. ISBN 1-880656-92-2

★ Frederik L. Schodt ''Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga''. ISBN 0-7567-5168-3 ISBN 1-880656-23-X

External links

★ Fan site with full details on the show and its sequels

★ "How Kimba Came To Be" (full history)

★ Worldwide History of Kimba on TV and Video

★ Essay on the connection between The Lion King and Kimba

★ Many links and texts including Machiko Satonaka's letter to Disney signed by hundreds of Japanese animators

★ Jungle Emperor manga at TezukaOsamu@World

★ Jungle Emperor 1965 anime series at TezukaOsamu@World

★ Jungle Emperor 1966 film at TezukaOsamu@World

★ Jungle Emperor 1989 anime series at TezukaOsamu@World

★ Jungle Emperor Leo: Hon-o-ji film at TezukaOsamu@World