History Manga / KimbaTheWhiteLion

Kimba the White Lion is a 1965 television series based on OsamuTezuka's manga "Jungle Taitei" (1950-1954). The series follows a white lion named Kimba (Leo in the Japanese version), who due to the death of his father, is forced to become the king of the jungle. With the help of [[OldMaster an old baboon who once advised his father]] and a [[ThoseTwoGuys comically mismatched pair of buddies]], he must reclaim his kingdom from [[GoodScarsEvilScars a black-maned, scarred lion who has usurped the throne in his absence.]]

However, for all the comparisons between ''Disney/TheLionKing'' and the show, Kimba's story doesn't just consist of reclaiming the throne, but rather focuses on the aftermath as he tries to reassert his authority across the jungle, and [[{{Utopia}} create a new paradise where every animal has rights and prove that even animals can overcome the laws of nature.]].

Yeah, in some adaptions of the story, this really doesn't end well. However due to the fact that this particular series was a collaboration between Creator/{{NBC}} and Tezuka Studios, the anime series remains high on [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism the more upbeat side of the scale]].

As an additional note, this was in fact the first color anime series to appear in Japan.

* BilingualBonus: Arguably, Kimba is a corruption of Simba, the Swahili word for "Lion."

* BittersweetEnding: If you take the 60's ''Leo the Lion'' into consideration, it's the ONLY version of the original story that doesn't end tragically. [[spoiler: Yet in spite of the high kill count, the near collapse of the animal's utopia when the humans' interest in their area is piqued, and Leo/Kimba's decision and ultimate fate-- The last major threat to said kingdom has been removed, Rune has learned that there is good and evil in animals AND in humans finally understanding his father's [[KnightInSourArmor balanced perspective on the issue]], and through the actions of both father and son, [[EarnYourHappyEnding it's hinted that the animals are on the fast track to being considered sentient by humanity.]]]]
** [[spoiler: [[DownerEnding The '89 series sort of throws this out the window though, making the deaths and sacrifices seem utterly meaningless.]]]]
* BubbleGun: The Hunting Grounds has turrets that shoot out bubbles that trap its target inside a gaint bubble.

** In the 1993 dub and original Japanese, it's shown that Kimba struggles with allowing the carnivores to use the locasts as a food source, but it's that or the predators continuing to attempt to eat the other animals in the jungle. Even Kimba is not prone to the natural urge, occasionally going wild with hunger (but stopping himself from actually doing the deed)
*** Later Inverted(or is it subverted?) when an artificial meat subsitute is found
* CrossDressingVoices: Two female voice actors supply the voices for nearly every young character, [[{{Irony}} including the manliest, Kimba himself.]]

* DarkestAfrica: Both Played straight and subverted- The main chunk of story takes place in the last bit of frontier on an Africa on the fast track to becoming a world power. Kimba himself joins in by reorganizing the jungle along the lines of human civilization. In fact, a running theme of the story is the battle between this modernization and nature itself. [[spoiler: [[BittersweetEnding It's a tie.]]]]
* DarkerAndEdgier: The 1980's remake series. This is probably because Osamu Tezuka died after he made the sixth episode. In the final episode in the Japanese version, half of the main cast, including those that didn't even die in the manga, just got shot after a whole freaking 52 episodes of them appearing regularly.
* DemotedToExtra: [[BrattyHalfPint Rune's a crybaby and kind of a jerk]]. Now Rukio? [[TomBoy Rukio's awesome!]] I can't wait to see more of...uh...why are you shifting to Rune's perspective? The ending doesn't even treat her fairly. [[spoiler: We don't see her as an adult and she's given a one liner mentioning how she's married off to another pride. [[HopeSpot Her main purpose is to give us a a glimmer of hope that things might end well.]] Depending on what version you are watching, they don't.]]
* DoubleAesop: [[GreenAesop Humans and animals should love one another, and foster feelings of peace and understanding....]] [[spoiler: [[GaiasVengeance because nature is trying to kill both of us.]]]]
* DownerBeginning: The series starts off with Kimba's mother being captured and his father being killed in the rescue attempt. Snowene lives long enough to give birth to her cub - but soon as he's old enough and been told about his father and heritage, the ship gets caught in a nasty storm, Kimba is urged to escape before it hits. He's swept away and wakes up among the debris of the ship. Kimba quickly realizes his mother did not survive the storm.

** This caused some confusion when the sequel series lost the rights to NBC's trademark, and attempted to go back to using the Japanese names. To try and justify it, they hinted that 'Kimba' may have been Leo's nickname when he was younger. This may have worked had a few characters not pronounced it 'Kye-mba'.

** The dub also played a bit with ThemeNaming, with [[Theatre/JuliusCaesar a certain Shakespeare play as an inspiration]] This is arguably an improvement, as one of the villains went from the rather laughable 'Toto' to Cassius, better reflecting the nature of his character and his past with Panja/Caesar.
** Another improvement would be "Bubu," the most serious villain, to "Claw."

** Slightly inverted in the case of Caesar in the Manga and original Japanese: while Caesar was a good king to his loyal subjects, he had little mercy for animals in captivity. Believing that in fact, animals that served humans were unfit to live and fair game for good eatin' - however in the dub this perticular detail was generally omitted, and it was instead implied that Caesar was as progressive as his son. Though that makes some episodes somewhat awkward (Like Sampson's return, who offers some former pack-mules to Kimba as an offering for a celebratory meal)
* [[spoiler: TheHeroDies: Kimba in all but the 60's TV series and the TV special. The eighties' series doesn't come out and say it but whatever happened, our hero's been shot and is currently bleeding to death....[[GainaxEnding then there's a shot of the clouds.]]]]
* HumansAreBastards: [[EgomaniacHunter Hamegg's near insane]], [[CorruptTheCutie Being left on her own in darkest Africa causes Merry to fall apart into a dominatrix leading a bloodthirsty tribe,]] and Lamp? Lamp is a bad man. There are several exceptions as seen with Kimba's human friends though, and ultimately [[spoiler: [[WorldHalfFull Kimba's sacrifice in the manga and movie is hinted to have bridged a very large gap between man and animal.]]]]

* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: Unless a named character is named [[DeathByOriginStory Ceasar]], odds are that he or she will dodge any bullet that comes his or her way.

* LighterAndSofter: The original manga was filled with [[TearJerker some heartbreaking scenes]], [[DiabolusExMachina horrible events happening for no reason]], [[DownerEnding and one of the most infamous endings to a shonen manga ever.]] As for the anime series? It still edges into some pretty sad territory, but things don't self-destruct this time around.

** The main reason why the Neo-Jungle isn't working in the TV special. Mixing species together turns out to be a bad idea. [[spoiler: Turns out this was intentional. The Director had planned to use the mixed jungle to weed out the weaker animals and create new species. [[AGodAmI He kind of let this get to his head]].]]

* PunnyName: The dub has it's fun with Paulie Cracker, Speedy the Cheetah and the like. Kimba/Leo's kids are given this treatment in the manga....thanks to Paulie/Coco remembering the names mean to 'sleep' and to 'wake up'.

* VillainSong: The Black Four has one.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: The Neo-Jungle is destroyed, the animals are left in the hands...er..paws of a literal [[IncrediblyLamePun scaredy-cat]] emperor, and the real jungle has been blasted into all oblivion. At the same time, they now have a way to communicate with humans, a cure for the rampant plague that would have killed them, and a new-found drive and determination. [[LeftHanging We just never get to see what happens.]]]]

* DidntSeeThatComing: [[spoiler:[[TheDragon Goda]] is taken down by a brightly colored finch....[[HoistByHisOwnPetard well, that and his electric prod, and a conveniently placed pool of water.]]]]
** [[spoiler: He manages to appear later for [[LastBreathBullet one last spite-filled attack on said finch.]]]]

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: All over the dang place. At first, things seem [[LighterandSofter much happier than the original series]] due to the simple fact Leo's parents are still alive...then we learn that without going through the ordeal of losing both his parents, [[ShrinkingViolet he's not the same lion.]] Humankind has recreated the jungle willing to spare no expense. [[spoiler:Oh, it's being used as an experiment to try and manufacture "perfect" animals. Things then go into [[DespairEventHorizon total despair towards the end, when no one wants to fight the humans, because they can do whatever they want without consequence]]... until Leo decides he has enough and leads the animals on a all or nothing assault on Eternal Earth. [[CrowningMomentofAwesome And wins.]]]]

-->'''Leo:''' My father was strong right? He was a real Jungle Emperor, right? But I'm different from Father. I'm small, weak, I'm afraid of heights, I'm really just a cowardly lion. But..Father said, I was strong. That's why..That's why, I'm going!

Yeah, in some adaptions of the story, this really [[ItGotWorse doesn't end well.]] However due to the fact that this particular series was a collaboration between Creator/{{NBC}} and Tezuka Studios, the anime series remains high on [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism the more upbeat side of the scale]].

* DemotedToExtra: [[BrattyHalfPint Rune's a crybaby and kind of a jerk]]. Now Rukio? [[TomBoy Rukio's awesome!]] I can't wait to see more of...uh...why are you shifting to Rune's perspective? The ending doesn't even treat her fairly. [[spoiler: We don't see her as an adult and she's given a one liner mentioning how she's married off to another pride. [[HopeSpot Her main purpose is to give us a a glimmer of hope that things might end well.]] Depending on what version you are watching, [[ItGotWorse they don't.]]]]

* DownerBeginning: The series starts off with Kimba's mother being captured & his father being killed in the rescue attempt. Snowene lives long enough to give birth to her cub - but soon as he's old enough and been told about his father and heritage, the ship gets caught in a nasty storm, Kimba is urged to escape before it hits. He's swept away and wakes up among the debris of the ship. Kimba quickly realizes his mother did not survive the storm.

* HumansAreBastards: [[EgomaniacHunter Hamegg's near insane]], [[CorruptTheCutie Being left on her own in darkest Africa causes Merry to fall apart into a dominatrix leading a bloodthirsty tribe,]] and Lamp? [[CompleteMonster Lamp is a bad man.]] There are several exceptions as seen with Kimba's human friends though, and ultimately [[spoiler: [[WorldHalfFull Kimba's sacrifice in the manga and movie is hinted to have bridged a very large gap between man and animal.]]]]

** In the 1993 dub and original Japanese, it's shown that Kimba struggles with allowing the carnivores to use the locasts as a food source, but it's that or the preditors continuing to attempt to eat the other animals in the jungle. Even Kimba is not prone to the natural urge, occasionally going wild with hunger (but stopping himself from actually doing the deed)

However, for all the comparisons between ''Disney/TheLionKing'' and the show, Kimba's story doesn't just consist of reclaiming the throne, but rather focuses on the aftermath as he tries to reassert his authority across the jungle, and [[{{Utopia}} create a new paradise where every animal has rights and prove that even animals can overcome the laws of nature.]].

Yeah, in some adaptions of the story, this really [[ItGotWorse doesn't end well.]] However due to the fact that this particular series was a collaboration between {{NBC}} and Tezuka Studios, the anime series remains high on [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism the more upbeat side of the scale]].

As an additional note, this was in fact the first color anime series to appear in Japan.

* {{Bilingual Bonus}}: Arguably, Kimba is a corruption of Simba, the Swahili word for "Lion."

* {{Bittersweet Ending}}: If you take the 60's ''Leo the Lion'' into consideration, it's the ONLY version of the original story that doesn't end tragically. [[spoiler: Yet in spite of the high kill count, the near collapse of the animal's utopia when the humans' interest in their area is piqued, and Leo/Kimba's decision and ultimate fate-- The last major threat to said kingdom has been removed, Rune has learned that there is good and evil in animals AND in humans finally understanding his father's [[KnightInSourArmor balanced perspective on the issue]], and through the actions of both father and son, [[EarnYourHappyEnding it's hinted that the animals are on the fast track to being considered sentient by humanity.]]]]

* {{Caramelldansen Vid}}: Strangely enough. It can be seen [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRVcRi417Yc here]].

* {{Cross Dressing Voices}}: Two female voice actors supply the voices for nearly every young character, [[{{Irony}} including the manliest, Kimba himself.]]

* {{Darker and Edgier}}: The 1980's remake series. This is probably because Osamu Tezuka died after he made the sixth episode. In the final episode in the Japanese version, half of the main cast, including those that didn't even die in the manga, just got shot after a whole freaking 52 episodes of them appearing regularly.

* {{Double Aesop}}: [[GreenAesop Humans and animals should love one another, and foster feelings of peace and understanding....]] [[spoiler: [[GaiasVengeance because nature is trying to kill both of us.]]]]

* {{Dub Name Change}}: At least 90% of the characters.

** The dub also played a bit with {{Theme Naming}}, with [[Theatre/JuliusCaesar a certain Shakespeare play as an inspiration]] This is arguably an improvement, as one of the villains went from the rather laughable 'Toto' to Cassius, better reflecting the nature of his character and his past with Panja/Caesar.

* SlidingScaleOfAnimalCommunication: At Level 8.
* {{Talking Animal}}: [[CaptainObvious Make a guess]].

* AlternateUniverse: This version of the story takes place [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture in the future]], wherein mankind has screwed nature up so much they have to create an artificial environment for the animals to live in.

* SceneryPorn: The Neo-Jungle may be manufactured, but dang it's pretty.

** The dub also played a bit with {{Theme Naming}}, with [[JuliusCaesar a certain Shakespeare play as an inspiration]] This is arguably an improvement, as one of the villains went from the rather laughable 'Toto' to Cassius, better reflecting the nature of his character and his past with Panja/Caesar.

* NoExportForYou: The original Manga has yet to see a Western release, the unfortunate representation of the African Natives, and Tezuka's general drawing of coloured people seems to be a significant barrier for publishers

** Later Inverted(or is it subverted?) when an artificial meat subsitute is found

* DownerBeginning: The series starts off with Kimba's parents getting killed.

* HypeBacklash: So, is the 1989 series unnecessary and destroys everything the original series stood for, or is more realistic and better than the original series?
** It's also a good idea to not mention The Lion King.

* Hype Backlash: So, is the 1989 series unnecessary and destroys everything the original series stood for, or is more realistic and better than the original series?

* TerraDeforming: In episode 6, Kimba visits the World's Fair and sees, among other things, plans to melt the frozen polar regions so the space will be habitable.

* Later Inverted(or is it subverted?) when an artificial meat subsitute is found

* EverythingsPrettierWithButterflies: Kimba followed a swarm of migrating butterflies to get to land when he was lost at the ocean during the first episode.

Hpweve, for all the comparisons between ''Disney/TheLionKing'' and the show, Kimba's story doesn't just consist of reclaiming the throne, but rather focuses on the aftermath as he tries to reassert his authority across the jungle, and [[{{Utopia}} create a new paradise where every animal has rights and prove that even animals can overcome the laws of nature.]].

Yeah, in some adaptions of the story, this really [[ItGotWorse doesn't end well.]] However due to the fact that this particular series was a collaboration between NBC and Tezuka Studios, the anime series remains high on [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism the more upbeat side of the scale]].

!!''KimbaTheWhiteLion'' contains examples of:

Hpweve, for all the comparisons between ''Disney/TheLionKing'' Disney's film and the show, Kimba's story doesn't just consist of reclaiming the throne, but rather focuses on the aftermath as he tries to reassert his authority across the jungle, and [[{{Utopia}} create a new paradise where every animal has rights and prove that even animals can overcome the laws of nature.]].

For all the comparisons between Disney's film and the show however, Kimba's story doesn't just consist of reclaiming the throne, but rather focuses on the aftermath as he tries to reassert his authority across the jungle, and [[{{Utopia}} create a new paradise where every animal has rights and prove that even animals can overcome the laws of nature.]].

[[TheLionKing Remind you of anything?]]

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jungle_emperor_leo_kimba__117_1280_4553.jpg

* CuteKitten

* OfficialCouple: Kimba and Lyra.

* EverythingsCuterWithKittens

* GoldFishPoopGang: The hyenas working for Claw.

Yeah, in some adaptions of the story, this REALLY [[ItGotWorse doesn't end well.]] However due to the fact that this particular series was a collaboration between NBC and Tezuka Studios, the anime series remains high on [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism the more upbeat side of the scale]].

Kimba the White Lion is a 1965 television series based on OsamuTezuka's manga "Jungle Taitei". The series follows a white lion named Kimba (Leo in the Japanese version), who due to the death of his father, is forced to become the king of the jungle. With the help of [[OldMaster an old baboon who once advised his father]] and a [[ThoseTwoGuys comically mismatched pair of buddies]], he must reclaim his kingdom from [[GoodScarsEvilScars a black-maned, scarred lion who has usurped the throne in his absence.]]

** Well, there's this one pink baby alligator named Ali who has a yellow bow. [[SubvertedTrope It's a boy.]]

* ShoutOut: AstroBoy appears in a display line-up of robots in one episode.