History YMMV / KimbaTheWhiteLion

* OvershadowedByControversy: Outside of a few select countries, people in the West mostly remember Kimba because of the controversy surrounding ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994''. As it turns out, there are far more people who are aware of the controversy than there are people who actually watched the show.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: For the voice actors anyway. Knowing absolutely nothing of how the original story was supposed to evolve, a woolly mammoth coming out of nowhere sort of threw them for a loop.

* AmericansHateTingle: The series is a hugely beloved classic in Japan, easily being one of Osamu Tezuka's most famous works. In America, however, it spent decades flying under the radar, with almost no decent exports and most people only vaguely remembering aspects of it (such as the title and theme song), if that. But then in TheNew10s, it gained recognition in the US when old rumors resurfaced via internet memes, videos, and articles, claiming ''The Lion King'' was really a shameless rip-off of Kimba. These accusations ballooned out with more and more exposure online, which eventually led ''WebVideo/YourMovieSucksDotOrg'' to look into the Kimba franchise to see if the plagiarism claims held any water, only to find that not only were they grossly exaggerated and [[CommonKnowledge/KimbaTheWhiteLion filled with misinformation]], but that the series itself was a great deal weirder, [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids darker]], and [[ValuesDissonance more dated]] than we had been led to believe. Opinion in America turned against Kimba almost overnight, and it is now regarded by a not-insignificant amount of people as [[SoBadItsGood a cheesy mess]] that proves even someone like Osamu Tezuka could have off-days.

* AmericansHateTingle: The series is a hugely beloved classic in Japan, easily being one of Osamu Tezuka's most famous works. In America, however, it spent decades flying under the radar, with almost no decent exports and most people only vaguely remembering aspects of it (such as the title and theme song), if that. But then in TheNew10s, it gained recognition in the US when old rumors resurfaced via internet memes, videos, and articles, claiming ''The Lion King'' was really a shameless rip-off of Kimba. These accusations ballooned out with more and more exposure online, which eventually led ''WebVideo/YourMovieSucksDotOrg'' to look into the Kimba franchise to see if the plagiarism claims held any water, only to find that not only were they grossly exaggerated and [[CommonKnowledge/KimbaTheWhiteLion filled with misinformation]], but that the series itself was a great deal [[WidgetSeries weirder]], [[WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids darker]], and [[ValuesDissonance more dated]] than we had been led to believe. Opinion in America turned against Kimba almost overnight, and it is now regarded by a not-insignificant amount of people as [[SoBadItsGood a cheesy mess]] that proves even someone like Osamu Tezuka could have off-days.

* SoBadItsGood: While they do have genuine fans, many have started watching the 1965 anime and its 1966 sequel purely for ironic enjoyment, due to their [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs off-the-wall storytelling]], [[WatchItForTheMeme memetic moments]], [[MoodWhiplash unsettlingly dark elements]] such as the elephant genocide episode and Kimba keeping his dead father’s pelt as a keepsake, [[DesignatedHero the title character's]] [[MoralMyopia often unheroic actions]] ([[AbusiveParent especially]] [[{{Hypocrite}} in the sequel]]), and the unabashedly outdated aspects, [[BlackFace such as the ridiculously racist depictions of Africans]]. The sequel more so, as it doubles down on many of these elements, especially the last two, on top of having a hilariously terrible English dub.

* AmericansHateTingle: The series is a hugely beloved classic in Japan, easily being one of Osamu Tezuka's most famous works. In America, however, it spent decades flying under the radar, with almost no decent exports and most people only vaguely remembering aspects of it (such as the title and theme song), if that. But then in TheNew10s, it gained recognition in the US when old rumors resurfaced via internet memes, videos, and articles, claiming ''The Lion King'' was really a shameless rip-off of Kimba. These accusations ballooned out with more and more exposure online, which eventually led ''WebVideo/YourMovieSucksDotOrg'' to look into the Kimba franchise to see if the plagiarism claims held any water, only to find that not only were they grossly exaggerated and [[CommonKnowledge/KimbaTheWhiteLion filled with misinformation]], but that the series itself was a great deal [[WidgetSeries weirder]], [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids darker]], and [[ValuesDissonance more dated]] than we had been led to believe. Opinion in America turned against Kimba almost overnight, and it is now regarded by a not-insignificant amount of people as [[SoBadItsGood a cheesy mess]] that proves even someone like Osamu Tezuka could have off-days.

* AmericansHateTingle: The series is a hugely beloved classic in Japan, easily being one of Osamu Tezuka's most famous works. In America, however, it spent decades flying under the radar, with almost no decent exports and most people only vaguely remembering aspects of it (such as the title and theme song), if that. But then in TheNew10s, it gained recognition in the US when old rumors resurfaced via internet memes, videos, and articles, claiming ''The Lion King'' was really a shameless rip-off of Kimba. These accusations ballooned out with more and more exposure online, which eventually led ''[=YourMovieSucks.org=]'' to look into the Kimba franchise to see if the plagiarism claims held any water, only to find that not only were they grossly exaggerated and [[CommonKnowledge/KimbaTheWhiteLion filled with misinformation]], but that the series itself was a great deal [[WidgetSeries weirder]], [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids darker]], and [[ValuesDissonance more dated]] than we had been led to believe. Opinion in America turned against Kimba almost overnight, and it is now regarded by a not-insignificant amount of people as [[SoBadItsGood a cheesy mess]] that proves even someone like Osamu Tezuka could have off-days.

* MemeticMolester: Claw became this after the episode ''Battle at Dead River'' where he tried to marry Kitty. When they first meet, he creepily asks her to become his bride. When she refuses, he orders his hyenas to capture her.
-->'''Kitty''': Claw, I really don't understand what's going on.
-->'''Claw''': (chuckles) You will!

* AmericansHateTingle: The series is a hugely beloved classic in Japan, easily being one of Osamu Tezuka's most famous works. In America, however, it spent decades flying under the radar, with almost no decent exports and most people only knowing it as "that lion cartoon made by the guy who did Astro Boy", if that. But then in TheNew10s, it gained recognition in the US when old rumors resurfaced via internet memes, videos, and articles that started claiming ''The Lion King'' was really a shameless rip-off of Kimba. These accusations ballooned out with more and more exposure online, which eventually led ''[=YourMovieSucks.org=]'' to look into the Kimba franchise to see if the plagiarism claims held any water, only to find that not only were they grossly exaggerated and filled with misinformation, but that the series itself was a great deal weirder, darker, and more dated than we had been led to believe. Opinion in America turned against Kimba almost overnight, and it is now regarded by a not-insignificant amount of people as [[SoBadItsGood a cheesy mess]] that proves even someone like Osamu Tezuka could have off-days.

* AmericansHateTingle: The series is a hugely beloved classic in Japan, easily being one of Osamu Tezuka's most famous works. In America, however, it spent decades flying under the radar, with almost no decent exports and most people only knowing it as "that lion cartoon made by the guy who did Astro Boy", if that. But then in TheNew10s, it gained recognition in the US when old rumors and internet memes started claiming The Lion King was really a shoddy rip-off of Kimba. These accusations caused people like [=YourMovieSucks.org=] to start actually looking into Kimba to see if the plagiarism claims were true, only to find that not only were they false (Kimba and Lion King have barely anything in common), but that the series itself was a great deal weirder, darker, and more dated than they had been led to believe. Opinion in America turned against Kimba almost overnight, and it is now regarded by a not-insignificant amount of people as [[SoBadItsGood a cheesy mess]] that proves even someone like Osamu Tezuka could have off-days.

** One incarnation has this sequence showing Rune (wearing a bowtie and helmet) [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agUNI49A-n8 riding on robotic legs as he's visiting various people and animals]]. The music during that sequence is trippy and very upbeat at the same time.

* SoBadItsGood: While they do have genuine fans, many have started watching the 1965 anime and its 1966 sequel purely for ironic enjoyment, due to their [[WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs off-the-wall storytelling]], [[WatchItForTheMeme memetic moments]], [[MoodWhiplash unsettlingly dark elements]] such as the elephant genocide episode, [[PedoHunt Claw’s infatuation with Kitty]], and Kimba keeping his dead father’s pelt as a keepsake, [[DesignatedHero the title character's]] [[MoralMyopia often unheroic actions]] ([[AbusiveParent especially]] [[{{Hypocrite}} in the sequel]]), and the unabashedly outdated aspects, [[BlackFace such as the ridiculously racist depictions of Africans]].