Has Disney's Lion King been borrowed from a Japanese TV show?



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Despite the mixed reactions of critics, the remake of Disney live from The Lion King could win the crown this summer and end up being one of the most successful movies of 2019.

Most audiences do not seem to worry about the fact that Jon Favreau's version is an almost exact replica of the original, but fans might feel differently if they knew how much The Lion King It also looks like another story that Disney did not credit.

pictureFuji TV

Years before The Lion King first roared in theaters, Kimba the white lion It was a popular Japanese anime that lasted from 1965 to 1967. Inspired by a manga written by Osamu Tezuka, the show followed a young cub who had grown up with other jungle juniors, determined to become an honorable leader like his late father. Along the way, Kimba would face an evil lion called Claw with a wise baboon and a comical bird by his side.

Oh, and then there is that name, Kimba. Sounds familiar?

It must be emphasized that the main plot of Kimba… differs from The Lion King. Kimba travels to the sea, learns to swim with the fish, is guided by butterflies and meets many humans.

But.

thematically, The Lion King and Kimba the white lion share a surprising number of parallels and the two stories are alike. Images of a lion standing on top of something that looks like Pride Rock appeared first in Kimba the white lion and both stories feature scenes where the star's parent appears in the sky after death.

While most Western countries were not aware of these striking similarities, The simpsons were found to be still ahead of the game when they parodied the controversy in 1995. At the end of the six season episode "Springfield Round", a lion appears in the clouds next to Bleeding Gums Murphy and said, "You must avenge my death, Kimba … I mean, Simba!

Despite this highly publicized recognition of the controversy, Kimba The creators Mushi Production have never filed lawsuits against Disney. However, when The Lion King In Japan, some 200 industry professionals have signed a letter asking Disney to recognize Kimba's impact on the hit movie.

pictureDisney

Disney did nothing of the sort and in the years that followed, almost everyone involved denied any connection between the two stories. Speaking to Los Angeles Times a little after The Lion King was released, co-director Rob Minkoff said he did not know Kimba at all, explaining that it is "not unusual to have characters like a baboon, a bird or hyenas" in an African story like this.

More recently, host Tom Sito said HuffPost Entertainment that there is absolutely no inspiration from Kimba " The Lion King, explaining that the filmmakers were unaware of any comparison until they were already at the heart of the production process: "One of the animators discovered a Kimba manga cartoon with a configuration resembling Pride Rock, and I remember it looked like we were showing it, and I was thinking, "Wow, it's really close to ours, yes."

Some might find it hard to believe that Disney really has no knowledge Kimba Matthew Broderick, the Simba actor, even thought that he was playing Kimba at the beginning – the president of the production company Osamu Tezuka, Tezuka Productions, felt that it was impossible to avoid similarities between the stories because of the topic being dealt with. After all, any history of lions located in the African savannah will necessarily include similar animals, or even identical landmarks.

It is also important to note that the two projects are different in many ways. For example, Kimba can stand on two feet fighting with his fists. While humans play a vital role in Tezuka's anime, they are not visible anywhere else. The Lion King.

Whether the parallels shared between Simba and Kimba are coincidental or not, do not be surprised that clbadic animated stories like this share at least some sort of deeper connection. It's the circle of life after all.

The Lion King goes out in English and American theaters on July 19th


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