In this post, we take a closer look at the current status of the series “Jungle Taitei”, also known by the following titles:
- Kimba the White Lion
- ジャングル大帝
- Kimba der Weiße Löwe
- Kimba, el León Blanco
Status#
Based on our analysis, the series is NOT FINISHED. ❌
Here’s how we reached that conclusion:
- All related entries are marked as finished on MyAnimeList
- The series is listed as ended on Trakt
- The original source material has not been fully adapted, according to MangaUpdates
Taken together, these points indicate that Jungle Taitei is still ongoing in some form.
Watch order#
Jungle Taitei ↗ ↖
Jungle Emperor
Summary
In a jungle in Africa right on the equator there was a white lion, Panja, who was called the "Emperor of the Jungle." But Panja is killed by a hunter. His wife, the Queen of Jungle, who has been caught by the hunter, gives birth to the son of Panja on a ship bringing them to a zoo. She names her son "Leo" and has him escape from the ship, saying, "Go back to Africa and become the successor of your father." Then a storm comes and the ship is overturned, and sinks with the Queen on it. Leo is washed up on the beach of a port town in the Arabian Peninsula, not Africa. This is where Leo's long adventure begins.(Source: MU)
Background
Jungle Taitei was published in Brazilian Portuguese by NewPOP Editora from April 2013 to September 2013.
Leo-chan ↗ ↖
レオちゃん
Summary
As the future emperor of the African jungle, Leo the lion cub is sent off to live with a little Japanese boy named Kenichi. During his stint with the humans, Leo has many learning experiences and somehow always manages to get into a little trouble along the way. But when a rat arrives—carried by a stork like a little bundle of joy, no less—with a message from home, Leo realizes it's time to return to the jungle. As he embarks on his biggest adventure yet, he's unaware of the great battles that lie ahead.(Source: Digital Manga Publishing)
Background
Leo-chan was published digitally in English as Leo the Lion Cub by Digital Manga Publishing in May 2016.
Jungle Taitei ↗ ↖
ジャングル大帝
Summary
Leo the white lion was born on an ocean liner that crashed on the shores of a bustling city, where he spent his childhood learning the language and customs of humans. But something was missing. In search of his family, home, and a place to truly belong, Leo traveled back to Africa and began his journey to become the King of the Jungle.Leo’s adventure centers around finding peace between the animals and humans who live in his African home, often competing for space and resources. As he grows, Leo must survive both the area’s harsh environment, dangers from other animals, and humans who hunt lions like him for sport. Only communication and mutual understanding can end the fighting, and Leo’s knowledge of human culture may be just what the jungle needed.
Jungle Taitei is the epic story of a young lion’s struggles to survive in a dangerous land.
Background
Jungle Taitei was the first full-color anime to air on TV. The series originally aired on Fuji TV, and has since been broadcast under various titles all around the world. The episodes were taken out of order when the anime was brought to the United States, which was reflected in the American VHS versions of the anime. Due to their many similarities, Jungle Taitei is largely believed to have influenced Disney's The Lion King, although Disney denies any relation between the two.
Jungle Taitei Movie ↗ ↖
Jungle Emperor Leo Movie
Summary
The first 2 minutes of this film are taken from the Jungle Emperor Leo (1965) TV series, while the rest is all original. Tezuka was very pleased that this film conveyed his story accurately, something he wasn't able to do with the TV series.(Source: ANN)
Jungle Taitei: Susume Leo! ↗ ↖
Leo the Lion
Summary
Jungle Emperor was such a hit in Japan, that Dr. Tezuka went ahead and produced a sequel in 1966, known in Japan as "The New Jungle Emperor" or "Onward, Leo!" The trouble (for us in the rest of the world) was that he made the series without having a deal with NBC, and he made it more like his original manga story, which means that there were a lot of characters that died and some of the episodes could be depressing. NBC thought that there was no way they could sell that kind of show, and they were quite happy with the 52 episodes they had, so the New Jungle Emperor series wasn`t seen in this country until 1984, when it was given the title Leo The Lion.This series was supposed to take place a few years after the original Kimba series. Kimba was an adult, with Kitty as his mate, and they had two cubs. Most of all this series was the story of Rune, the male cub, as he grew and learned to be as strong as his father.
For legal reasons, the producers of the English-dubbed version could not use the name Kimba, so they used the original Japanese names for all the characters.
(Source: Official Website)
Jungle Taitei (1989) ↗ ↖
Bou Bou
Summary
Leo (a.k.a. Kimba in the U.S.) is a young ambitious lion cub who takes his father's place as emperor of the jungle when is father is killed by poachers. Even though his father's fate was met by the hands of humans, Leo is one of the few animals in the Jungle that doesn't fear or feel hatred toward humans. He is not alone either, he is guided by friends of his father to help create the best animal kingdom there can be.(Source: ANN)
Anime Koukyoushi: Jungle Taitei ↗ ↖
アニメ交響詩 ジャングル大帝
Summary
Actually, that 1991 date is misleading. The Symphonic Poem originated with the music Isao Tomita wrote for Jungle Emperor in 1965. He re-worked his music into a long form which tells a story by itself. (This form of music was termed "symphonic poem" or "tone poem" by composers in the late Romantic era.) So music that was written originally to enhance visual story telling became the story teller.Tomita’s symphonic poem was recorded in the mid-60s and issued on LP in Japan. More than once, in fact. It has also been on CD more than once.
In 1991, Tezuka Productions turned the process upside down and created new animation to illustrate the symphonic poem. The story is basically that of the first Kimba episode. We see the peaceful animal kingdom under Panja, the coming of the hunters, Eliza’s capture and Panja’s death. Kimba is born and escapes back to Africa. All this told without a single word spoken. The style of the Symphonic Poem’s animation is unique. It draws heavily on the style of the 1989 TV series, but Kimba looks different from the way he looked in any other production.
(Source: kimbawlion.com)
Jungle Taitei Movie (1997) ↗ ↖
ジャングル大帝 劇場版
Summary
This movie focuses on the last half of Osamu Tezuka's revered saga of a white lion's quest to become king of the jungle. Leo's newborn cub, Lune, takes an interest to humans after discovering a music box in the wreckage of an airplane. At the same time, a greedy treasure hunter known as Ham Egg is leading an expedition team of rough-looking men on a trek for the fabled Moonlight Stones, which can supposedly save the world from an energy crisis. Two other humans, (who go by the rather wacky names of Dr. Moustache and Lemonade) try to stop Ham Egg's mad destruction of the jungle. Later, a terrible virus sweeps through the jungle, poisoning many of the animals. Dr. Moustache comes to save them with a cure. The film culminates with a treacherous journey up the legendary Mt. Moon in search of the stones....(Source: ANN)
Jungle Taitei (2000) ↗ ↖
Summary
This is one of a number of original animated short films made for viewing at Tezuka Osamu World's Tezuka Osamu Animation Theater in Kyoto.(Source: ANN)
Jungle Taitei: Yuuki ga Mirai wo Kaeru ↗ ↖
ジャングル大帝 -勇気が未来をかえる
Summary
Earth, sometime in the 21st century. Because of non-stop environmental destruction, the United Nations commissions a private company, "Eternal Earth," to create an artificial jungle, to be a nature preserve and to protect animals. All wild animals are forced to live in it.The animals that live in this “neo-jungle” have an easy life. Leo, son of Panja, is born in this artificial world. Because of the unrealistic nature of the neo-jungle, Leo lives his life like he hasn’t a care in the world. But Leo is ridiculed by the other animals; they call him a coward—he is not like his father, the great Jungle Emperor, but Leo vows that some day he will be.
Kenichi, son of the Eternal Earth company’s CEO, has no doubt about the great success of the neo-jungle. The story starts when Leo and Kenichi meet. Kenichi has the special ability to understand what the animals are saying.
(Source: kimbawlion.com)