is a sequel to the Japanese

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series ''Jungle Emperor'', or ''

Kimba the White Lion ''Kimba the White Lion'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese '' shōnen'' manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka which was serialized in the ''Manga Shōnen'' magazine from November 1950 to April 1954. An anime based on ...

''.

Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu''; – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist, and animator. Born in Osaka Prefecture, his prolific output, pioneering techniques, and innovative redefinitions of genres earned him such ...

had always wanted his story of Kimba to follow Kimba's entire life, and the ''Jungle Emperor''/''Kimba'' series was such a hit in Japan that Tezuka produced a sequel, without his American partners, in 1966. An English dub of the series was first broadcast in the United States in 1984 on the CBN Cable Network (now Freeform). Making the series without a co-producer gave him complete creative control. For example, Tezuka changed the conclusion of his original manga story (represented in the last two episodes of this series) to a happy ending. ''Leo the Lion'' does not follow immediately from the end of the ''Kimba'' series. Instead, the story begins a couple of years following the end of the previous series. To English-speaking audiences, the behavior of the title character is inexplicably out of line with what was established in the first series. At the end of the first series, in the original Japanese script, Kimba promises to keep his animals separate from humans. It is this promise that drives the seemingly hermit-like Leo in this series. As the series unfolds, the focus shifts from the title character to one of his cubs, the male named Rune. This series as a whole is about Rune's growth, from a whining weakling to a confident leader. This Japanese series (so named because Leo was the Japanese name for the Kimba character) was dubbed into English by a company based in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

known as SONIC-Sound International Corporation, and run by Enzo Caputo. The theme song for the English dub was written by Mark Boccaccio and Susan Brunet. Stuart Chapin, who dubbed many of the voices into English, "colloquialized" all 26 scripts. After Chapin and Caputo clashed about basic matters (Chapin wanted the series to reference Kimba, a show Caputo never heard of; Chapin also wanted the Thompson gazelle to be called "Tommy" but Caputo stuck with "Tumy" because that was how the Japanese spelled it), Chapin ignored most of the plots and made up the scripts as he pleased, matching the dialog to lip movements. Thus, an elephant quotes a poem by

Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massach ...

and a gadget-heavy spy episode becomes a vehicle for "Sterling Bond",

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

's hapless brother. In later scripts, puns abounded. In the last script, Chapin had Leo/Kimba (voiced by Caputo himself) explain the Kimba name mix-up.

Characters

While there is a common misconception that Leo's cub Rune is Leo himself, Leo is actually grown up to a fully adult lion with white fur. Unlike the previous series, the producers of the English-dubbed version of this series used the original Japanese names for nearly all the characters: *Leo *Lea *LoLo *Coco *Mandy *Rune and Rukio *Squawk *Tommy *Rick The Lycon *Grandpa Leopard *Mr. Hunter *Rhino *Agura the Terrible One *Bizo *Pagoola *The Saber-Toothed Tiger *Triceratops Herd *Huge The Gorilla *Zamba the Blue Lion *The Ceratosaurus *The Mahamba *Raffe *Dr. Sugi *Christopher Sugi

Voice cast

Original Japanese voices (1966)

* Takashi Toyama – Leo *

Haruko Kitahama is a feminine Japanese given name. Its most common translation is "spring child" (春子, which may also be read as a Korean name Chun-ja), though other kanji provide different meanings. Notable people with the name include: * Princess Haruko (� ...

– Lea *

Eiko Masuyama is a Japanese actress and narrator. She works for Aoni Production. She is most known for originating the roles of Fujiko Mine ('' Lupin III''), Honey Kisaragi ('' Cutie Honey''), and Bakabon's Mama ('' Tensai Bakabon''). Early life Eiko Masuya ...

– Rukio * Kyoko Satomi – Rune *

Gorō Naya was a Japanese actor, voice actor, narrator and theatre director from Hakodate, Hokkaidō. He and his brother were two of seven children, and was a drop-out of the legal education division of Ritsumeikan University. He was connected to Theatre E ...

– Purasu *

Junji Chiba is a common masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Junji can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *純二, "chaste, two" * 純次, "chaste, next" * 純治, "chaste, govern" * 淳司, "pure, conduct" * 淳次, " ...

– Higeoyaji *

Mayo Suzukaze , known by her stage name is a Japanese actress from Ishinomaki. Suzukaze has also done some voice work as a voice actress, namely as the voice of Himura Kenshin in ''Rurouni Kenshin''. She was previously a Takarazuka Revue stage actress and the ...

– Guest *

Tōru Ōhira was a Japanese narrator and voice actor from the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. He was the founder of Ōhira Production and was also attached to 81 Produce. One of his best-known roles was the dub voice of Darth Vader in ''Star Wars'', on the series' h ...

– Ronmel

English dubbing voices (1984)

*Enzo Caputo – Leo *Jose Alvarez – Rune *Stuart Chapin – Parrot, Panther, Rhino, others Others in the English dubbing voice cast for this anime are not available at present for listing.

References

External links

* {{Osamu Tezuka 1966 anime television series debuts 1967 Japanese television series endings Japanese children's animated action television series Japanese children's animated adventure television series Anime series based on manga Animated television series about lions Fuji TV original programming Jungle Emperor Leo Mushi Production Osamu Tezuka anime Osamu Tezuka characters Sequel television series Television shows set in Africa