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“The Lion King” is an iconic story that has captured the hearts of people around the world for decades. Since its release in 1994, the film Disney It won over a legion of fans and became one of animation’s most beloved classics. However, not everything is as clear as it seems, and there are controversies surrounding the origin of this animation.
While Disney claimed that “The Lion King” was an original work, evidence suggested otherwise. During the 1990s, as reported by the portal Omeleta rumor emerged that the plot of the film starring the lion Simba It wasn’t really original.
The allegations state that the Disney animation is, in fact, a plagiarism of a Japanese animation called “Kimba”, also known as “Jungle Taitei” (or “The Emperor of the Jungle”, in Portuguese).
The story of “Kimba” began as a manga created by Osamu Tezuka, titled “Jungle Taitei”. The protagonist, a little lion called Leo, was the son of Panja and Eliza.
In the plot, the protagonist’s mother is captured and taken to a zoo, while his father is killed by hunters. Before being taken, Kimba’s mother tasked him with the mission of returning to Africa and assumed the throne that would remain with his father.
Years after its release, the manga was adapted into an anime and was a huge success in Japan. And although the stories of “The Lion King” and “Kimba” diverged significantly, some similarities between the characters and the plots gave rise to the hypothesis that Disney had plagiarized the story of “Kimba“.
More details about the case
It is important to highlight that “The Lion King” was released in 1989, the same year that Osamu Tezuka, the creator of “Kimba”, passed away. Initially, a Disney work was titled “The King of the Jungle” before becoming “The Lion King”.
After the film’s release, speculation about the right plagiarism gained strength due to the similarities found between the two narratives.
Disney responded to the statements by stating that it was unaware of the story of “Kimba” and only had contact with her when she was in Japan to promote the film.
Interestingly, the company’s president, Takayuki Matsutani, revealed that Osamu Tezuka was a big fan of Disney and that, contrary to what many thought, he would be thrilled with the idea of there being similarities between the productions, since Disney could have be inspired by your story.
In the end, it was confirmed that the two narratives were different, but discussions surrounding the similarities between “The Lion King” and “Kimba” continued to generate conflict between fans and animation scholars.
However, regardless of the controversies, both “The Lion King” and “Kimba” have earned a special place in the heart of spectators.
