Leo the Lion (anime)

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Leo the Lion


caption = Lea, Rukio, Leo, and Rune
ja_name = 新ジャングル大帝 進めレオ!
ja_name_trans = Shin Janguru Taitei - Susume Leo!
genre = Coming of Age, AdventureInfobox animanga/Anime
title =
director = Rintaro
studio = flagicon|Japan Mushi Productions
licensor =
network = flagicon|Japan Fuji TV flagicon|USA CBN Cable (now ABC Family)
first = flagicon|Japan 1966
last = 1967
episodes = 26 [ann anime|id=1707. Accessed on 2007-06-14.] [ [http://www.kimbawlion.com/leoepguide.htm Leo the Lion episode guide] Accessed on 2007-06-19.]
episode_list =

"Leo the Lion" is a sequel to the Japanese-American co-produced series "Janguru Taitei", or Kimba the White Lion. Osamu Tezuka 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 Dr. Tezuka produced a sequel, without his American partners, in 1966.

Making the series without a co-producer gave him complete creative control. For example, Dr. 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 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.

The Japanese series was dubbed into English 18 years after its creation, when it was given the title "Leo The Lion", Leo being the original Japanese name for the character known as Kimba in most of the world.

adapted with permission from content on [http://www.kimbawlion.com www.kimbawlion.com]

Characters

Some believe that Leo's cub Rune is Leo himself, but that is not true. Leo is actually grown up to a full adult lion with white skin. Also, 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
*Leah
*Tommy
*Coco
*Mandy
*Rune and Lukio
*Rick The Lycon
*Grandpa Leopard
*Mr. Hunter
*Rhino
*The Saber Toothed Tiger
*Huge The Gorilla

English language cast list not available.

References

External links

* [http://en.tezuka.co.jp/anime/sakuhin/ts/ts007.html New Jungle Emperor, Go Ahead Leo! at TezukaOsamu@World]
* [http://www.kimbawlion.com/LeoTheLion.htm Leo the Lion portion of KimbaWLion.com : Episode guide and much more information]