the White Lion, and did their own spin on it.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=kimba+the+white+lion+the+lion+king &qs=n&form=QBIRMH&pq=kimba+the+white+lion+the+lion+king&am p;sc=1-34&sp=-1&sk=
Do you honestly think you're the first person to post this? If you give it half a second of thought, Kimba was a rip off of Bambi.
In the kingdom of the blind, you're the village idiot.
This is common knowledge. Disney probably even considered an adaptation but dislike using third parties. Kimba is one of many influences for this movie.
"If life is getting you down and needs uplifting, then please come dance with me!"
Jungle Emperor Leo was not quoted as inspiration at least by directors Rob Minkoff and Roger Allers, who have gone on the record stating they didn't notice the similarities towards Jungle Emperor Leo until after production was over.
Rob Minkoff:
"Frankly, I'm not familiar with (the TV series)," said Rob Minkoff, who added that he and co-director Roger Allers first learned about the controversy on a recent trip to Japan to promote the Disney film, whose lion cub is named Simba.
http://articles.latimes.com/1994-07-13/entertainment/ca-15117_1_lion-k ing
One of the most infamous controversy about The Lion King was the resemblance to Kimba, the White Lion. The idea is that Disney was going to do a remake but then fail to obtain the rights. Members of the cast and even Roy Disney mentioned the name of Kimba. Were there any discussions about Kimba or a possible influence on the project?
It’s strange you mention Roy Disney or some of the cast mentioning Kimba the White Lion. The whole time I worked on The Lion King the name of that show never came up. At least I never heard it. I had never seen the show and really only became aware of it as Lion King was being completed, and someone showed me images of it. I worked with George Scribner (the first director) and Linda Woolverton (the first writer) to develop the story in the early days but then left to help out on Aladdin. If one of them were familiar with Kimba they didn’t say. Of course, it’s possible. Then later I teamed up with Rob Minkoff to direct it together and with new writers Irene Mecchi and Jonathan Roberts. Many story ideas developed and changed along the way, always just to make our story stronger. I could certainly understand Kimba’s creators feeling angry if they felt we had stolen ideas from them. If I had been inspired by Kimba I would certainly acknowledge my inspiration. All I can offer is my respect to those artists and say that their creation has its loyal admirers and its assured place in animation history.
http://www.fumettologica.it/2014/12/intervista-roger-allers-re-leone/2 /
You will have to pardon my skepticism, but I don't believe a word anyone from that film says. Coincidence can only go so far and I don't believe the matching imagery is coincidence or simply being "inspired by Bambi". The creators have also lazily added that Hamlet was an influence, which I don't believe at all and feel the creators only started saying that after hearing audiences say it. Despite what I believe about the film's creation though, it doesn't affect my views for the film in anyway. It's still an enjoyable Disney film with beautiful animation, great voice acting, and wonderful music. It's biggest flaw has always been some writing issues and that has nothing to do with whatever source materials were being used.
"If life is getting you down and needs uplifting, then please come dance with me!"
I might want to add that most of the imagery seen in TLK was inspired by David Lean's epic films. Art director Andy Gaskill mentioned his inspiration from Lean in the production notes and other referential materials such as The Art of The Lion King (if I remember correctly).
The creators have also lazily added that Hamlet was an influence, which I don't believe at all and feel the creators only started saying that after hearing audiences say that after hearing audiences say it.
Because The Lion King was considered an original story there was always the need to anchor it with something familiar. When we first pitched the revised outline of the movie to Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Peter Schneider and Tom Schumacher, someone in the room announced that Hamlet was similar in its themes and relationships. Everyone responded favorably to the idea that we were doing something Shakespearean and so we continued to look for ways to model our film on that all time classic. Shakespeare is the greatest dramatist in history. His works have stood the test of time like no other. But it takes time to learn to appreciate Shakespeare and I was fortunate enough to grow up in Palo Alto California, in a time and place where arts education was supported.
http://animatedviews.com/2011/lion-kings-roger-allers-and-rob-minkoff- 2d-for-a-3d-hit/
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http://www.kimbawlion.com/kimbawlion/rant2.htm
If you read the linked article, you see references to Disney personnel making explicit references to Kimba during planning, production and other pre-release periods. The claims of never having heard of it ring hollow.
I'm sorry, but there are too many similarities for there to be no influence at all. Roger Allers is apparently aware of Tezuka and without Kimba the White Lion there would've been no "Bambi in Africa". All he really says is that he didn't watch the series to be influenced by its imagery, but it doesn't say anything about some of those scenes, perhaps he wasn't even the one who came up with the idea. It could very well be that he had never heard of the series.
But he wasn't the one who designed the characters, so the animators may very well have been inspired by the show.
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I see you haven't even bothered to start your research, because Zazu (a bird advisor is a common theme, so Kimba/Leo can't claim it) is a red-billed hornbill, so calling him a parrot is more incorrect than calling a hyena a dog. As for the baboon, neither Dan'l nor Rafiki is a baboon, they're mandrills, so calling them baboons is like calling gorillas chimpanzees.
Also, that the occasional scene (often taken from different times, with different characters) appears similar or the same is hardly surprising, the original Kimba/Leo series was 20+ hours long, so I'd be far more surprised if no similarities showed up. The plots however show only a passing similarity at the very beginning, and begin to diverge rapidly within a few minutes.
If you released both as a book, no-one would make the connection. Even the Kimba/Simba thing is unprovable, 'Simba' is Swahili for 'lion' ('maalum' too, but that doesn't sound right), which makes the title of the film a subtle and perhaps unintended link to the primary conflict, since it could be taken to supporting Simba as the hero.
At the best you have some interesting visual coincidences, but almost everything else is quite different.
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Actually, having all the same animals is where it falls over. For one thing, lions as royalty is so common you can't make a point of it, and a bird advisor is barely less so. And then you come to the hyenas, and here lies an issue, because in Tezuka's original series they were the comic relief, the real villains (aside the humans), were Toto/Cassius/Slyvester and his gang of black leopards.
As for the plot, it might be sort of similar in the very early stages, but not really, because Tezuka's plot involves humans from the get-go, while Lion King has them in at no stage.
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Name me one animated production, prior to this, that had animated lions and a bird advisor.Well there's Hanna Barbara's "Lippy the Lion and Hardy Har Har" from 1962, which features a lion with a hyena sidekick.
The hyenas in this are also comic reliefs, particularly the three main hyenas, even if the rest of them aren't.Part comic relief, part genuine threat.
Still, it's the same characters and I don't think I need to bring up the Scar/Claw comparison, as they are the same, exact character.Well they share a character archetype, but then, they're sharing it with, among other Claudius (from Hamlet) and Set (from old Egyptian myth). As for the scar, it's not an uncommon villain motif, certainly at least two Bond villains have similar injuries.
I'm not denying that the original series looks like garbage compared to this, but it doesn't mean Disney aren't frequent rip-off merchants.The problem is, nothing is actually provable. After all, the Plot is different, the characters are different, even for freeze-frames scenes, they often take place at different times with different characters. share
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Yet they look nothing alike. Hell, if you look at Donald Duck and Daffy Duck, they are nothing alike despite having the same species.Well the lions from Leo the Lion and Lion King look nothing alike either, Leo's lot have button noses, flat eyes, mouths that don't often trace to the shape of the jaw, and a decided lack of colour variation across the body.
Except for the fact that Scar and Claw are identical while Blofeld and Le Chiffe look completely different. I don't know how yo can possibly deny this when they are literally the exact same character.They're both unnaturally dark lions with a scar across one eye, but darkness and facial scars are common villain traits.
You totally missed the side-by-side pictures, didn't you?Half of them show different characters.
Here's a little experiment. Turn the tables, and try to create a cartoon series about a high-pitch-voiced mouse called "Mikey" and his friend "Ronald Duck." Start selling merchandise for these characters, and see how long it takes you to hear from Disney's lawyers.Actually, I think I'd rather go for a duck called Ronald and his friends, a labrador called Daffo and an otter called Diver. 'Cause that's about as close as it gets. share
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Except that you can't actually prove a rip-off, not to the degree to satisfy a judge, because so many of the points you're calling on are much older than moving pictures themselves. And yes, I'm sure they did pull some stuff from the Kimba series, but the plot matches in only a couple of spots, and the characters themselves act quite different, so there's not actually much to go on, or there wouldn't be if you removed the visual aspect.
share[deleted]
No, because influence isn't the same as theft. It was stupid of them to outright deny a connection, sure, but legally you lot have nothing provable.
share[deleted]
Why do you bother? Disney changed enough to make it different, and Tezuka's story still stands on its own. You can still watch both works and know they are both different. Same thing with Shrek and any generic fairy tale movie.
shareI am willing to entertain the theory that at some point, very early on in its production they considered making this movie a Kimba remake. But here’s the thing. That’s not the movie they made. If Disney released this movie in its current form as Kimba the White Lion they would have been in contravention of the Trade Descriptions Act. Because, a few similarities here and there notwithstanding they are nothing alike. In the areas where it really matters, characters, plot, dialogue, animation The Lion King is completely its own movie. Its art style is totally different from Kimba (I’d get into Ozamu’s ripping off of Bambi but that's too easy).
I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.
Thanks to everyone who isn't trying to wave away all the similarities.
Of course TLK is not a direct retelling of Kimba.
But it heavily reuses very similar designs and imagery.
Anyone with a brain can see this.
https://www.google.com/search?q=monsters+inc+needleman&biw=1280&bih=855&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjTt7bD-ejKAhUE2WMKHV39C20Q_AUIBigB#tbm=isch&q=kimba+the+lion+king&imgrc=_
You mean 'imagery,' and you need to learn what it means to 'rip-off.'
After having the same signature for, what, ten years? I'm not sure what to put here now.
If The Lion King was based off of anything, it would be the African epic poem, "The Legend of Sundiata." In fact, maybe Kimball ripped off both Bambi *and* Sundiata.
However, why do either one have to be rip-offs? How come no-one believes in coincidence. I had never even heard of Kimba the White Lion until now. I doubt the directors, producers, and writers of The Lion King had earlier.
Japanese Manga? Lol. Never heard the word "Manga" until a few years ago.
However, why do either one have to be rip-offs? How come no-one believes in coincidence. I had never even heard of Kimba the White Lion until now. I doubt the directors, producers, and writers of The Lion King had earlier.
Japanese Manga? Lol. Never heard the word "Manga" until a few years ago.
Any you're not swaying anyone by grasping at straws. Take a look at the early (1990) scripts some time, they're actually more different from Kimba than the finished product, so it was less 'copying' and more 'convergent development'.
shareI remember reading Atlantis The Lost Empire (terrible movie in my opinion) ripped off an anime but I forget the title of the anime in question.
Metallica and Iron Maiden are Bronies
Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water
I haven't seen this series so I can't comment on similarities. I've heard both were inspired by 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, so take that for what it's worth.
"Unless you're an alien, time traveler, or esper, your opinion doesn't matter."
And then of course a lot of people have noted that James Cameron's Avatar ripped off Atlantis: The Lost Empire. You just don't hear Cameron haters bringing up Avatar stealing from Atlantis like you hear them calling out Avatar stealing from Fern Gully, Pocahontas and Dances with Wolves.
Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Pantera, and My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fan.
Plots are among the hardest things to make original. Pocahontus/Atlantis/Avatar/etc. all come out of the same mold, just like Hamlet/Kimba/Lion King. In fact, parts of the plot of Lion King (uncle murders father, son tries to get revenge) go back to Ancient Egypt, with the attempt of Horus to avenge the murder of his father Osiris by his brother Set.
shareThye borrowed farts from the low budget Ren and Stimpy.
shareI remember reading Atlantis The Lost Empire (terrible movie in my opinion) ripped off an anime but I forget the title of the anime in question.
Totally love how this discussion still continues on from when I first jumped into the fandom :P
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Too many people missing the point.
It doesn't matter that every little story and character beat don't match.
Some of the TLK filmmakers are lying.
Obviously someone saw Kimba, and has various imagery recreated for TLK.