Mufasa: The Lion Kingis a prequel/sequel to 2019’sThe Lion King, itself a remake of the 1994 animated classic. Mufasa sees Rafiki telling the story of Mufasa (Aaron Pierre) to his granddaughter, Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter). Kiara and the audience learn how Mufasa became king of the Pride Lands, how his brother Scar, formerly named Taka (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), got his namesake, and how a rift grew between the brothers.
Mufasa’s main antagonist is Kiros (Mads Mikkelsen), a white lion who looks to kill every bloodline so that he is the true Lion King.Mufasa: The Lion King’s intent with Kiros is a commentary on colonization, but there might be another underlying reason behind making the villain of a Lion King movie, specifically a white lion. It all comes back to a popular manga, one that many have accused Disney of ripping off. While Disney has denied these claims, the inclusion of a white lion as a villain in a new Lion King movie can’t help but feel like Disney is getting a jab in atKimba the White Lion.
Mufasa: The Lion King
What Is ‘Kimba the White Lion’?
Kimba the White Lionwas created by Osamu Tezuka, who alsocreatedAstro Boyand is considered “The Grandfather of Manga” by many. Serialized in theManga Shōnenmagazine from November 1950 to April 1954 under the nameThe Jungle Emperor,Kimba the White Lionfollows the story of an orphaned white lion who, following his father’s death by the hands of poachers and his mother’s sacrifice to escape a sinking ship, returns to Africa to become the new king, protecting his fellow animals and trying to maintain peace between humans and animals.
In 1965,Kimba the White Lionwas adapted by Mushi Production and was broadcast from 1965 to 1967, becoming the first colored animated series created in Japan.Kimba the White Lionwas broadcast on NBC in the United States in the late 1960s. It received an animated film in 1966 in Japan, and in 1989, a new anime,The New Adventures of Kimba The White Lion, debuted, which many kids who later watchedThe Lion Kingin theaters might have recognized as an ad onPokémonVHS tapes.
In 1994,The Lion Kingopened in theatersto critical and box office glory. To this day, it is still the highest-grossing hand-drawn animated movie of all time, grossing $312 million domestically and $771 million worldwide in 1994.It became a cultural phenomenon known the world over…and many in Japan quickly started to take notice of some similarities toKimba the White Lion. WhenThe Lion Kingopened in Japan, where creator Osamu Tezuka is an icon, 488 Japanese cartoonists signed a letter urging The Walt Disney Company to acknowledge due credit toThe Jungle Emperor/Kimba the White Lion.
Similarities Between ‘Kimba the White Lion’ and ‘The Lion King’
While the plots ofThe Lion KingandKimba the White Liondiffer,withKimba the White Liontaking place in a reality where humans existand where any human presence is nonexistent inThe Lion King,most comparisons come down to visual similarities. While one might dismiss a shot of Simba standing on Pride Rock and one of Kimba standing on a similar rock,it is hard to ignore that both feature a scene where the character has a vision of a father speaking to them through the clouds.
Kimba the White LionandThe Lion Kingalso feature some similar characters.The villain of Kimba the White Lion, Claw, certainly has many similarities in appearance to Scar. Claw features a black mane like Scar and even a scar on the same eye.Kimba the White LionandThe Lion Kingalso feature mandrills that act as sage mentors, hyenas working for the villains, and bird advisors, butThe Lion Kingdirector Roger Allersstated it was “not unusual to have characters like a baboon, a bird, or hyenas” in films set in Africa.
Fred Ladd, one of the producers of Kimba the White Lion, addressed these in 1994 in a story by the LA Times, saying,“When one sees the film, it’s inevitable that one should be reminded of similar material in the TV series of 30 years ago.“He did acknowledge, though, that the names Simba and Kimba are similar, which is less noteworthy since Simba is the Swahili word for “lion.” Kimba itself is the English translation of the character’s name, which is Leo in Japan.
‘The Lion King’ Took Inspiration from a Shockingly Dark Source
The particular scene in The Lion King that utilized propaganda techniques formulated by the Nazis isn’t the first time a major film has done so.
Author Frederik Schodt of San Francisco, a translator for Japanese comics, wrote the 1983 bookManga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comicsnoted many similar visuals and even said it is doubtful that Disney animators wouldn’t know aboutKimba the White Lion. “There are an awful lot of young Americans who are big fans of Japanese animation today. Many of those people are now working in the United States animation industry,” said Schodt,“It would be inconceivable that no one (at Disney) had never seen ‘Kimba, the White Lion’ before.”
Even Simba’s adult voice actor,Matthew Broderick, mentioned in a 1994 interview that he originally thought he was cast in a Kimba project due to having a recollection of watching the original anime when he was younger. WhenThe Lion Kingwas in development at Disney, it was initially titledKing of the Jungle, which is very similar to Kimba’s original title,The Jungle Emperor. Even early concept art forThe Lion Kingfeatures a young white lion. It is hard to ignore the similarities, so what has Disney said on the matter?
Disney Response and the ‘Bambi’ Connection
Disney has taken a firm stance against any claims of copyingKimba the White Lion.The Lion Kingco-director Rob Minkoff toldThe Timesback in 1994,“Frankly, I’m not familiar with [the TV series]. I know for a fact that [Kimba] has never been discussed as long as I’ve been on the project.“Screenwriter Linda Woolverton told The San Francisco Chronicle, “This is the first I’ve heard ofKimbaor Tezuka.I never heard anything or saw anything about his work.”
Makoto Tezuka, son of Kimba’s creatorOsamu Tezuka, nor the Tezuka Productions have ever filed a lawsuit against Disney. He said,“If Disney had taken hints from theJungle Emperor, our founder, the late Osamu Tezuka, he would have been very pleased.“Tezuka major influence forJungle Emperoritself was Walt Disney’sBambi, which also was the major source of inspiration for the animators working on The Lion King. Tezuka claimed to have seen Bambi over 100 times when it was playing in a Tokyo theater after World War II.
‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ Ending, Explained: Could There Be a Third Movie?
‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ crafts an original story but brings in references from other ‘Lion King’ media to hint at a third movie.
Once you knowabout Bambi’s influenceon Jungle Emperor/Kimba the White Lion, it is as hard to ignore as the ones between it andThe Lion King.Kimba the White Lionloses a parental figure to human guns the same wayBambidoes, and the art style of the original manga and anime looks to capture the same beauty of the jungle thatBambidid for the forest. Tezuka and Walt Disney did meet at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York, where Disney reportedly told him he was a fan ofAstro Boy.
While the original creators ofThe Lion Kingmight have been able to claim ignorance of Kimba the White Lion’s presence, the filmmakers behindMufasa: The Lion Kingcannot.Disney is likely highly aware of the opticsof including a white lion in a project featuringThe Lion King, which would alert someone at the studio who even has a passing knowledge of the company’s history. While there might not be anything intentionally malicious about making a white lion the villain, it certainly looks like Disney is getting a little jab in, referencing their history and asserting just how popular The Lion King is that they can count this type of press, and nobody will notice. Now, when people google"Lion Kingwhite lion”, Kimba likely will be drowned out by images of Kiros.
