Jungle Emperor Leo

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding, moving movie lovingly brought to DVD
Review: I could not ask for a better DVD of this wonderful movie. AnimeWorks has provided a beautiful transfer of the film, subtitles that are very faithful to the Japanese dialog, and an English-dubbed track that is well performed and also true to the original. This is a movie I have cherished ever since it was released to video in Japan, and AnimeWorks' US release of it is great.

This movie brings to the screen the second half of Dr. Osamu Tezuka's epic fable, Jungle Emperor. The first half was heavily reworked into the classic, beloved TV series Kimba the White Lion. Here, in this film, only minor changes have been made so that the story can stand on its own. It is a more faithful adaptation of a previously-published story than any other movie I can think of.

Fans of Kimba the White Lion will get to see their favorite characters grown up and starting a new family. The beauty of the animation gives me chills of delight. Leo (the original Japanese name for Kimba) is drawn with just the right mixture of leonine handsomeness and human expressivity. The other animals, too, have just the right amount of realism to make them beautiful to look at while retaining the necessary ability to express emotion in an animated film environment. I have to say I wish Lyre had been given more presence in her appearance--she always lit up any Kimba episode she was in, and she should have done the same here. (I also wish that she and Rukio had much more to do in this movie. But how much can you squeeze into 90 minutes?) Lune, son of Leo and Lyre, embarks on an adventure that is a worthy descendent of the stories we knew from the Kimba TV series.

Those coming to this movie without previous experience with Kimba will find a beautiful, touching story that earns the right to be called an epic fable. Leo's plea at the end of the movie isn't just about the McGuffin that drives the story, it's a plea for all animals.

The original production is superb. Isao Tomita provides the symphonic score, as he did for the original TV series, and again it is sweeping and powerful. The opening title sequence is an expansion of his original Jungle Emperor theme, and it produces goosebumps. The animation is for the most part lovely. CG and traditional animation are mixed, usually with great success. (But don't let my qualified praise put you off--I thought that "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" largely failed in its attempt to integrate the two animation techniques, so I'm probably just a tough critic.) All the characters are done in conventional cel animation, very satisfyingly.

This movie is essential viewing for any Kimba fan, although one may be left emotionally wrung out by events in it. I truly love this movie, and I am deeply grateful to AnimeWorks for their care and skill in bringing it to the U.S. Not one second has been cut; not one frame re-sequenced. It's all here, waiting for everyone to discover it.

Rating:
Summary: Another great film you shouldn't let your kids watch.
Review: I met someone who thought this was a rip-off of the Lion King, I said "No, this is 20 or 30 years older, & you're probably thingking of Kimba the White Lion."
Concidering when this was made, the animation quality looks very high-budget. The snow is VERY realistic, the colors are devine, & the movements feel natural. The cubs look SO cute, but the humans look hideous (typical shounen 60s design)
If your kid asked you a bunch of annoying questions or cried when Bambi's mother was shot, by the end of this movie, almost EVERYONE dies.
This movie has bad stuff like burning trees, shooting endangered species for fun, murder, suicide, & orphaning, so keep this one away from the kids. Aside from all that, the show is pleasent, mellow, & not really that violent at all. (no blood or bodies)

Rating:
Summary: languajes
Review: in the info, you should said the languajes too, some dvd even in USa and Canada, can be found with two or three languajes in...

Rating:
Summary: Love and the struggle for a peaceful life
Review: It seems that some people have trouble dealing with this movie. It is based on the same manga that gave us Kimba the White Lion and, a step removed (and oft denied), The Lion King. It is not the same type of story, however. Kimba gave us light and hope for a new kind of future. Jungle Emperor Leo is more along the lines of what actually happens as man storms through nature with greed as the driving force. If you can look at the entire picture, however... look at young Lune's story, you will see the hope is still there. Another generation has to pass, though. Overall, it is sad, but so is the actual relationship of man to nature. Where Kimba depicted the hope for a new future, perhaps the tragedy in this film can inspire change in a different way.

Rating:
Summary: This is not KIMBA!!!!!!!!!!
Review: The animation is wonderful. Leo is drawn with just the right mixture of lion dignity and strength with some human expressivity added -- it puts the Disney rip-off to shame.

This movie brings to the screen the final chapter of Dr. Osamu Tezuka's epic fable, Jungle Emperor. The first half of the work was heavily reworked into the classic, beloved TV series Kimba the White Lion. Here, in this film, only minor changes have been made so that the story can stand on its own. It is an adaptation of the final chapters of the previously-published story.

I must warn you, don't think this is Kimba all over again -- because it isn't. It may have much of the original's life in it; but there is some serious darkness below the surface. This film -- like Sigourney Weaver's Alien 3 -- hits bellow the belt; and doesn't pull its punches. It is bleaker than anything that has gone before it, offering a modernist deconstructionist interpretation of the work. The events in it will leave your emotions mangled.

This didn't happen when Tezuka originally adapted the work to the small screen! Remember -- with the second series, he had full control.

I can only imagine the outcry that Dr. Tezuca got when he finished the original manga. Such things have happened before; like with the M*A*S*H episode ABYSSINIA, HENRY. The audience was outraged. That must have been why he changed the endings of the final 2 episodes of the FORWARD LEO. I wish they had followed that example like they did when they did METROPOLIS.

"Horror always has sad endings." -- the Pagemaster

Consider the themes of the series -- Freedom and the celebration of life! Go through the episodes and you can see this again and again. Think of the times Kimba was leading everybody in the big singalongs! A story about such things should NOT end in death. I compared the 1997 film to ALIEN 3, remember. It was like the Peter Davison episodes of DOCTOR WHO: this episode everybody dies! What was it Tegan said when she left him?; "Doctor, it's not fun any more!" When I saw ALIEN 3, I left asking myself "why did I even bother with the other 2 films?" In the case of this movie, the question remains. "Why did I bother to see an ending like this?" Leo was many things, but I never considered it to be in the genre of HORROR. It's not fun any more.

Rating:
Summary: The REAL Lion King
Review: This film is a true achievement in animation history. Jungle Emperor Leo is Osamu Tezuka's life's work and even after his death in 1989, his work continues to inspire us all. The only flaw in this new edition to the Jungle Emperor Leo(Kimba the White Lion) saga is a bit of unbalanced story telling. This film was based on the second manga story from Tezuka and the story is a bit too much to be just a film. Although it's great to watch the whole story unfold in this beautiful film, there might have been a bit too much story to squeeze into 100 minutes. We have cases where it seems like part of the story is being ignored while another part of the story is going too fast. Reguardless I still highly recomend this.

NOW LET'S GET TO THE FUN STUFF!! I know that some of you may be wondering why I titled this "The Real Lion King". For those who don't know The Lion King was blatenly ripped off from Jungle Emoeror Leo(Kimba the White Lion). Every last aspect from the Lion King all the way from the stampede, to the pink birds in the opening sequence was ripped from Osamu Tezuka's masterpiece. It's kind of obvious which came first. The original Jungle Emperor Leo manga was writted in the 50's and animated in the early 60's. The Lion King was released in 1994. Do yourself a favor and check out the real story. You will be pleased. Just make sure you have a box of tissues with you, it's a bit more serious than you would expect.

Rating:
Summary: Excelent!
Review: This is just a great piece of animation. Its the conclusion of Osamu Tezuka's Jungle Emperor Leo (Kimba the White Lion is the americanized name) story as told in his manga. You can't deny Lion King is copied from Leo, even the monkey wiseman and motor mouthed parrot are present in the manga that outdates Lion King by about 44 years. Typically, Disney is still in complete denial about the truth of this matter. However, unlike that knock-off, this film doesn't pull its punches so it can transcribe the greatest story posible. The themes presented here a very powerfull (much more so than the Lion King). The film is quite touching, and I believe much can be learned from morals of this story. Osamu Tezuka was truely a visionary. Perhaps one of the greatest authors of the of the 20th century, even if he drew his stories instead of only using written word. The animation is also quite wonderfull, coming from one of anime's greatest studios, Mad House. I highly suggest giving this one example of Tezuka's work a chance. I also wish more of this series would be released on DVD. They could perhaps start with 1989's Jungle Emperor Leo tv series. However, the ending to that show was altered because of sponsors concern for the children's emotions. This film is the true conclusion of the Leo saga transcribed to film for the first time.