Kimba the White Lion
Kimba the White Lion, known in Japan as Jungle Emperor (Japanese: ジャングル大帝, Hepburn: Janguru Taitei), is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka which was serialized in the Manga Shōnen magazine from November 1950 to April 1954. An anime based on the manga was created by Mushi Production and was broadcast on Fuji Television from 1965 to 1967. It was the first color animated television series created in Japan.[3] It began airing in North America from 1966. The later series was produced by Tezuka Productions.[4][5]
ジャングル大帝
(Janguru Taitei)
- JP: Jippi English Comics (bilingual)[1]
November 1950 – April 1954
3
Isao Tomita
Toriro Miki (theme song)
October 6, 1965 – September 28, 1966
52[2]
July 31, 1966
74 minutes
Toshio Hirata
1991
51 minutes
Fumihiro Yoshimura
Minoru Kubota
Mayumi Morita
Beijing Sharaku Art
Media.Vision
March 18, 2000
9 minutes
Osamu Suzuki
Takefumi Haketa
September 5, 2009
96 minutes
A TV special premiered September 5, 2009, on Fuji TV. Produced in commemoration of Fuji TV's 50th anniversary, it was directed by Gorō Taniguchi, written by novelist and drama writer Osamu Suzuki, and featuring character designs from illustrator Yoshitaka Amano.
Reception[edit]
In 1967, the Jungle Emperor theatrical feature was awarded the St. Mark's Silver Lion Award at the 19th Venice International Film Festival.
Commercial use[edit]
In 1978, the adult Leo character, designed by Tezuka himself, became the mascot for the Seibu Lions (current Saitama Seibu Lions) baseball team, along with his sister Lina who was created for the baseball team. The Leo mascot was used on the team baseball cap and helmet for decades[35] Leo also appeared on the players' uniform for the 2014 season, designed by Tezuka Productions.[35][36] The Seibu conglomerate-owned team's mascot became highly visible throughout Japan on baseball caps, shirts, etc., as well as being heavily used in advertisement especially in the Tokyo area.[37][38] Frederick L. Schodt makes the argument that by the 1980s, Leo the lion could hardly escape the notice of foreign visitors to the city.[37]
Image from the Jungle Emperor manga appears on shirts made by Lacoste in cooperation with Tezuka Productions for their "Lacoste Live" capsule collection "Tezuka Collection", edition Fall/Winter 2013/2014.[39]