Destroy All Podcasts DX Episode 131 - Kimba the White Lion: The Birth of Kimba & The Law of the Jungle

I would say it's a little harsh to judge this show based on two episodes alone, let alone not the best presentation of the show in my opinion.

The version you saw was the 1993 Canadian edition that was at one point released on VHS in the US around '95 or so by UAV Corporation originally (and labeled "Kimba the Lion Prince" or reasons probably to confuse those buyers at Kmart into thinking they were buying a Disney clone), though it has also made the rounds of small cable/satellite channels in recent years such as America One. This version strips Isao Tomita's stirring background score in favor of some typical synthesized crap, though most would often say the adaptation was far closer to Tezuka's original intentions (despite not giving him credit at all in the process). The 1966 release was handled by Fred Ladd as "Kimba the White Lion", though perhaps a better way to compare is to check out these links....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh8lO_TOlMk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex3aRIY63wM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTAXetPSd9c

The original Kimba the White Lion as it was distributed by NBC's syndication arm lasted into the 1970's, but the rights to the series went into a bit of a tangle and the original negatives of the series went lost along the way. It took many years until Right Stuf International was finally able to release Kimba as it was on VHS in the late 90's, though many years after the Canadian version was released. Their most recent release on DVD is probably the best representation of the series you'll ever see, culled from the best materials they were able to receive from collectors and others along the way.
http://www.rightstuf.com/cgi-bin/catalogmgr/ZiXyaMnlap3CgwE1xP/browse/item/67850/4/0/0

The original Bullwinkle cartoon series was around since 1959, so I wouldn't be surprised if the original dub had a Bullwinkle-type voice anyway. The new Canadian dub though tend to use different edits from the '66 version as well (not to confuse with the Japanese version mind you).

Panja was Leo's fathers name from the Japanese version that the Canadian dub used, though in other Kimba dub, Cesar was his name, while Snowene was Kimba's mother. The design look of the characters might not look the way these animals should be, though I thought it was stylized quite well and at least Kimba grows up to look less baby-ish than he does as a young cub.

The man vs. nature is a bit theme in Tezuka's work such as in Kimba. The power source bit mentioned in the podcast was one of the last stories in the manga alone, concerning a journey up a giant mountain that Kimba/Leo and several others make to find this crystal that contained enormous amount of energy that was wanted by some bigtime boss elsewhere. In the end, Kimba had to give his life to save the surviving human from the expedition (which is Shunsaku Ban I believe).

Remembering that Cinderella film, I was being reminded Gus's full name as given by the title character was "Octavius" but was shorten to "Gus" anyway.

That Felix the Cat movie was from the late 80's that had some weird mice characters in it. I've seen that film, it's quite terrible. Just look at this!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsN7Ev6Kpnw

While the second episode on your disc was taken from somewhere else. The actual second episode is "The Wind in the Desert", and deals with him just arriving in the jungle, meeting Panja's former pals and a villain lion name Bubu or something, and having a brush with more hunters and a secret agent of sorts who saves his life but dies in the process.

Panja's pelt came to be a simple to help Kimba figure out who his father was and why how he once ruled the jungle he now inherits solely. Here in this deleted scene is him singing a song to it..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0LiFZUIaHs

While you kept calling it a corpse, it's really more just the skin with the head attached. Many hunters often do cruel stuff like that and call 'em trophies of their efforts.

It's only a shame these cheap DVD companies are making a buck out of these episodes anyway. One that came out from EastWestDVD already draws Kimba on the cover resembling a Koala.

I still think it's not a bad show regardless of when it was made at. The original 60's dub though does give Tezuka credit anyway (though his name is spelled "Tezyka" like he was Polish). There's been other adaptations of Jungle Emperor out there as well like a 1989 TV series and a 1997 movie that pretty much rips off Lion King if only for visuals.

Aside from the vegan-ism, there is one episode where the parrot and dopey deer bothered setting up a restaurant anyway that serves plants anyway, stirring up trouble for some of the bigger animals that protest. The thing about Kimba the White Lion was in how Kimba was trying to bring about an "Animal Uptopia" in the jungle by implementing many civilized concepts he picked up from once having lived in a city (which we don't see in this series). That premise alone kept reminding me of the French children's book "Babar, King of the Elephants" that followed a similar plot of an elephant who escapes to the city and then comes back to the jungle to liberate and form his own kingdom of elephants in a very anthropomorphic manner. Again, I read too much into this!

Incidentally, here's Fred Ladd to say some stuff about Kimba...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CQhmH9ABc4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXMlR4zu0yo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGLOgj-6KCs