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The Lion King: That Time Disney Ripped Off an Anime

apocat

apocat

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,095
It's pretty obvious that Disney was heavily inspired by Kimba. That wouldn't even be an issue if they weren't dicks about it themselves, it's not like they made a carbon copy, and being inspired by something is not a crime.

Besides, it's well known that Tezuka was in turn heavily inspired by Disney. I still wish they had retained these guys when adapting his version of Metropolis to film.
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Trup1aya

Trup1aya

Literally a train safety expert
Member
Oct 25, 2017
21,532
FaceHugger said:
The only similarity is the brother killed the king. He wasn't porking mom duke. Simba wasn't possibly mad. No one drowned. There was no ghost of the father unless I flat out missed that part. Hamlet was never exiled.

What a bizarre comparison to make. Did I just miss a bunch of similarities or something?

Also, looking through OP, wow. Some of those things were lifted nearly whole cloth.
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The brother killed the king. It can be assumed that he was porking the mom (that's how lion prides work). There WAS a ghost of the father.

It wasn't a 1:1 hamlet take, but there was an inspiration.
 
Chrome Hyena

Chrome Hyena

Member
Oct 30, 2017
8,779
Its funny folks try to downplay/write this off. But let Disney copy some random ass dance and they would be called the worst scum company ever and people would be screaming for lawsuits.

Yeah Disney straight up ripped off another work. And the Hamlet comparision is a lame attempt to justify it. Especially considering its a stretch to connect the two.
 
Big One

Big One

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,277
Trup1aya said:
The brother killed the king. It can be assumed that he was porking the mom (that's how lion prides work). There WAS a ghost of the father.

It wasn't a 1:1 hamlet take, but there was an inspiration.
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It has just as much in common with Hamlet as Hunchback of Notre Dame has in common with it's original work. Disney likes to revamp those old stories to where it becomes their own. In fact Disney's work is sometimes more "inspired by" than just 1:1 adaptations of things (I mean, how much in common does Frozen have with Snow Queen?), and it's clear in terms of visuals they used Kimba as inspiration no doubt.

Similarly, Kimba is inspired heavily by Bambi though it does it's own thing as well.
 
Trup1aya

Trup1aya

Literally a train safety expert
Member
Oct 25, 2017
21,532
Big One said:
It has just as much in common with Hamlet as Hunchback of Notre Dame has in common with it's original work. Disney likes to revamp those old stories to where it becomes their own. In fact Disney's work is sometimes more "inspired by" than just 1:1 adaptations of things (I mean, how much in common does Frozen have with Snow Queen?), and it's clear in terms of visuals they used Kimba as inspiration no doubt.

Similarly, Kimba is inspired heavily by Bambi though it does it's own thing as well.
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I think Disney takes more than enough liberty with all of their works to consider them pretty original. And it's fair to say that Lion King was further away from Hamlet than most of the Disney animated films before it were from their source material.

That said, there are quite a few frames, scenes and character models that are so similar to Kimba, that using the inspiration w/o giving recognition feels unjust.

From a literary perspective, I don't think it's fair to say Lion King ripped off Kimba. Disney may have been honest when they say none of the writers knew if it. But someone involved in Story Boarding and Art was aware.
 
Ignatz Mouse

Ignatz Mouse

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,746
It's completely possible to Disney to have cribbed a lot of stuff from Kimba *and* still be largely inspired by Hamlet. "It's Hamlet" isn't really a defense against any part of the claims except the premise.

And about the Hamlet talk in general-- it's possible to be inspired by Hamlet and not have a lot of the same details and turns. While it's true there isn't a tragic ending and there are a lot of differences, the premise is extremely similar, and the through line-- Simba/Hamlet needing to come to resolution to act-- is also similar. It's not "literally Hamlet" but it's very clearly a riff on the two basic conflicts-- Hamlet vs his Uncle, and Hamlet vs his own uncertainty of how to act.

I love Hamlet, and I think it's a shame that most of the time it's committed to film Hamlet is about twice the age he's supposed to be. That's one thing TLK really nails.
 
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TheDinoman

TheDinoman

Member
Oct 25, 2017
17,117
Maybe all of this could of been avoided had they just kept Kimba's name from the Japanese version ("Leo") the same when they localized it in the west, lol
 
Aaronrules380

Aaronrules380

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
22,570
I don't get "the plot is totally different" as a defense here because you can plagarise other aspects of a film while having a totally different plot. Plot isn't the only thing that matters here
 
The Artisan

The Artisan

"Angels are singing in monasteries..."
Moderator
Oct 27, 2017
8,187
I just watched the video in the OP, and I agree with the woman's statement. "There's nothing wrong with taking inspiration from another work. But, when originally is claimed after doing so, and when hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake, the picture changes a little."

I loved the Lion King as a kid, but this is true. Disney is not an innocent conglomerate in every case and scenario they're found in. I'd call this plagiarism because they claimed to not know anything about Kimba. If the credits of this movie included something like "based on the animated work Kimba" like they did for Hamlet then it would've been fine
 
Village

Village

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,811
I feel like the concept of " Wanting to write a specific kind of story " and " Copying the shit out of something " not being mutually exclusive is foreign to some people in this thred
 
Solace

Solace

Dog's Best Friend
Banned
Oct 29, 2017
1,920
Holy shit I remember watching Kimba on TV when I was a kid. Talk about a road down memory lane, fuck.
 
Maximum Spider

Maximum Spider

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 25, 2017
15,165
Cleveland, OH
Yeah... I don't quite understand the need to downplay this. You can like the Lion King and still think it's a blatant imitation of another work.

I don't even understand the point people are making about Hamlet.
 
Doukou

Doukou

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,537
I can't wait to release my movie Bion Ling where it's just Lion King but Kimba has a mustache. It's okay since mine is based off Hamlet.
 
NeonZ

NeonZ

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 28, 2017
9,395
Big One said:
Its pretty blatant however the people suggesting the stories are similar are being disingenuous as fuck. Kimba deals with very different themes and has a different plot from Lion King. Lion King lifts visuals from it but it isnt a complete ripoff of Kimba. For example the climax of Kimba has to do with the animals facing off against han poachers and theres a huge anti-poacher message in the work.
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There's also the whole Claw plot, a lion who takes over the jungle leading hyenas and tried to get rid of Kimba when he returns there, only to be defeated and then lose control of the jungle to Kimba. It's a small part of the series, but we're talking about a much larger work than a movie. Scar and the main conflict of Lion King was clearly based on that specifically.

And not only Disney didn't ever acknowledge the obvious inspiration, there was also reportedly this incident.

 

HyperDimension

Member
Mar 18, 2019
633
Night Terror said:
But the Lion King is literally Hamlet?
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I had no idea Hamlet is set in an African jungle and is about a lion cub named something-imba whose king-of-the-jungle dad gets killed and then he grows up to defeat his scar-face uncle to regain his throne as king-of-the-jungle... Wait, that's Kimba the White Lion, not Hamlet.
 
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HyperDimension

Member
Mar 18, 2019
633
NeonZ said:
There's also the whole Claw plot, a lion who takes over the jungle leading hyenas and tried to get rid of Kimba when he returns there, only to be defeated and then lose control of the jungle to Kimba. It's a small part of the series, but we're talking about a much larger work than a movie. Scar and the main conflict of Lion King was clearly based on that specifically.

And not only Disney didn't ever acknowledge the obvious inspiration, there was also reportedly this incident.

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This. Disney fans need to stop denying the obvious, and simply acknowledge the fact that, yes, The Lion King did plagiarize Kimba the White Lion. I mean, I loved The Lion King as a kid too, but that doesn't change the fact that Disney plagiarized Tezuka.
 
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Spacejaws

Spacejaws

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Oct 27, 2017
7,923
Scotland
People defending this are pretty fucking stupid. From the shot comparisons alone you can tell it's similar enough to at least agree it was an influence (as far as I know Disney claimed they never heard of Kimba).

Been awhile since I watched a video on this but I was sure there were a few other pieces of evidence, like Kimba appearing as the characters name in early script, correspondence from a producer or something using Kimba instead of Simba and production starting pretty soon after Kimba creators death (like 1989 or 1990) and that some staff now say they had 'heard' of Kimba or watched it growing up whereas the original stance was a rigid no one involved knows what Kimba is which would be crazy because it was huge in Japan and I'm sure Disney heads would be interested in the Anime scene there.

Kinda reminds me of Atlantis - Blue Nadia although not quite a severe and that Peter Jackson situation where he was adamant that he had never seen the Ralph Brakeski Lord of the Rings or used it as an influence until someone pointed out one of the lines in the movie (Groundfeet! I believe) was not in the books but only Ralph's feature and he had to admit he had seen it. Can't remember the exact details about that either please shit on me if I'm wrong.
 
KuwabaraTheMan

KuwabaraTheMan

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,179
I'm not sure what is more embarrassing in this thread, the people who are acting like dozens of shot for shot similarities are just coincidences or don't prove anything, or the people who are acting like the Lion King is just a straight Hamlet adaptation.

The Lion King certainly takes some story cues from Hamlet (father murdered by the uncle being the main one), but the stories are massively different. Hamlet is a tragedy, the Lion King is a triumphant coming of age story with a happy ending.
 
Polioliolio

Polioliolio

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Nov 6, 2017
5,401
I remember going to the video rental store and seeing Kimba the White Lion on the shelf and thinking 'wow, what an absolutely shameless rip off of the Lion King!'. If only I knew!
 
OP
OP
Don Fluffles

Don Fluffles

Member
Oct 28, 2017
7,089
apocat said:
It's pretty obvious that Disney was heavily inspired by Kimba. That wouldn't even be an issue if they weren't dicks about it themselves, it's not like they made a carbon copy, and being inspired by something is not a crime.

Besides, it's well known that Tezuka was in turn heavily inspired by Disney. I still wish they had retained these guys when adapting his version of Metropolis to film.
6c7648cd-2efb-4931-9nakr0.jpeg
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I admit, I loled.

But God, imagine a timeline in which Tezuka got the money and talent to animate works on Disney-level quality - or even just become a lifelong partner with Disney, being the adult-focused counterpart.
 
OP
OP
Don Fluffles

Don Fluffles

Member
Oct 28, 2017
7,089
Call The Lion King an inspiration all you want. The fact of the matter is that the production was business focused. If it was a loving tribute, you'd see in the credits:
Based on the screenplay by Osamu Tezuka.

Let's cut to the chase:
Disney made - and continues to make - millions off of an intellectual property they stole.
 
Tiago Rodrigues

Tiago Rodrigues

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Banned
Nov 15, 2018
5,244
So this was known for a long time and i just found out about it.
I was watching this video and...i'm speechless:



I mean...my childhood was actually stolen from the 60's basically
 
TastyBurger666

TastyBurger666

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,696
EarthPainting said:
Considering how ubiquitous the "it's actually just Hamlet with lions" retort is, it wouldn't surprise me if it was a deliberate meme sent out into the world to downplay and distract from how Disney clearly got caught copying someone else's homework.
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It's a tale as old as time...

Wait - wrong filem.

(King is more influenced by the story of Joseph and Moses)
 

Deleted member 17388

User requested account closure
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Oct 27, 2017
12,994
Yeah, it's hard to believe "Disney first original animation" from outta nowhere is so visually close to one of Tezuka's works.

This would be had mostly passed over if they had simply said "and also Tezuka was a big inspiration".

edit: Also that Disney C&D letter to Jungle Emperor was simply scummy.
 
OP
OP
Don Fluffles

Don Fluffles

Member
Oct 28, 2017
7,089
Looks like the remake of the ripoff is getting torn apart by critics.
Serves Disney right.

Also noticed that Kimba the White Lion, previously available for streaming on Amazon, was taken down.
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At least it can be found on archive.org
 
Eidan

Eidan

AVALANCHE
Avenger
Oct 30, 2017
8,597
Don Fluffles said:
Looks like the remake of the ripoff is getting torn apart by critics.
Serves Disney right.

Also noticed that Kimba the White Lion, previously available for streaming on Amazon, was taken down.
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At least it can be found on archive.org
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It's possible it could make $200m this weekend. I doubt Disney is sweating the critical response or YouTube videos about a 60's cartoon all that much.
 
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