Nobody can deny that inspiration begets inspiration? Disney's works aren't always original though many of these changes are actually better. It's like how often I prefer Disney's The Little Mermaid over the original tragedy or I'm a big fanboy of the original Beauty and the Beast. Now, I'd like to examine two imaginary friends of mine namely Simba and Kimba.
I remembered watching the TV series Kimba the White Lion in the rather cheesy English dub on ABC-5. That was back in the simpler 90s where you'd have a hard time catching up with shows you've missed. I remembered crying over missing a number of episodes I missed from Kimba! Now, I don't know if I should watch said old-school classic though it always brought my attention to another all-time masterpiece -- The Lion King!
I never got to see Lion King in the theaters but saw it on TV instead. I remembered how I panicked and rolled on the floor angry because my parents never took me to see the movie when I was eight or nine. Then, I thought of the benefits of watching it at home. I remembered having the VHS and watching it all over again until I got bored. Then I realized that Simba rhymes with Kimba the White Lion. Plus, there was that scary lion antagonist for both shows. Both evil lions Scar and Claw (from Simba) were served by hyena minions. Doesn't that sound familiar?
Then I remembered Kimba the White Lion. What shocked me to learn is that Kimba was actually called Leo and Kimba was for international distribution. All before the Lion King - Kimba would later become a king like Mufasa. What breaks my heart though is to learn Kimba would die as an adult but at least it was a heroic death. Can you imagine if Simba died in the second Lion King film like Mufasa did in the first? At least, Simba learned his mistake before it's too late in contrast to the first film where it took his father Mufasa's death to let him see life for what it is.
Then this has me wondering... will I watch the Lion King live remake?
bora the white lion
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