Disney Lion King Ripped Off From Kimba

Was it a mere coincidence that Disney’s Lion King bear so much resemblance to Kimba The White Lion by Osamu Tezuka? Even the names ‘Simba’ and ‘Kimba’ comes so near. Disney’s line goes like this ‘Our people never heard of Kimba before The Lion King was released’. Animation buffs believe that Disney ripped off Kimba to create The Lion King.

Kimba 01

Check out the 10 pics of similarities between the two and judge for yourself after the jump.

Source: KimbaWLion


Kimba 02

Kimba 03

Kimba 04

Kimba 05

Kimba 06

Kimba 07

Kimba 08

Kimba 09

Kimba 10

Kimba 11




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    34 Responses to “Disney Lion King Ripped Off From Kimba”

    1. 1
      Weakly Says:

      I would be more impressed if you found a Disney movie that didn’t completely rip off some prior art. “Imagineers” indeed!

    2. 2
      z Says:

      This shocks you? Let me guess: you’re one of those people who think The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Bambi, and Beaty and the Beast are all Disney’s too, right? Look ‘em up. All Disney does is alter art for children.

    3. 3
      lolz Says:

      Old news. Disney ripped off Atlantis too from Nadia: Secret of Blue Water, without giving proper credit.

      That said, Lion King is still one of the best animated movies ever, regardless of whether they ripped off Kimba or not.

    4. 4
      gp unlimited Says:

      [...] mal ein Beweis, daß du in der Comic-Industrie nur mit RipOffs wirklich weit kommst: Kimba, der weisse Löwenkönig. Nur zur Referenz: Kimba war zuerst. Offizielle Aussage von Disney (siehe auch Text auf der Site): [...]

    5. 5
      vc Says:

      This is nothing new. This link/copy/ripoff was exposed back when the Lion King came out like a decade+ ago. There are also many sites on the web that discuss the stolen idea and material. I think it’s fairly common knowledge that Disney ripped it off. The shitty part is their continued denial of any of it. It just makes them look even worse. Disney has sucked big time for years now anyways.

    6. 6
      rommel Says:

      the issue is not that disney did not create the story. the problem lies with their artwork. they can present the story in a million ways but they chose to copy someone elses idea. and that is hypocritical of disney since they are very protective of their “artwork”.

    7. 7
      purple Says:

      Welcome to 1994

    8. 8
      Trip Hop Clan » Blog Archive » Disney Lion King Ripped Off From Kimba Says:

      [...] As if we didn’t already know that there are no original ideas, comes proof. [...]

    9. 9
      rammer Says:

      Disney is notorious for ripping off others’ ideas and then vehemently defending their own copyrights.
      Sad thing is that they have the lawyers and money to keep this up indefinitely.

    10. 10
      Foxq44 Says:

      Big F’ing deal-io, Come on, I would be more concerned about my paycheck, then this crap.
      I mean, seriously: Get a job, invent something to help mankind, But please, stop whining about if a kiddy’s movie is ripped of, from another kiddy’s movie, or not.

      People, This kind of thinkin “Killed” people back in the 70’s, ya know!

    11. 11
      Anonymus Says:

      Um, come on people. I was one who didn’t know about this, and so I found this interesting. Stop complaining.

    12. 12
      VVarchersnipe13 Says:

      Ok, guys i’de hate to break up the pitty party, but these are all really old movies, I think its time that all of you who are still in battle about this,whatever side you’re on, you definetly need to get over it. I mean come on! you ‘ve been fighting about it since 1994 when lion king came out! Five the F***ing thing a rest!

    13. 13
      Peraru Says:

      Okay, enough, yes disney rips off other peoples stuff. But you know what, Disney rocks! There old style of artwork is amazing, cause the stuff they do now isn’t nearly as good. But Classics are still classics and so Lion King isn’t a classic and it was ripped off, but you know what, I still consider it to be on of the best Disney movies! Stop fussing over it…..disney rocks ^^ I will always fight on their behalf

      -Peraru Peach 18

    14. 14
      Lou1 Says:

      You need to stop hating on Disney, who ever gather this info are just mad that they didn’t come up with the idea first, Disney, and Dreamworks are the best movie producers in the world, you all are just a bunch of whinning pansies that try to start trouble, and if you have something you’d like to say to me please hit me up on myspace.com, I’d love to prove you wrong. Oh and it’s kinda low to be talking about a dead guy like that. KMA

    15. 15
      CheTaN Says:

      well wat i found interesting is disney’s attitude of vehemently opposing the copying of stuff wat it has already copied. Suddenly they seem to be just as good (or bad) as thepiratebay and aXXo… but only richer :P

    16. 16
      lionkingfan Says:

      You know what? I don’t care if Lion King did rip off Kimba anyway. I mean, the Lion King rules! Just because some cheesy Japanese or whatever comic or show or whatever dosn’t mean that Lion King isn’t better. Who’s ever even really heard about Kimba anyway until they stumbled across this?

    17. 17
      irene Says:

      Ha! i knew it from the start lion king is a ripoff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    18. 18
      Shanikaaaa :) Says:

      You are just being stupid
      Lion king was made b4 Kimba btw ;)
      and they dont look anything alike.
      lioon king is better :D

    19. 19
      ally Says:

      ummmm Shanikaaaa… u r really dumb…. kimba was made WAYYYYYYY before lion king….. to be exact kimba was created in the 1960’s and lion king was made in 1994….. even the most retarded person would be able to figure that one out

    20. 20
      Paisley Says:

      I didn’t hear about this before because I was born in 1993. This is very surprising; I always knew Disney was rubbish because they use the same story plots for everything, but this really did shock me.
      Despite all of this, I do love Lion King, but it is disgusting that Disney ripped someone off to make it.
      I like to write stories and draw manga comics (although they are just mess around things) but now I, aswell as others I’m sure, am a bit concerned about wether to ever release something we’ve worked hard on without Disney stealing it.

    21. 21
      Chrissie Says:

      Well… it is quite cheeky that they did copy it but i am so glad that they made Lion King! I love Lion King and always watch it, to see this is shocking but i think we all know which one is the best…
      I don’t mind that they copied it; Lion King’s art is brilliant and look at that. Singers can copy other peoples songs if they ask and you never know if they have asked, so i think it’s fine, well done Lion King!

    22. 22
      kiara Says:

      I love lion king and disney rocks!! they have beautiful animations and great songs and very emotional.lion king is sad and funny and have great characters

    23. 23
      Chazoman Says:

      Some of these people sound like the Chris Crocker guy, “LEAVE DISNEY ALONE!” You guys suck. How would you like it if you published a movie, I came along and watched it, copied almost everything about it, put my version of your work out, said it was MY IDEA, and made more money? On top of that, people told you to stop bitching cause my version was awsome and better than yours? You people need to suck my dack.

    24. 24
      LadyLion Says:

      I’m certain lionking got inspiration from kimba, but i don’t think they stole the story.inspiration is different than theft. Lionking has themes of hamlet, bambi, and even animal farm and reminds me more of these than kimba. Kimba relates to these films to a lesser extent i think, but due to human characters, i see some animal farm in kimba, so if u bitch at lionking, u better bitch at kimba unless yer a hypocrite. I bitch at niether.and about simba and kimbas dads in the sky?nobody can copyright supernatural things like that. Hell, every culture has it.and little foots mom appeared in clouds in land b 4 time,so did both of the dogs parents in family dog, and the black rabbit of death appears b 4 hazel in watership down. Most of all kimba and simbas plots are different. Kimbas element is his rulership. Simbas element is coping with death. I have lost a nephew at 7, big bro at 8, and my dad at 19. I know from experience that simbas emotions are realistic and are the center of the stoy.but this isnt so in kimba

    25. 25
      Unamed Says:

      Listen right, maybe Walt Disney did ripp off Kimba maybe he didnt. Does it really matter? The result is; we have eneded up with a brilliant film for the whole family to love, and people who are going further into this ‘mystery’ cannot be very nice people because they must be trying to make little kids lose thier faverorite films! Weather they ripped them off or they didnt, to be fair - its none of our bloody business anyway! So why dosent everybody stop this argument and let it go. Anyway Kimba The White Lion was freakin’ years ago! Nobody even watches it anymore! Basically, The Lion King is a better version of Kimba. Dont get me wrong, Im not defending and denying the fact that Disney Stole Kimba, Im not because chances are they probably did, but face it, Lion King is a great film that millions enjoy, so get over stop trying to reveal Disneys ‘bad side’ and chill! Disneys Stole loadsa stuff anyway! Half of the films werent even written by him! So just leave it okay? It dosent even matter. Would it change the way we lived if Disney was uncovered a fraud? No. Would it help us to evolve? No. So just forget about it and get on with your lives. Put in the bigger rocks first; get a family, buy a house, get a job, all that stuff-then if you want, do that! try to uncover Walt Disney as a fraud, make yourself happy! But we dont need you stepping in right now!

      Leave it.

      Unamed

      Aged 12

    26. 26
      Kazushi Says:

      I fear Disney might lose ground for claiming that certain Chinese animation works are pirated from Disney, because Disney itself do it.

    27. 27
      Lightflow Says:

      1. Father alongside his son, proud to teach him. Please watch Bambi, right after mother dies and after man comes to the forest.
      2. Proud lion standing on top of a rock. Please look up Lambert the Sheepish Lion and Social Lion, both done by Disney before Kimba, both have this imagery.
      3. Character design, black on eartips. Please look at young Bambi, done before Kimba.
      4. Facial expression of disgust, lion not eating meat. For the disgust look, watch Bambi eating a mouthful of thistle for the first time. For the lion not eating meat, figure out what Lambert ate.
      5. Falling in a briar patch. First, remember that Simba falls in the briar patch and escapes without much damage while the bad guys cannot. This is more of a nod to Song of the South (born and bred in the briar patch).
      6-7. Danger from above. If you insist on the hero dangling, then see Bambi when Faleen is escaping the dog pack. If you insist on the danger being above, see the wolf in Lambert standing above his mother at the edge of what looks like Pride Rock. If you want to argue that the danger MUST be from above and the hero MUST be dangling, see Peter Pan.
      8. The Stampede… while there are many examples of stampedes (Lambert and Social Lion both have stampedes) escaping by climbing the tree is a Goofy coincidence… Still, while I know there are shorts with this situation, I can’t come up with one off the top of my head.
      9. The father appearing illuminated/father in the moon. Honestly, that’s not quite the same thing, but you can find similarities there through old mythology. The thing that comes to mind most easily though is Clash of the Titans. Of course that was AFTER Kimba, yet I don’t hear folks whining about that one… and it looks far more like Kimba’s than Simba’s dad.
      10. The lion in the clouds… Please watch Bambi. While the love scene most especially puts a deer in the clouds, when young Bambi first sees his father it’s in a misty, cloudy scene. The imagery is far closer to Mufasa in the clouds than Leo’s cloud-shape.

      My point? Kimba was inspired by earlier Disney movies, movies that Disney looked at again to make The Lion King. To say that Disney ripped off Kimba without looking at other works that Disney did BEFORE Kimba that they would have looked at… people need to wisen up and realize Disney did a LOT of work, work that strongly inspired Tezuka, and work that he obviously referenced in some of his work. Of COURSE you’ll see similarities.

    28. 28
      Kieran Mellor Says:

      lightflow is so right, even if the lion king did rip off kimba, nobody had fucking heard of it before, and i have watched it on youtube, and then watched the lion king, and the lion king has a lot more stuff in there. so the people who made kimba should stop bitching, as the lion king put them on the map and made the known

    29. 29
      Seronica Says:

      It seems like Disney did copy Kimba!

    30. 30
      Lawliet Says:

      Kieran Mellor;

      Sorry to say this but your post was just really idiotic. Just because Kimba wasn’t known, or if Lion King is better, it doesn’t mean that stealing is right.

      And besides, Kimba was made by Osamu Tezuka. OSAMU FUCKING TEZUKA. FATHER OF MODERN MANGA. Talk about unknown.

      Not that I don’t like Lion King. And i haven’t seen Kimba. But I think it’s stupid from Disney to contiune denying that Lion King hasn’t anything in common with Kimba.

    31. 31
      LionLover1234 Says:

      Everyone who thinks that lion king ripped of whatever the hell that stupid japenese thing was is a bitch!!!!!! The lion king is an amazing movie and they did not rip off those Kumba…whatever idiots and if they did loion king was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better any way so stop bitchin about it!

    32. 32
      riddlywalker Says:

      “It’s not where you take things from- it’s where you take them to.” Jean-Luc Godard

    33. 33
      china_disneyworld Says:

      they did it once angain in 2001 with ATLANTIS being a rip of NADIA AND THE SECRET OF THE BLUE WATER (Gainax - 1991)

      whole story here

      http://www.thesecretofbluewater.com/atlantis-i.htm

    34. 34
      i_hate_Disney_fags Says:

      you assholes lion king was an ass hole move on there part and like china_disneyworld said they ripped off lots of shit disney is by far the stupidest lazest company in the histroy of mankind.
      I mean every movie the assholes have made arnt fuckin origanal cinderella and all there other shit were all books long before disney took them in and made them suck almost all idsney movies are terrible obivious ripoffs.
      Only with more plot then the book(s).
      Heres the ones that wernt 101 dolmations emperors new grove and lilo & stich are the only organal movies those fucks have made.

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