Customer Reviews

Kimba The White Lion Ultra DVD Box Set (Limited Edition)

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This is the one that fans of Kimba the White Lion have been waiting for! It contains the original theme music and voices from the 1965 version! The video releases of some Kimba episodes in the 1990s were disappointing, containing a new, somewhat boring theme tune, and different character voices. This box set is superb - all 52 episodes are fully restored, complete with the original soundtrack, and the discs are beautifully presented. It brought back wonderful memories, and the new generation just love the stories!

Kimba The White Lion is one of the greatest animated series of all time. It has been (and is) shown all over the world and is still popular today, 40 years after it was first made. It is accessible to the youngest children, and its themes of love for all life and the need for understanding between humanity and the animal kingdom keep it alive in adults' hearts.

Kimba is publicized as the first color anime. You might then think that it is primitive, but the use of color in the show was truly joyous, and the quality of animation is fully the equal of any TV anime today--often superior. The rich, expressive full-orchestral score by Isao Tomita (played by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra) is a major asset, too.

For the American dubbed version, experienced radio actors were employed to give voices to the characters. (Billie Lou Watt, the voice of Kimba, had an impressive list of credits reaching up to the recent Courage The Cowardly Dog.) Their superb skill and talent make me wonder what happened to the art of dubbing since then.

Kimba the White Lion is a brilliant, fun, and thoughtful show. Everyone to whom I've shown this show, loves it.

The shows on this DVD set are the original, 1966 version with Billie Lou Watt as Kimba. I have seen test pressings of these DVDs, and they present Kimba looking better than ever before. You can safely trash any and all Kimba DVDs you might have bought before. These are that much better.

I had never seen Kimba before, although I was certainly aware of the Japanese animation appearing on American television in the '60's. Along with Kimba, there was Speed Racer, Marine Boy and Astro Boy, as well as many others. I purchased this product based on word of mouth and the reviews online, including here at Amazon.

I was not disappointed at all. Physically, the product arrived as advertised. All the DVDs were packaged in high quality materials, brightly designed. I couldn't wait to view the programs and extras.

The included booklet and bonus features disc were informative and entertaining. The inclusion, on the bonus disc, of songs from the original Japanese version made me wish I could understand Japanese. A minor nitpick: Subtitles would have been nice here, but subtitles -are- included for the included original Japanese version of the first episode.

No worries though, as the rest of the 52 original episodes, as they appeared on 1960's American television, had been expertly dubbed into English at the time.

The Japanese version of Kimba was the first anime series broadcast in color in Japan. Kimba is an odd sort of cartoon, a kind you unfortunately don't see much on television these days. Certainly it was designed for children; there are bright colors, songs and entertaining and sympathetic characters. I would suggest Kimba for any family with children.

But there's more. There are lessons here for children and adults alike. Tezuka's original story, as it appeared in manga (Japanese comic books, basically) in the 1950's, had very adult themes at times. The main character, orphaned by humans, fought against his own animal instincts and desires for revenge in an attempt to live peacefully with all creatures, including humans. Death happens, usually leading to an epiphany for the main character or a sort of "deathbed" conversion of the unfortunate. These are certainly odd topics for an American cartoon of the 1960's, made even more odd by the dubbing and editing attempts made by the Americans to soften events.

"Kimba" tells the story of the first half of the life of the young lion prince. The adult portion of his life was covered in the 1960's Japanese animated series "Jungle Emperor: Onward Leo" as well as in a big-budget theatrical release in 1997 called "Jungle Emperor Leo." This movie is available from Amazon. Be warned though, both the sequel series and the movie are darker and more realistically violent, while retaining there lessons about life and family. The movie ends as the orginal manga did, with the ultimate sacrifice of a major character, and the promise of the continuation of the main character's progeny. NOT for small kids, in my opinion. But worth seeing.

The music in Kimba is incredible, once again above and beyond anything in "Made in America" cartoons. This is because the music, scored for full orchestra and choir, was created by Isao Tomita. Tomita went on to create great electronic music in the 70's and 80's, but it is said that he believes his works for Kimba (especially in it's Japanese form Jungle Emperor) was some of his best.

In summary, Kimba is worth having for it's historical and nostalgic value. Moreover it has important messages for children (and adults!) who may otherwise be lost in a sea of violent videos and cartoons. I highly suggest you give it a look. You can find more information on Kimba at http://www.kimbawlion.com/

This really brought back memories for me. This along with Speed Racer, Marine Boy, Astro Boy, Gigantor and Tobar the 8th Man were just some of the many great cartoons of the day! This box set is excellent,though you can find it much cheaper if you look around. The transfer is really good all things considered. The first episode seemed a little dirty, but they got much better after that. All things considered it should not keep anyone who wants this from buying it! It's Great!

Leo the Lion (Kimba in English) is the principal character in a set of three Japanese original animated series that were dubbed into several languages. The characters and stories in all the series are based on Osamu Tezuka's 1950s manga (graphic novel) Jungulu Taitei (Jungle Emperor). All the video in any release of Leo (or Kimba) is Japanese and was created by Mushi/Tezuka Productions. Dialog, subtitles, theme songs, and (in one case) background music have been added by other parties. Editing was also done by others to cut time from the show to fit a production format (usually to make room for commercials). Theme songs which ran with the opening and closing credits were created in the target languages.

The 1965 series is Kimba (Leo) as a cub. This series was funded by NBC and it is the one for sale here. Some (initial) technical help with color production was provided by people from Disney. It is a purely Japanese product (video, dialog, music, sound effects), but it was made to be dubbed, that is, the dialog track was kept separate from the other audio so that it could easily be replaced with another language. (NBC needed it that way, of course.) Because the first English dub was released in 1966, some people refer to this as the "1966 version" of the show. This is confusing because the Japanese sequel was released in 1966 and should be known as the 1966 version.

The NBC dub of the show, "Kimba, the White Lion", changed the character names (Leo became Kimba), created a wonderful theme song, and set a very high standard for the vocal acting. The show has also been dubbed into Italian (as Kimba), German (as Kimba), French (as Leo), and Spanish (as Kimba). What differs among these dubs is the dialog (including character names), the cuts, and the opening and closing themes. The video, music, and sound effects are the original Japanese.

A second English dub was released in 1993 using only the video from the 1965 series. All the audio was replaced. This dub is sometimes referred to as the "1993 version" but it is simply a more radical dub of the 1965 series. This is the dub that appears on single DVDs in dollar stores and has generally poor video quality.

The 1966 series is Leo as an adult and father. It is a sequel that Mushi did without any outside funding. Mushi offered it to NBC but they declined. It continues the story line with new episodes but retains only a few of the major characters from the 1965 series.

The 1989 series is a re-invention of the 1965 series. Sometimes called "The New Adventures of Kimba" (in English). It is an attempt by Tezuka to convert the fantasy into something more realistic and serious. It follows a similar story line (Leo's youth) but the episodes are original. A handful of the major characters from the 1965 series were retained but most are unique to this series. Complicating the controversy regarding the artistic merit of the series is the fact that Tezuka died shortly after production began, so that his direct influence ended with the sixth episode.

I am inclined to believe that Eiichi Yamamoto deserves far more credit than he ever receives for the appeal of the animated version of Leo's character. Tezuka's drawings and Yamamoto's animation are quite different. The animated character is strikingly beautiful. And the stories were softened and redirected toward a worldwide youthful audience. Yamamoto was caught between Tezuka's hard-edged manga and NBC's demand for a children's show. It must have cost him a lot of sleepless nights but the result is a masterpiece. (Even so, there are episodes of Kimba that are still banned in Germany.) IMO Kimba '65 is the best children's animated TV series ever produced.

Finally they are coming out with an ultimate box set! I have been waiting for this for a while. I am so happy, and I am sure anyone who is a fan of Kimba will want this.

For those lucky in childhood to see Kimba, The White Lion, this is sweets galore.

Lessons taught by courageous Kimba will always be remembered, but in case his high morality is forgotten ,we should as adults take a..,hmm,a "refresher course" from this great cartoon series.

I own this dvd box set, and IT'S AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GOOD quality in EVERYTHING, it's really cool. I love it!
The booklet tells about how Kimba came to be on television and how they made it, really good.
As for the DVD's themselves. Awesome.
There is also a bonus disk with special features on it. Once again, awesome. This is well worth your money and time if you're a Kimba fan.
KIMBA THE WHITE LION IS THE ONE!

These are a little different than the other two vidoes I have of Kimba but they are just as good. I liked the book with the history and bio on the show that comes with the set. I now have my 3yr old hooked on Kimba.

Picked this DVD box set a few months back for my 6 year old daughter for Xmas. I had always loved Kimba as a child, and was Sure my little girl would, too. I was right. Although, there are few reminders of Kimba nowadays (except for Disney's The Lion King rip-off), the stories and Japanese anime last the test of time.

Kimba combined both high-spirited adventures, charming stories, and a touch of sadness (in some of the stories). Episodes often deal with problems larger than a child could really grasp, but not in a heavy-handed manner. There are some sad story lines, like the first, when Kimba is orphaned, but the sadness is tempered with Kimba learning to be aGreat Leader as his father, Caesar, was.