Leo the white lion was born on an ocean liner that crashed on the shores of a bustling city, where he spent his childhood learning the language and customs of humans. But something was missing. In search of his family, home, and a place to truly belong, Leo traveled back to Africa and began his journey to become the King of the Jungle.

Leo's adventure centers around finding peace between the animals and humans who live in his African home, often competing for space and resources. As he grows, Leo must survive both the area's harsh environment, dangers from other animals, and humans who hunt lions like him for sport. Only communication and mutual understanding can end the fighting, and Leo's knowledge of human culture may be just what the jungle needed.

Jungle Taitei is the epic story of a young lion's struggles to survive in a dangerous land.

The first 2 minutes of this film are taken from the Jungle Emperor Leo (1965) TV series, while the rest is all original. Tezuka was very pleased that this film conveyed his story accurately, something he wasn't able to do with the TV series.

[Source: Anime News Network]

Jungle Emperor was such a hit in Japan, that Dr. Tezuka went ahead and produced a sequel in 1966, known in Japan as "The New Jungle Emperor" or "Onward, Leo!" The trouble (for us in the rest of the world) was that he made the series without having a deal with NBC, and he made it more like his original manga story, which means that there were a lot of characters that died and some of the episodes could be depressing. NBC thought that there was no way they could sell that kind of show, and they were quite happy with the 52 episodes they had, so the New Jungle Emperor series wasn't seen in this country until 1984, when it was given the title Leo The Lion.

This series was supposed to take place a few years after the original Kimba series. Kimba was an adult, with Kitty as his mate, and they had two cubs. Most of all this series was the story of Rune, the male cub, as he grew and learned to be as strong as his father.

For legal reasons, the producers of the English-dubbed version could not use the name Kimba, so they used the original Japanese names for all the characters.

[Source: Official Website]

Leo (a.k.a. Kimba in the U.S.) is a young ambitious lion cub who takes his father's place as emperor of the jungle when is father is killed by poachers. Even though his father's fate was met by the hands of humans, Leo is one of the few animals in the Jungle that doesn't fear or feel hatred toward humans. He is not alone either, he is guided by friends of his father to help create the best animal kingdom there can be.

[Source: Anime News Network]

This movie focuses on the last half of Osamu Tezuka's revered saga of a white lion's quest to become king of the jungle. Leo's newborn cub, Lune, takes an interest to humans after discovering a music box in the wreckage of an airplane. At the same time, a greedy treasure hunter known as Ham Egg is leading an expedition team of rough-looking men on a trek for the fabled Moonlight Stones, which can supposedly save the world from an energy crisis. Two other humans, (who go by the rather wacky names of Dr. Moustache and Lemonade) try to stop Ham Egg's mad destruction of the jungle. Later, a terrible virus sweeps through the jungle, poisoning many of the animals. Dr. Moustache comes to save them with a cure. The film culminates with a treacherous journey up the legendary Mt. Moon in search of the stones....

[Source: Anime News Network]

This is one of a number of original animated short films made for viewing at Tezuka Osamu World's Tezuka Osamu Animation Theater in Kyoto.

[Source: Anime News Network]

Earth, sometime in the 21st century. Because of non-stop environmental destruction, the United Nations commissions a private company, "Eternal Earth," to create an artificial jungle, to be a nature preserve and to protect animals. All wild animals are forced to live in it.

The animals that live in this "neo-jungle" have an easy life. Leo, son of Panja, is born in this artificial world. Because of the unrealistic nature of the neo-jungle, Leo lives his life like he hasn't a care in the world. But Leo is ridiculed by the other animals; they call him a coward—he is not like his father, the great Jungle Emperor, but Leo vows that some day he will be.

Kenichi, son of the Eternal Earth company's CEO, has no doubt about the great success of the neo-jungle. The story starts when Leo and Kenichi meet. Kenichi has the special ability to understand what the animals are saying.

[Source: kimbawlion.com/2009.htm]