Jungle Emperor Leo

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Jungle Emperor Leo

Directed by	Yoshio Takeuchi
Produced by	Tezuka Production Company Ltd.
Written by	Unknown
Starring	Yoshiko Ohta
Music by	Isao Tomita
Distributed by	Media Blasters (R1 DVD)
Release date(s)	August 1, 1997
Running time	100 min.
Language	Japanese, English
IMDb profile

Known in Japan as "Janguru Taitei" ("Jungle Great" or, as Osamu Tezuka preferred, "Jungle Emperor"), Jungle Emperor Leo presents the latter half of Tezuka's story of Leo the white lion, known in earlier productions as Kimba. In this film he is an adult and has two cubs, Rune and Rukio.

His domain is violated by humans in a relentless search for a new energy source, and their actions bring death to the jungle and break up Leo's family.

A major story change made for this movie version is that while all the animals communicate with each other, they do not talk to the humans. This change is in direct opposition to Tezuka's stated premise behind his original Jungle Emperor story: that an inter-species society of animals must include humans as well.