Leo the Lion: King of the Jungle

Originally released in 1994, Leo the Lion: King of the Jungle is a 46-minute direct-to-video animated film.

Plot

Leo (voiced by Garry Chalk) is the lion king of the jungle, but unfortunately he doesn't know well what a king's job is. He believes it is his right to do as he pleases, even if it means disrupting the peace of others or being plain rude to them, as a king, Leo thinks everyone should look out for his well-being and comfort. One day, Leo meets a lion cub named Tooey (voiced by Andrea Libman) whose mother has been recently taken away and who comes to Leo for help, being as selfish as he is, Leo turns the young lion away. However, after several different adventures, Leo learns what his place as a king is and how he must behave and treat the creatures who have almost lost all faith in him. Leo rallies the jungle animals to the rescue, and in the epilogue, the narrator Michael Donovan says that Leo asked Tooey's mother to be his queen, and the cub himself grew into a strong young lion, now called Leo II and one day he would be the Jungle King.

Leo the Lion was produced by Jetlag Productions and was distributed to DVD in 2002 by GoodTimes Entertainment.

Cast

• Garry Chalk as Leo the Lion - A former selfish but helpful lion.
• Andrea Libman as Tooey (Leo II) - A lion cub.
• Tony Ail as the Monkeys - Two monkeys who formerly mistreated Leo when attempting to get help to save the animals from the circus.
• Chera Bailey as Tooey's Mother - A lioness who got captured by poachers.
• Michael Donovan as the Narrator.
• Terry Klassen as Chameleon/Python. Chameleon: The chameleon only had a short speaking role in a scene where Leo is convincing the other animals to save the others from the circus. He was out of his mind when he sees a fly and eats it. Python: This python has fewer speaking lines.
• Ian James Corlett as Crocodile/Poacher. Crocodile: This crocodile got angry at Leo when he kicked a stone to damage one of his teeth. He only spoke one line in one scene. Poacher #2: This poacher got scared off by the other animals.
• Phillip Maurice Hayes as the lead poacher.
• Roger Kelly as a Hyena - This hyena only spoke once when he is angry with Leo and the other animals.
• Kent Gallie as a Giraffe - This giraffe only spoke two lines in the film.
• Kathleen Barr as an Elephant - This elephant only spoke when she was talking angrily at once with the other animals.
• Nathan Aswell as an Aardvark - This aardvark spoke two lines in the film. He also helped Leo and his friends free Tooey's mother and the captive animals.
• Various noises (such as a growling tiger) are provided by Frank Welker.

Trivia

• Leo the Lion made its debut on DVD under the Collectible Classics line.

• It was released during the same year as Disney's The Lion King, a movie with a similar premise.

• Golden Films released another direct-to-video animated family film known as "The Jungle King" around the same time as this release.

• It is based on Osamy Tezuka's cartoon, "Jungle Emperor Leo" which was serialized in "Manga Shonen" magazine between 1950-1954 and broadcast as a TV animation from 1965 to 1966 in Japan under the banner of Mushi Production co.

• When Disney's "Lion King" was released, Japanese fans accused Disney of plagiarism for there are numerous similarities between "Kimba the White Lion" (Jungle Emperor Leo's American title) and "Lion King". Disney denied the accusation. Tezuka's son did not take legal action saying "my father would have felt honored if he had known Disney copied his work because he admired Walt Disney".

Songs

• "King of the Jungle" (uncredited)
• "Out on My Own" (uncredited) - performed by Andrea Libman
• "I'm a Really Nice Guy" (uncredited) - performed by Garry Chalk

See also

• List of animated feature films

External links

• Leo the Lion: King of the Jungle at the Internet Movie Database