The New Adventures of Kimba The White Lion
Remake of the 1960s Kimba the White Lion anime.
The New Adventures of Kimba The White Lion (ジャングル大帝, Janguru/Jungle-Taitei) is an anime television series produced by Tezuka Productions. It aired on TV Tokyo from October 12, 1989, to October 11, 1990. The show is a remake of Osamu Tezuka's 1960s anime series Kimba the White Lion.
The original Japanese cast included Megumi Hayashibara as young Leo/Kimba, Sakiko Tamagawa as Liya, Shinnosuke Furumoto as Leo/Kimba as a cub, and Hiroshi Masuoka as Kutter. Other voice actors were Isao Sasaki as Panja, Kappei Yamaguchi as Kenichi, Kei Tomiyama as Ham Egg, Mahito Tsujimura as Ban Shunsaku, Masako Nozawa as Gibo, Rokuro Naya as Lamp, Ryusei Nakao as Toto, Shigeru Chiba as Coco, and Sukekiyo Kameyama as Tony.
Nearly a decade after the original Japanese release, in 1998, Pioneer Family Entertainment (later Geneon Universal, now NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan) acquired the rights to distribute the series in North America under license from Nippon Herald Films. They collaborated with Ocean Studios in Vancouver, Canada, to produce an English dub. The dub used the Wordfit System and was directed by Karl Williams, featuring an all-star Canadian voice cast. However, only 13 of the 52 episodes were dubbed, and the series ended on a cliffhanger due to the poor quality of the dubbing. Six VHS volumes were released across North America from October 13, 1998, to July 27, 1999: the first tape contained three episodes, and the remaining five tapes each contained two. Episodes 2 and 3 were not dubbed for the English market, mostly due to their content, despite their importance to that story arc. Pioneer decided to skip that arc, dubbing Episode 1 followed by Episodes 4 through 15. The episodes were also heavily edited during production, with scenes cut and changed, and the score entirely redone digitally. The new music was composed by Tom Keenlyside and John Mitchell, with editing handled by Gina Mueller and Eric LeBlanc.
The English dub cast included Kathleen Barr, Ben Baxter, Lisa Ann Beley as Raiya, Don Brown as Caesar/Panja and Coco, Michael Dobson, Paul Dobson as Jamar, Marcy Goldberg, Christopher Gray, Saffron Henderson, Janyse Jaud, David Kaye as Icara, Campbell Lane, Andrea Libman, Lalainia Lindbjerg, Scott McNeil, Richard Newman as Old Dice, Ward Perry, Gerard Plunkett, Alvin Sanders, Kelly Sheridan as Riona, Matt Smith, Robert O. Smith as Tony, Chantal Strand, Brad
- produced_by
- Tezuka Productions
- original_run
- October 12, 1989 – October 11, 1990
- network
- TV Tokyo
- episodes
- 52
- english_dub_release
- 1998
- english_dub_episodes
- 13
- english_dub_distributor
- Pioneer Family Entertainment
Quick Facts
- Based On
- Kimba the White Lion · Osamu Tezuka
- Director
- Takashi Ui
- Producer
- Ryōhei Nakamura / Haruyuki Iguchi (TX) / Daisuke Baba (Nikkeisha) / Kuniaki Ōnishi (Gakken)
- Writer
- Mitsuru Majima / Miharu Hirami
- Music
- Tomoyuki Asakawa
- Animator
- Tezuka Productions
- Company
- TV Tokyo · Nikkeisha · ja · 日本経済社 · Gakken
- Network
- TXN (TV Tokyo)
- First Aired
- 1989-10-12
- Last Aired
- 1990-10-11
- Num Episodes
- 52
- Country
- Japan
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The New Adventures of Kimba The White Lion is a remake of Osamu Tezuka's 1960s anime series Kimba the White Lion. It aired on TV Tokyo from October 12, 1989, to October 11, 1990, and was produced by Tezuka Productions. The original Japanese cast included Megumi Hayashibara as young Leo/Kimba, Sakiko Tamagawa as Liya, and Shinnosuke Furumoto as Leo/Kimba as a cub, among others.
In 1998, nearly a decade after the original Japanese release, Pioneer Family Entertainment acquired the rights for North American distribution under license from Nippon Herald Films. Ocean Studios in Vancouver, Canada, produced an English dub using the Wordfit System, with Karl Williams as director. Only 13 of the 52 episodes were dubbed, and the series was left on a cliffhanger due to poor dubbing quality. Episodes 2 and 3 were skipped because of content concerns, so the English dub included episodes 1 and 4 through 15.
The English dub episodes were heavily edited, with scenes cut and changed, and the score entirely redone digitally. The new music was composed by Tom Keenlyside and John Mitchell, with editing by Gina Mueller and Eric LeBlanc. Six VHS volumes were released in North America from October 13, 1998, to July 27, 1999, with the first tape containing three episodes and the rest two each.
Reader's Guide
The New Adventures of Kimba The White Lion represents a late-1980s remake of a classic 1960s anime, reflecting Tezuka Productions' continued engagement with Osamu Tezuka's legacy. Its significance lies partly in its incomplete English adaptation, which illustrates the challenges of localizing anime for Western markets in the 1990s. The decision to skip episodes 2 and 3 and dub only 13 of 52 episodes, combined with heavy editing and a completely new score, resulted in a version that diverged substantially from the original. The series is also notable for its all-star Canadian voice cast, including actors such as Kathleen Barr, Lisa Ann Beley, and Brad Swaile. The English dub's poor quality and cliffhanger ending limited its impact, but the series remains a point of reference for discussions about anime localization practices and the handling of culturally sensitive content. Its legacy is tied to the broader history of Kimba the White Lion adaptations and the challenges of bringing Japanese animation to English-speaking audiences.
Did You Know?
- Only 13 of the 52 episodes were dubbed into English, leaving the series on a cliffhanger.
- Episodes 2 and 3 were skipped in the English dub due to content concerns, despite their importance to the series arc.
- The English dub used the Wordfit System and was directed by Karl Williams at Ocean Studios in Vancouver.
- The English dub's score was entirely redone digitally by Tom Keenlyside and John Mitchell.
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