Janguru taitei (TV Series)

TV Series (1965-1967). 1 Season. 26 Episodes. In Africa during the mid-20th century: In the face of the encroachment of mankind, a white lion, Panja, seeks to give all wild animals of the jungle a safe haven, free from fear. And, to a very large degree, he is successful. His mistake is that he steals the cattle from a nearby village in order to feed the carnivores of the jungle (In the English dub Panja merely released the cattle so they could be free). This angered the villagers because they had no other food. A professional hunter, Viper Snakely (known as Ham Egg in the original Japanese) is called in to stop these raids. He avoids directly attacking Panja — instead, Ham Egg records the sounds of Panja and uses that as bait to trap his mate, Eliza, who then becomes bait in a trap for Panja. Panja is killed for his hide, and the pregnant Eliza is put on a ship, destined for a zoo. Leo (Kimba in the English-language version) is born on the boat. Eliza teaches him his father's ideals. As a huge storm approaches, she urges Leo out to leave through the bars of her cage. The storm wrecks the boat, leaving Leo floundering in the ocean. The fish help him to survive and learn to swim. As he begins to despair, the stars in the sky form his mother, and she encourages him with loving guidance. Guided by butterflies, Leo makes it back to land. Leo/Kimba lands far from his ancestral home and is found and cared for by some people. Leo learns the advantages of human culture, and he makes up his mind that when he returns to his wild home he will bring civilized culture to the jungle and stand for peace like his father. The show follows Leo/Kimba's life after he returns to the wild (still a young cub) and shows his learning and growing during the next year. One thing Leo soon learns is that true peace will require communication and mutual understanding between the animals and humans.