Kimba the White Lion is an anime series based on a manga series published by Osamu Tezuka in the 1950s; however, in Japan the series is known as Jungle Emperor.

The series is set in Africa. In the first episode, Kimba's father, Caesar, is a protector of the animals in the wild. However, he has been upsetting the villagers by freeing their cattle; in the Japanese version, he is actually stealing the cattle to feed the jungle carnivores. A professional hunter is called in to capture the lion. Instead of directly confronting the lion, the hunter makes a recording of his voice, which the hunter uses to catch the lion's mate, who is pregnant with Kimba. Kimba's mother is used as bait to lure Caesar. Caesar is killed, and his mother is put on a ship.

While on the ship, Kimba's mother gives birth to her son. Mother and son receive a lot of support from the rats that inhabit the ship. About two months after Kimba is born, a stork comes by and warns one of the rats that he senses a storm approaching. Kimba's mother tells Kimba about his father, and tells him he must leave the ship and return to their homeland to rule in his father's place. At first, Kimba doesn't want to leave his mother. After some gentle urging, he reluctantly agrees. He slides out from between the cage bars, and jumps out of a porthole into the sea.

The next morning, Kimba awakens, and finds himself hanging on to a board. After a moment, he realizes that he sees the remnants of the ship all around him; he also realizes that his mother must be dead. As Kimba tries to return to Africa, he receives help from the fish in the ocean, and he sees the stars form the face of his mother. He is also guided by butterflies to land. The series follows Kimba as he returns to the wild and how he learns and grows.

The English dub of Kimba the White Lion is very friendly to young audiences, due to the editing that was done to it. However, some of the voice acting in the English dub is not the best, and some the vocal delivery is rather stilted. Even with its faults, Kimba the White Lion is still a classic anime series.

Title	Episodes	Release Year(s)	Director	Studio	N.A. Licensor
Kimba the White Lion	52	1965-1966	Eiichi Yamamoto	Mushi Production	The Right Stuf International
Jungle Emperor Leo: Feature Film	N/A	1966	Eiichi Yamamoto	Mushi Production	N/A
Jungle Taitei Susume Leo	26	1966-1967	Shingo Araki	Mushi Production	N/A
The New Adventures of Kimba the White Lion	52	1989-1990	Takashi Ui	Tezuka Productions	N/A
Jungle Taitei Leo	N/A	2009	Goro Taniguchi	Tezuka Productions	N/A