The original Kimba vs. the 1993 Kimba
Regarding all the misleadings between the original Kimba and the "original" Kimba that often take place in video/DVD shops (either real or on-line), I think that there are some things that should be cleared out:
The original Kimba is the one that was syndicated to the U.S. and shown on TV in the 1960s and 1970s, and featuring Billie Lou Watt as Kimba and the music from the original Japanese series (from which the original U.S. Kimba was dubbed in English) composed by Isao Tomita. It is the version of the series that most people cherish and remember, even now, 30 or 40 years later.
However, since U.S. rights to Kimba expired in 1978, years later a Canadian company decided to make a new English version of Kimba, which featured images from the Japanese tapes, but it had a completely new soundtrack, opening theme and voices. Although it isn't the show that fans of the original Kimba remember, according to Kimba W. Lion one of its good points is that its script was truer to the original Japanese scripts, with translations much closer to the Japanese original, and that (unlike in the original Kimba) the episode 1 of the 1993 series starts from the same beginning the original Japanese episode 1 does. However, it seems that (compared to the Japanese series) in the 1993 Kimba at least 3 minutes are cut from each episode. This version was aired on TV around the world for 13 years.
| The original U.S. Kimba | The "Canadian" Kimba | |
| Year it was produced | 1965 | 1993 |
| Number of episodes | 52 | 26 |
| Year it was aired | 1966-1978 | 1996-2009 (around the world), 2003-2009 (in the U.S.) |
| Director | Eiichi Yamamoto | Eiichi Yamamoto |
| Animated by | Mushi Productions | Mushi Productions |
| Voice of Kimba | Billie Lou Watt | Yvonne Murray |
| Voice characterizations | Billie Lou Watt, Cliff Owens, Gilbert Mack, Hal Studer | Jackie Pardy, Allen Kosonic, Don Neilson, Steve Thamer, Yvonne Murray, Robin Jordan, Peter Dufferin |
| Post-production sound | Titan Productions Inc. | Zaza Sound Productions Ltd. |
| Music by | Isao Tomita | Paul J. Zaza |
| Opening theme by | Bill Giant, Bernie Baum, Florence Kaye | Paul J. Zaza, Yvonne Murray |
| Opening theme's lyrics | Kimba! (x8) Who lives down in deepest darkest Africa? (Africa) Who's the one who brought the jungle fame? Who's the king of animals in Africa? Kimba the White Lion is his name! When we get in trouble and we're in a fight, Who's the one who just won't turn and run? Who believes in doing good and doing right? Kimba the White Lion is the one! Kimba! (x8) Who lives down in deepest darkest Africa? (Africa) Who's the one who brought the jungle fame? Who's the king of animals in Africa? Kimba the White Lion is his name! He's the greatest leader, there's no doubt of it He's the one we count on night and day, When there's danger he can get us out of it, Kimba the White Lion lead the way! |
Kimba, the White Lion He's the bravest little guy in the land Kimba, the White Lion Lending all his jungle friends a helping hand When ever we get into trouble he's the one He does best to teach us right from wrong He doesn't like for us to fight with anyone He wants his jungle friends to get along Cause he's Kimba, the White Lion And he's not afraid of anything Kimba, the White Lion He's the bravest in the jungle, he's the king (he's the king; squawk!) Kimba, the White Lion (heh heh that's me!) Kimba, the White Lion (he's my pal!) Kimba, the White Lion.... |
| The lettering in the opening sequence |   |
  |
| View the opening sequence | RealVideo clip (1,1 MB) | Windows Media Video clip (1,8 MB) |
| Video releases |             |
     |
| DVD releases |
|
   |
