Man, the nineties seemed to be FULL of animated stuff set in the jungle where the lion reigns as king. We have The Lion King (Disney), Leo The Lion: King of the Jungle (Jetlag/Goodtimes), The Jungle King (Golden Films), and this abomination, brought to us by Mondo TV. Oh, joy. The same studio that brought us that insulting movie about the Titanic. While Leo the Lion: King of the Jungle and The Jungle King were kinda cash-grabs, trying to capitalize on the success that Disney had with The Lion King, thy could be tolerable (especially the former), and can somewhat be viewed as their own thing, this is just full on plagiarism (yes, because clearly the reason why The Lion King was such a big hit was because it was set in the jungle, and a lion ruled as king, not because it had a well-written story with compelling themes and interesting characters)
What's the story? Well, the lion, the King of the Jungle, is killed, leaving his cubs, one of whom is named Simba, as orphans, (Gee, Disney didn't do that, right?), some of the other animals raise the orphaned cubs (Gee, Disney didn't do that, right?) until Simba is old enough to take his place as king (Gee, Disney didn't do that, right?) oh, and as for the villain, he's a big cat (in this case, Shere Khan the tiger from the jungle book) who wants to take over the throne and has a hyena lackey who serves as comedy relief (Gee, DISNEY DIDN'T DO THAT, RIGHT!?). I'd say this is just an average lion king knock-off, but, it's just FLAT-OUT PLAGIARISM, especially given some stuff that happens later on, like Simba fighting his uncle. (OH, COME ON, MAN!!!!
Who are the other characters besides Simba and Shere Khan? Well, mostly other Jungle Book characters: Baloo, Bagheera, Kaa, and the wolf pack. Okay, that I can kinda let slide, because the jungle book is under public domain. Oh, and one of Simba's childhood friends is a baby deer named Buckshot, whose parents were killed by the same hunter who killed Simba's dad. Great. First they're ripping off lion king, now Bambi!? Does this show have NO ORIGINALITY!? I don't mind seeing stuff that's been done before, but, do something new with it! Which, here, they don't.
The animation is awful. While the backgrounds are painted nicely, the character designs look mediocre at best and downright creepy at worst. As for the setting, I can't tell if this is supposed to be set in Africa or India (where Jungle Book took place). On the one hand, we have lions, elephants, cheetahs, zebras, and a giraffe (all African), but we also have brown bears, wolves, and tigers (all Indian). Pick a setting and stick to it.
What about the character personalities? There are none. This Simba is boring, and has none of the qualities that made Disney's Simba so great. The other good guys are just there. Shere Khan is basically just Scar, except turned into a tiger. And sometimes, the dialogue can get downright tedious. I mean, what show would have such intelligent lines like "let's look at the sun!"
And as if the plagiarism and uninteresting characters weren't bad enough, they felt the need to give the characters superpowers. Simba can shoot lasers from his paws... okay.... And apparently, Shere Khan lead the hunter who killed Simba's dad through telepathy.... What!? Okay, what we're these writers on?
All in all, it's a horrible show that was clearly made just to cash in on the success of The Lion King, while completely forgetting what made The Lion King such a great film. I suggest you just stay away fro, this show and watch The Lion King. That's worth every minute of your time. Not this.
What's the story? Well, the lion, the King of the Jungle, is killed, leaving his cubs, one of whom is named Simba, as orphans, (Gee, Disney didn't do that, right?), some of the other animals raise the orphaned cubs (Gee, Disney didn't do that, right?) until Simba is old enough to take his place as king (Gee, Disney didn't do that, right?) oh, and as for the villain, he's a big cat (in this case, Shere Khan the tiger from the jungle book) who wants to take over the throne and has a hyena lackey who serves as comedy relief (Gee, DISNEY DIDN'T DO THAT, RIGHT!?). I'd say this is just an average lion king knock-off, but, it's just FLAT-OUT PLAGIARISM, especially given some stuff that happens later on, like Simba fighting his uncle. (OH, COME ON, MAN!!!!
Who are the other characters besides Simba and Shere Khan? Well, mostly other Jungle Book characters: Baloo, Bagheera, Kaa, and the wolf pack. Okay, that I can kinda let slide, because the jungle book is under public domain. Oh, and one of Simba's childhood friends is a baby deer named Buckshot, whose parents were killed by the same hunter who killed Simba's dad. Great. First they're ripping off lion king, now Bambi!? Does this show have NO ORIGINALITY!? I don't mind seeing stuff that's been done before, but, do something new with it! Which, here, they don't.
The animation is awful. While the backgrounds are painted nicely, the character designs look mediocre at best and downright creepy at worst. As for the setting, I can't tell if this is supposed to be set in Africa or India (where Jungle Book took place). On the one hand, we have lions, elephants, cheetahs, zebras, and a giraffe (all African), but we also have brown bears, wolves, and tigers (all Indian). Pick a setting and stick to it.
What about the character personalities? There are none. This Simba is boring, and has none of the qualities that made Disney's Simba so great. The other good guys are just there. Shere Khan is basically just Scar, except turned into a tiger. And sometimes, the dialogue can get downright tedious. I mean, what show would have such intelligent lines like "let's look at the sun!"
And as if the plagiarism and uninteresting characters weren't bad enough, they felt the need to give the characters superpowers. Simba can shoot lasers from his paws... okay.... And apparently, Shere Khan lead the hunter who killed Simba's dad through telepathy.... What!? Okay, what we're these writers on?
All in all, it's a horrible show that was clearly made just to cash in on the success of The Lion King, while completely forgetting what made The Lion King such a great film. I suggest you just stay away fro, this show and watch The Lion King. That's worth every minute of your time. Not this.