Sexy Friday – 20260814

TGIF! Preseason football is on, so let’s keep this short and sweet.

Word Count Filler Time

First, the short part. Did you know Disney ripped off someone else for the Lion King? I’m sure you’re shocked.

Back in 1950 in Japan a comic book artist created Jungle Taitei (Jungle Emperor). It was about a orphaned lion cub destined to rule the jungle. In 1965 it was turned into Japan’s first coloUr animated television series and was released in the USA the following year under the name Kimba The White Lion.

Then in 1994, five years after the death of that Japanese artist, Disney release The Lion King which was about an orphaned lion cub who was destined to rule the jungle. Disney’s executives strongly denied copying the former artist’s work, going so far as to claim they never even heard of Kimba The White Lion. They instead insisted the story was inspired by Bambi and Hamlet. Of course, it actually turns out Walt Disney himself met the artist in 1964 and expressed his interest in making something similar for Disney in the future.

So how similar are the stories? Let’s compare!

• Main characters are named Kimba and Simba
• Both are orphaned lion cubs destined to rule
• Each lost their father in treacherous circumstances
• Kimba uses a wise and eccentric baboon for guidance. Simba uses a wise and eccentric baboon for guidance.
• Kimba is friends with a comical bird. Simba is friends with a comical bird.
• Kimba has a cute girlfriend cub. Simba has a cute girlfriend cub.
• Kimba’s main enemy is Claw, an evil one-eye lion with a scar over his blind left eye. Simba’s main enemy is Scar, who has a scar over his left eye.
• Claw uses two hyenas as partners. Scar uses three hyenas as partners.
• Both speak to their fathers after their death, with both fathers appearing in the clouds.
• The Pride Rock image of Simba is identical to the image of Kimba on a rock outcropping in the comic books.

Does this matter? Of course not! The company that made Kimba was out of business by 1973. The US rights expired in 1978 and went into public domain. I’d go into the Mickey Mouse trademark rights, but that’s like a full month of word count filler.

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Sexy Time

Enjoy the weekend, folks! Alright, now let’s get to the comments!