UPDATE: All of the information given below is FALSE. I was misled by a conspiracy theory. I'm only retaining this content because I'm not in the habit of trying to hide my mistakes.
Original post:
When Disney released their feature-length animated movie The Lion King in 1994, they kept repeating the claim that it was a completely original and unique story by Disney, not based on any previous story (as had been the case with almost all previous Disney animated feature-length movies).
Some people, however, noticed that the movie actually had a striking resemblance to a Japanese animated series, which was originally broadcasted starting from 1965 in Japan, and a year later in the United States. Namely, Kimba the White Lion. In fact, when The Lion King premiered in Japan, many people there immediately recognized it as such, and a quite massive protest ensued, because this was a quite clear case of plagiarism.
Kimba the White Lion is a quite beloved animated series in Japan, and almost a cultural icon at many places, the main character being widely used as a recurring icon, as mascots, and so on. No wonder Japanese people noted the striking resemblance and got furious about this blatant copying without credit.
"Big deal", many people think to this day. "Just because both series are about some lion in Africa doesn't mean it's plagiarism. The Japanese anime doesn't own the rights to African animal characters and a story set in Africa. Of course there will be similarities because there will be plenty of same animal species. And just because "Kimba" sounds like "Simba" doesn't mean it's copied. It's just coincidental."
However, the similarities between the two works go well beyond just being about talking African animals.
As seen in the comparison pictures on the right (click here for a larger version), not only are all the main plot points in The Lion King very similar (sometimes even identical) to many Kimba episodes, as well as many minor side plots and details, but moreover, and egregiously, many individual scenes have been copied almost identically.
Simba/Kimba being presented to the animals of the savanna. He going with a female friend to an animal graveyard, being attacked by hyenas sent by the main antagonist lion and then rescued by his father, who then has a talk with him. The stampede. His father dying and him being convinced by the main antagonist to go to exile. Him meeting animals of other species in exile and learning to eat something other than animals. Him returning from exile to fight the antagonist and reclaim his place as the ruler. Everything appears pretty much identically in the Kimba series.
Moreover, as can be seen from the comparison pictures, the main antagonist is, and I kid you not, a lion with a scar across his left eye, who commands hyenas. Also as seen in the comparison pictures, a staggering number of scenes are copied in an almost identical manner from the Japanese series. (And these pictures are actually not showing all the similarities.)
In some cases some scenes from the animated series have been merged into one. For example, the famous stampede and Simba/Kimba's father's death were two different scenes in the animated series, and merged in the movie. However, both are extraordinarily similar in details.
This couldn't be a clearer case of outright blatant plagiarism. It would be debatable if copying major plot points would constitute such, but as noted, this goes well beyond that, not only copying plot points, but entire scenes almost verbatim, with events and even character reactions and actions being almost identical. It's beyond any doubt that this cannot be coincidental, nor a case of cryptomnesia. Copying scenes almost verbatim to this extent and in these numbers cannot be anything else than direct plagiarism.
It is a case of plagiarism, and copyright infringement, because Disney has always claimed this to be their own original unique work, and has never recognized the original source, gotten permission, or paid any royalties to the original intellectual property owners.
The studio that created the original animated series, and owns the copyrights to it, Mushi Production, contemplated suing Disney for copyright infringement when The Lion King was released in Japan. However, they never did so, citing lack of money and resources for what would probably be a lengthy legal battle. And, I'm certain, also being intimidated by the behemoth megacorporation that's Disney, and its army of lawyers.
Coincidentally, the studio had started production of a feature-length movie of Kimba at about the same time as Disney started their production of The Lion King. However, due to production difficulties, it wouldn't be until 1997 that the Kimba movie would be released. Here's were the whole story takes a new twist of assholery from Disney.
You see, Disney successfully blocked the 1997 Kimba movie from being shown in theaters in the United States... because the movie was too similar to The Lion King in theme.
Yes, that's right. Disney, who had blatantly plagiarized and infringed the copyright of Mushi Production... claimed that it was Kimba that was breaking Disney's copyrights, and thus successfully stopped the 1997 movie from being shown in America. In other words, not only did Disney steal the intellectual property, they weaponized it against the original owners.
To this day, Disney has still not recognized that The Lion King is an adaptation of Kimba, and are still claiming that it's their own original content.
And, rather amazingly, they have so far got away with it. Not only have they not faced any legal repercussions, but moreover the public at large is completely oblivious to this case of blatant plagiarism. The vast majority of people still believe The Lion King is an original story by Disney, not based on anything.
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