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| Osamu Tezuka, creator of Jungle Emperor, is born on November 3, 1928. |
| In 1950 the Jungle Taitei manga(Japanese comic) begins serialization in Manga Shonen(roughly translated: Boy Comics). The Jungle Emperor manga has since been republished many times in Japan with many different jacket styles, most often as a set of 2 books, but some times up to as many as 5 books have been published to cover the great story of Leo. The first compiled collection of the manga was released in 1951, and has since been re-released in the years 1958, 1966, 1969, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1990, 1997, 1999, and 2000. |
| In 1965 the manga was adapted into the first color anime(Japanese animation). The show was produced with NBC with U.S. broadcasting mind, in that each episode featured a fairly self-contained story. 52 episodes were created and broadcast in Japan by Fuji Television(sponsored by Sanyo) from October 6, 1965 to September 28, 1966. |
| In the U.S., Kimba the White Lion starts airing in 1966 on the NBC channel. The follow-up anime series of 26 episodes covering Leo's adult life, New Jungle Emperor: Go Leo! was produced in Japan at this time, November 5. Also in 1966, Jungle Emperor won the TV Reporter Club's "Special Award" for the first color program. |
| In 1967 a theatrical film which was made with scenes from the anime's episodes, titled simply, Jungle Emperor, was released in Japan and won the Venice International Film Festival San Marco Silver Lion Award. |
| The adult Leo character becomes the mascot for the Japanese baseball team, Seibu Lions, in 1978. |
| In the early 1980's a few episodes of the New Jungle Emperor: Go Leo! series were released, edited and dubbed, in America under the title Leo the Lion. |
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Osamu Tezuka, creator of Jungle Emperor, dies at age 60 on February 9th, 1989. A remake of Jungle Emperor anime series was shown in Japan on TV Tokyo and consisted of 52 episodes, called Jungle Emperor(New). A fraction of the episodes were released commercially(and very heavily edited) in the U.S. in 1998 as the New Adventures of Kimba the White Lion. Around this time some episodes of the 1966 Kimba the White Lion series were re dubbed and released on VHS by a canadian company. All episodes of the animated series and movies have been released in Japan on DVD, VHS or laser disc. |
| In 1995 many manga artists and patriots of Osamu Tezuka in Japan signed a petition for Disney to acknowledge Tezuka and Jungle Emperor in the creation of the 1994 animated feature, The Lion King, because of the many similarities between the two stories. Disney has since released statements denying the influence of Jungle Emperor in the movie, saying they knew nothing of the series. |
| In 1997 Tezuka Productions released a new Jungle Emperor movie in Japan loosely based on the last part of the original manga. A commemorative stamp set was also released this year, featuring many of Tezuka's characters. |
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In 1999, the original dub of the 1966 Kimba the White Lion series was released
on VHS by Right Stuf International, INC, who also released a VHS of Symphonic Poem,
an orchestrated animation of young Leo's adventures.
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