THE BEST (AND REST) OF KIMBA: Some Final Thoughts

I hope you enjoyed my lengthy dissection of the Kimba series, both the high and the low points. For my part, I now have a newfound appreciation of just how gnarled and convoluted the show's continuity truly was. How hard it must have been for the Titan dubbing crew to put the pieces together "on the run," as it were. Though I certainly took my share of shots at the many holes in their jury-rigged construct, the fact that the Titanistas were able to make the progression of the series seem at least faintly plausible is no small achievement.

I haven't had that much exposure to Leo the Lion (Mushi's follow-up series starring an adult Kimba, which didn't make it to North American TV until the 80s) or the various efforts to "reboot" the original Kimba scenario, such as the 1989 version of Jungle Emperor. To learn more about those efforts, I suggest you pay a visit to Craig Anderson's fine Web site, a link to which you can find in my links list. I will note that, well-meaning though these efforts may have been, they never came close to winning my heart the way that the '66 series did. The "Americanized" Kimba may have been lighter in tone than Tezuka may have wanted, but it was a cut above the majority of American Toons of the day in terms of legitimate "Heart." Even today, the most affecting scenes of the series pack a substantial punch.

My respect for Kimba's ability to pluck the "Heart"strings becomes even more evident when you take a gander at my list of the Top 10 Kimba episodes. I must confess to having had a preference for eps in which Kimba, though challenged and forced to prove his worth as a hero both morally and physically, actually behaves like a hero. Eps in which Kimba acted in a "childlike" manner were wholly "successful," in my view, only insofar as Kimba was able to surmount some kind of challenge that forced him to exhibit some level of emotional maturation. In that respect, "Jungle Thief" stands as unquestionably the best of the "young Kimba" episodes, with "The Insect Invasion" taking runner-up honors. "Journey into Time," with its overtone of moral seriousness (the "race" issue) and imaginative use of original Tezuka source material, is a pretty easy pick as the series' very best ep, though the visual beauty and excitement of "Dangerous Journey" run "JIT" a close race.

10. "The Insect Invasion"
9. "Monster of the Mountain"
8. "Go, White Lion!"
7. "The Cobweb Caper"
6. "City of Gold"
5. "The Day the Sun Went Out"
4. "The Wild Wildcat"
3. "Jungle Thief"
2. "Dangerous Journey"
1. "Journey Into Time"

I'll continue to post the occasional Astro Boy or Flying House review on this blog as the fancy strikes me, but, for now, I'll "retreat to Duckburg" and begin to ponder how I'm going to fete the 25th anniversary of DuckTales, a task that I should begin to tackle sometime this Summer. My "debate" with Greg Weagle over the merits of "Duck in the Iron Mask" went well enough that I'm thinking of doing the same thing with the other DT eps, perhaps throwing in a few belated comments about GeoX's reviews while I'm at it. Any other suggestions as to how I might handle this task would be greatly appreciated.