The Lion King may have been stolen from a 1950s Japanese anime series!

The Lion King wasn’t released until 1994. The original Japanese anime series was called Kimba the White Lion. Kimba-Simba…coincidence? Simba was referred to as Kimba in earlier drafts and concept art showed him as a white lion! Other similarities between the cartoons include a wise baboon and a wart hog.

Both have scenes in a valley of bones and sport a large rock from which the lion king perches. They also both have a lion speaking from the sky and very similar speaking lines.