7 Disney Movies That Were Accused Of Stealing Ideas

2. Kimba The White Lion - The Lion King

The most well known example of Disney being accused of stealing ideas, Kimba The White Lion has become an emblem of Disney's allegedly duplicitous nature. Originally a comic manga, Kimba grew to become a globally successful anime in the sixties. The plot deals with the threat of humans moving in on the natural habitat of Africa's animals; it's like Bambi meets Roots. Wait, that has nothing to do with The Lion King - what's the big similarity then? It's much more stylistic and sporadic - Kimba sees his dead mother in the stars and the overall message is about all creatures being part of an ecosystem - but the real clincher is in the development of The Lion King; early concept stills show Simba having white fur, while people involved in the production sometimes got Simba's name wrong. They're basic links, but it suggests there was inspiration taken from Kimba at the very start. Was it plagiarism? We bloody love The Lion King, but there's so much evidence that at the very least the inspiration for the project was indeed Kimba. Clearly Disney considered the morality of the whole thing and decided hakuna matata.