The King of Lions (1995 animated film)

The King of Lions is a 1995 Japanese/American animated mockbuster film produced by CDS Communications and distributed by Piko Entertainment (now known as CDS Entertainment). It is a mockbuster of Disney's The Lion King (1994).

The film is released on VHS on May 3, 1995, and is only made available at Shell gas stations. Since 1996, the film has aired on CVS; the network unveiled a high-definition, digitally remastered version of the film in 2004.

As with Aladdin and His Magic Lamp (1994) and Beauty and the Beast (1993), The King of Lions no longer airs just once annually, but several times during the Summertime. However, it is not popular as its Disney counterpart did. The 10th anniversary of the film was marked in 2005 and a series of postage stamps featuring characters from the film were issued by the United States Postal Service on October 23, 2005.

In January 12, 2020, a live-action remake of the film is made and released at Kroger stores in the form of the DVD and Blu-ray.

Plot
Nigel the Baboon welcomes the viewers to "Lion Land" in Africa and introduces King Aiden and Queen Narla, who lived in the den located at the "big rock" that resembles the Pride Rock from Disney's The Lion King. Later on, Nigel recalls the year of the Lion Festival is canceled due to the arrival of the animal poachers on that day. Narla gives birth to the lion cub, which Aiden named him "Waylon". Upon adoring him, they are surprised that he is born with a special power that gives him the ability to see certain events before those actually happened. When Nigel arrives, he told Aiden that Waylon will be going to become a king due to the special power he has.

A week later, Aiden told Waylon about how his great-grandfather is born with the same power Waylon has, and may be the way where Waylon got his power from. Waylon decided what he has to control his powers for. That night, Waylon wanted to use his powers outside as a test so he will take his father's place as a king. At the same time, he met a rogue panther, named Jazar, who is surprised about the lion cub's power. Jazar instructed Waylon on how to use the "Eye of the Lion". Waylon learned his methods and called it a night.

The next day, Waylon goes outside to play with other cubs, including a beautiful lioness cub named Lydia, who tells him he is cute. While other cubs are instructed to practice their roars, Waylon accidentally uses the "Eye of the Lion" power that Jazar instructed on the night before, causing the elephant stampede that destroys the lion game. Upon finding out that Waylon is the one that makes the elephant stampede, Aiden expels him from the game.

That night, Jazar announces to his sidekicks, the buzzards, that he will lure Aiden and Waylon to a trap on the same time poachers will arrive in Africa and will kill them both. In addition, to that, he will go to take both of their places as a king.

The next day, Jazar lures Waylon into maze-like, land of tall grasses and using the "Eye of the Panther", a special power similar to Waylon's, to let poachers (unseen in the film) arrive to torment him. Instead of saving Waylon, Jazar informs Aiden that Waylon is in danger, and forces him to save his son. Aiden rushes to save Waylon, but he is shot. Waylon, mourning about his father's death, puts a blame on Jazar, who orders the buzzards to kill the cub. The buzzards nearly succeeded in killing Waylon, but the cub escapes.

Nigel tells the viewers on how Jazar wanted to take Aiden and his son's place as a king and may rule Lion Land forever, allowing the buzzards to live in it.

The next day, Waylon is left alone in the tree-filled jungle where he meets Rodgy, a misfit hornbill who is admired by the cub's power, from the tree's hole and offered him to stay in the jungle for the rest of the cub's life. Waylon grows up in the jungle in the anxiety-free paradise.

Time passes and Waylon grows into a full-grown adult lion. On his way to see Rodgy, he meets Lydia, who is now an adult lioness and they both fall in love each other. At the waterfalls, Lydia told Waylon that Jazar took over Lion Land and he wanted to return to get rid of him and the buzzards. When Waylon foresaw Jazar being taking over Lion Land he vows to return home just to take his place as a king with the help of Aiden's spirit.

Waylon returns to Lion Land to find that Narla is hypnotized to be Jazar's wife via the "Eye of the Panther". He also finds her being cornered by the buzzards. Waylon tries to save Narla, but Jazar pounces him, accidentally revealing that he's the one that made the poachers kill Aiden. Upon finding out, Waylon exposes Jazar to Narla and Lydia, snapping themselves of their hypnotism and attacks the menacing panther. A few minutes later, Rodgy and Nigel arrives to stop the buzzards from threatening Lion Land. Two of the buzzards are scared by Rodgy imitating Waylon's roar, only to hit the tree branch and fall into the hole. Jazar is also thrown into the same hole by Waylon, where he is attacked and killed by the buzzards who betrayed him.

Afterwards, Waylon takes over Jazar's place as a king and makes Lydia his queen. With Jazar and his buzzards gone, the animals hails Waylon as the king of Lion Land. At the same time, Lydia gives birth to a lion cub with the same power as Waylon's.

Nigel wishes everyone a National Lion Day as he walks away, ending the film.

Characters

 * Waylon - A son of Aiden and Narla and main protagonist of the film. A lion who grew up to become a current king of Lion Land. He has a special power that enables him to foresee events before those actually happened. He is accused of causing the elephant stampede at the lion game as a cub, but later saves Lion Land as an adult.
 * Lydia - A lioness who is the only one that isn't trampled by the elephant stampede Waylon causes, and is later Waylon's future mate.
 * King Aiden - Waylon's father and a former king of Lion Land. He is shot by animal poachers lured in by Jazar. He later appears as a spirit to tell Waylon to return to Lion Land.
 * Queen Narla - Aiden's nurturing mate. She is later hypnotized by Jazar to be his queen, but snaps out after Waylon exposes him to her (and Lydia).
 * Rodgy - A wise-cracking hornbill who lived in a jungle paradise and offered Waylon to live with him. His misfit problem is explained in the prequel/midquel to this film, The King of Lions 1/2, revealing that he is autistic and "feels different" from other hornbills.
 * Jazar - A panther who is the main antagonist of the film. He actually takes Aiden's place as a king after he makes poachers kill him, and is later killed by the buzzards.
 * Buzzards - Jazar's henchmen. The buzzards' leader, Vince, has his name revealed in The King of Lions 1/2.
 * Nigel - A baboon and a narrator of the film.

Legacy and Sequels
The film inspired two sequels, a remake, and the two television series.


 * Rodgy's Adventure In: Total Eclipse of the Heart (1996) - An animated short featuring Rodgy the hornbill sing the Bonnie Tyler cover of the song of the same name, accompanying the VHS release of CDS' The Princess and the Pea film in May 1996.
 * Mockbuster of: The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa: Stand By Me.
 * The King of Lions Presents: Rodgy's Adventure (1996) - A television series aired on CVS Kids in 1996 featuring Rodgy the hornbill as a main character. It is also the first King of Lions-related media to feature humans, as opposed to unseen poachers in the original film. Set after the events of the first film, the show involves Rodgy having a misadventure in the jungle paradise in Africa, as well in different settings other than Africa such as Japan, China, the United States and Germany. While focusing on Rodgy, Season 1 has five episodes focusing on Nigel, the buzzards and even Waylon and Lydia.
 * Mockbuster of: The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa.
 * The King of Lions 2: Waylon and the Secret of Lion Land (1999) - A sequel to the original film, released on VHS and DVD in September 12, 1999. The film centers on Waylon's daughter, Loretta, finding her way to find a mysterious tree in Lion Land and falls in love with Nero, a male lion who is originally trained by Jazar's team of panthers and lions.
 * Mockbuster of: The Lion King II: Simba's Pride.
 * 'The King of Lions 1/2 (also known as The King of Lions 3: In the Search of the Paradise outside of the United States) (2005) - A prequel/midquel to the original film that centers on Rodgy's origin and reveals that he's autistic, and also a parallel in that it also depicts what Rodgy had done to places or characters during the events of the original film. The film is released on VHS and DVD in March 23, 2005.
 * Mockbuster of: The Lion King 1½.
 * The Prince of Lions (2017) - A television series aired on CVS on October 2017, featuring Lucas, the second-born cub of Waylon and Lydia. It is sequel to the first film and takes place during the time-gap within The King of Lions 2: Waylon and the Secret of Lion Land. Originally aired in June 12, 2016 as a television film that serves as a pilot to the show.
 * Mockbuster of: The Lion Guard.
 * The King of Lions (2020) - A live-action remake of the original film, released on DVD and Blu-Ray on January 12, 2020.
 * Mockbuster of: The Lion King (2019 film).

Trivia

 * There are no sound effects from video games in this film, unlike its sequels.
 * The lion cub that Lydia gives birth to at the end of this film is confirmed to be Loretta from The King of Lions 2: Waylon and the Secret of Lion Land.