Jungle Taitei Movie

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. I don't know too much about Jungle Taitei, nor had I watched the original television series, but this movie was good enough that I probably don't need to.

The animation was quite expressive for the most part, and the few times that they utilized recycled animation or had the backgrounds be bit static during the running scenes could all be easily forgiven. The style was quite nice and reflective of its time. There's a few musical segments but they did not detract nor distract. They were well-placed and well-suited.

The characters were quite likeable and memorable. I found myself rooting ... for Leo. The main antagonists were also quite a nice surprise to my expectations. They paced it well (and wrote it well). Not a single minute feels wasted; not even the two-minute narrated introductory segment that was lifted from the original TV series.

It's a pretty good watch. I haven't read the manga, but I'd say this movie can certainly stand on its own two feet, and it provided a good enough introduction to Jungle Taitei for me.

Overall I was surprised to be enjoyed as much as I was with this ancient movie. The visuals and audio were quite behind the times, but the amazing story by Tezuka helps pull it through to be an overall enjoyable experience. I contemplated writing a full English review, but since I cannot find any subtitled, much less dubbed, releases of this movie I didn't think it was necessary. Further, I do not really recommend watching this movie as it cuts out some of my favorite portions of the manga, and also loses much of the unique, expressive and detailed Tezuka artstyle that made it famous ... in the first place.

久しぶりのジャングル大帝でした。といいましてもアニメ版を見るのは実は初めてです。子供のころ手塚先生の名作をよく愛読したものですからあらすじはよく覚えています。そこでMAL最古の映画の初レビューを書くチャンスもあることだし今回見てみることにしました。

まず、この作品はしょっぱなからアンティークらしさ丸出しです。ビジュアルはもうぼやけだらけでほとんど何が映っているのかさえ分かりにくいです。音声のレコーディングもかなり厳しいもので長く聞いていて気持ちいいものではありません。

しかし、その弱点を持ってなお私にとってこの映画は意外と面白い経験でした。いくら見て呉れが醜くても元の物語はいつになく素晴らしいものです。初見のはずなのに見ているうちに不思議と懐かしく感じる時がよくありました。最後には続編もなく漫画の一巻目のあらすじだけで終わってしまったことが残念です。ということで私のように漫画をもう読んでいる方にはおすすめの作品です。しかし、ジャングル大帝をまだ未経験のかたにはやっぱりオリジナルの漫画、またはもっと新しいアニメがおすすめです。