TheLittleSongbird Review of Leo the Lion: King of the Jungle

Leo the Lion: King of the Jungle (1994 Video)

Actually I found it one of Jetlag's better efforts

[8/10 · 26 July 2012]

I had very fond memories of Leo the Lion as a kid, and while it is not quite as good as I remembered it is one of Jetlag's better efforts. I do prefer Heidi, Magic Gift of the Snowman, Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella(all of which held up watching them again from an adult perspective), but I also find it superior to A Christmas Carol, Alice in Wonderland, Jungle Book and Hunchback of Notre Dame(neither are unwatchable though, just left wanting). Leo the Lion is not perfect, the weakest asset being the animation quality, which I found uneven. I liked the colourful backgrounds, but the character design and movements were jerky and could have done with being much more graceful. However, things more than make up for that, because the characters are actually likable- true the villains are on the clichéd side but that is hardly the first case for an animation- and the voice acting is much better than the likes of Snow White and Alice in Wonderland, much more empathetic and not as corny. The story has a couple of predictable spots, but at least there is one, that it doesn't try too hard and it is mostly engaging for primarily the target audience. The writing is simple, but again unlike A Christmas Carol and Alice in Wonderland doesn't feel overly-so, some of it is quite witty. The best asset of Leo the Lion is the soundtrack, the score is alongside Heidi and The Nutcracker one of their best individual scores with some both rousing and whimsical moments. The three songs are really well done also, with Jetlag either all three are great(Magic Gift of the Snowman), two are great but one not so much(Hunchback of Notre Dame) or there is just one song that sticks out(A Christmas Carol), or there are one or two Jetlags where the singing could have been much better(Hercules). Leo the Lion is one of those cases of all three songs working. King of the Jungle is very upbeat and catchy, and I'm a Really Nice Guy makes its point across and does move the story forward. I'm Alone, emphasising Tooey's loneliness, is effective in its poignancy. In a nutshell, I liked Leo the Lion actually, it's not perfect and perhaps not Jetlag's very best but it doesn't deserve I feel to be disregarded as a cheap rip-off. 8/10 Bethany Cox