Jungle Emperor Leo, known in Japan as Jungle Emperor: The Movie (劇場版 ジャングル大帝) is a 1997 Japanese animated adventure drama film focusing on the last half of Osamu Tezuka's manga, Jungle Taitei (known in earlier US productions as Kimba the White Lion and Leo the Lion).[2]
Plot
At the beginning of the film, Leo is an adult and learns that his mate, Lyra, has just given birth to twin cubs: Lune (pronounced Lu-Ney) and Lukio. After a grand celebration, the scene changes drastically to a bustling city where a man named Ham Egg is traveling from jeweler to jeweler to try and sell a special stone he found in the Bajalu Jungle. After being turned down at every pawn shop and jeweler he goes to, the jewelers all inform someone of Ham Egg's whereabouts, and soon he is hauled away in a black car by intimidating men in black suits.
As it turns out, the stone that he's been trying to sell is really the "Moonlight Stone", a mineral that could be used as a power source and save the world from an impending energy crisis. A scientific organization led by Dr. Plus and Dr. Minus seek the help of Ham Egg to lead them to the source of the Moonlight Stone so it can be salvaged. However, Ham Egg is only interested in money and is soon persuaded by Dr. Plus, who is well aware of Ham Egg's illegal poaching activities.