In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, The Lion King co-director Rob Minkoff said, “Frankly, I’m not familiar with [the TV series],” in reference to the controversy. He also stated that he and co-director Roger Allers first learned about the debate on a trip to Japan to promote the movie.

But that sounds a bit fishy, considering that Allers had previously lived in Tokyo and worked in animation there during the 1980s, the time when Tezuka had already become known as ‘Japan’s Walt Disney’ and a remake of Kimba was airing on prime time television.