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The Kindly Lion

178 statements
34 feature instances
18 referencing feature instances

The Kindly Lion	type	TVTItem
The Kindly Lion	label	The Kindly Lion
The Kindly Lion	page	TheKindlyLion
The Kindly Lion	comment	The Kindly Lion (やさしいライオン, "Yasashii Lion") or The Gentle Lion is a 1970 Japanese animated short film by Mushi Productions (now known as Tezuka Productions) directed by Takashi Yanase with Osamu Tezuka as executive producer. It's an animated adaptation of the Japanese children's book of the same name by Takashi Yanase (creator of the Anpanman franchise) from the mid to late 1960s.The original book and film are centered on a parental relationship between two completely different species (a lion and dog, respectively). Buru-buru is an orphaned lion cub who lost his parents at an unknown period at a zoo, while Muku-muku is a female dog who lost her puppies moments after birth. After a female rabbit discovers Buru-buru malnourished, she quickly takes him to a heartbroken Muku-muku and convinces her to adopt him. As the short progresses, the story suddenly takes a somber turn.The short consists of two narrators (a female narrator and a child voiced by Minori Matsushima, who is heard asking questions to the female narrator and showing concern for the characters) and uses songs written by Takashi Yanase and performed by the Japanese music group "100s" to progress the story. The short even received its own book adaptation which uses white and green colors compared to the original version.◊The original book and short film would become one of Takashi Yanase's most beloved works (along with Chirin no Suzu) and is fondly remembered by Japanese audiences. An English translation can be viewed here alongside a reading of the original book. If you would like to see a kamishibai version of the story click this link. If you would like to see a theatrical production by Shinozaki Studio, choose this link. The 2003 flash adaptation by Storygate Picturebooks can be viewed here. If you would like to listen to a musical record audio adaptation of the story, please choose this link.In later editions, a song sheet was added◊ containing lyrics (the short's theme song) from the 1970 animated short.This short is also the first animated adaptation of Yanase's works, with future adaptations moving to Sanrio Animation, where they made two animated shorts (Little Jumbo and The Rose Flower and Joe) in 1977. They made a feature film adaptation of Chirin no Suzu (known as Ringing Bell in the west) in Spring 1978 and a comic adaptation that was released to Sanrio's defunct magazine Lyrica in June 1977.On December 8, 2021, a CD album called "Takashi Yanase Works- (Musical Fantasy) From "Yasashii Lion"/"Nursery Rhyme from 0 to 99" was released in Japan with a song that adapted the song. Alongside other songs based on Japanese Nursery Rhymes, Poem, and Lullabies for children.
The Kindly Lion	fetched	2023-08-16T14:28:06Z
The Kindly Lion	parsed	2023-08-16T14:28:06Z
The Kindly Lion	isPartOf	DBTropes
The Kindly Lion / int_135b9977	type	Bloodless Carnage
The Kindly Lion / int_135b9977	comment	Bloodless Carnage: For obvious reasons. While Buru-buru manages to get a bit of blood on his face as he attempts to break free from a cage at a circus. Near the end of the short, when Buru-buru and Muku-muku get gunned down by policemen, neither of them are bleeding but the narrator mentions bloody footprints made in the snow.
The Kindly Lion / int_135b9977	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	The Kindly Lion / int_135b9977
The Kindly Lion / int_18d15922	type	Title Drop
The Kindly Lion / int_18d15922	comment	Title Drop: The short's title "The Kindly Lion" is dropped by the child narrator as he's crying over Buru-buru and Muku-muku's death.
The Kindly Lion / int_18d15922	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	The Kindly Lion / int_18d15922
The Kindly Lion / int_23473ae7	type	Adaptation Expansion
The Kindly Lion / int_23473ae7	comment	Adaptation Expansion: Due to the story mostly being told through song. Certain moments in the original book would get expanded. These include a majority of Buru-buru's childhood with his adopted mother, Muku-muku's lullaby, and Buru-buru as an adult dancing with Muku-muku.
The Kindly Lion / int_23473ae7	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	The Kindly Lion / int_23473ae7
The Kindly Lion / int_2e8441c9	type	The Bad Guy Wins
The Kindly Lion / int_2e8441c9	comment	The Bad Guy Wins: The armies that chase Buru-buru and Muku-muku are the true victors of the story, succeeding in killing the protagonists.
The Kindly Lion / int_2e8441c9	featureApplicability	1.0
The Kindly Lion / int_2e8441c9	featureConfidence	1.0
The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	The Kindly Lion / int_2e8441c9
The Kindly Lion / int_2f329e3c	type	Tomato in the Mirror
The Kindly Lion / int_2f329e3c	comment	Tomato in the Mirror: Buru-buru believes himself to be an actual dog both in behavior and appearance. However, he gets horrified by his reflection in a lake and cries, thinking of himself as hideous and ugly. Thankfully, Muku-muku comforts him over his appearance and tells him "You and I appear different indeed, but in our hearts, we are the same." since she strongly believes "The heart is the most important thing" between a mother and son.
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The Kindly Lion / int_36c64123	type	Gentle Giant
The Kindly Lion / int_36c64123	comment	Gentle Giant: Buru-buru is a kindhearted and sensitive male lion. Due to being raised by a dog, he doesn't act like an actual lion. Instead, he behaves like an actual dog (such as barking and whimpering) and never learned to roar.
The Kindly Lion / int_36c64123	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Kindly Lion / int_382a6399	type	The Hero Dies
The Kindly Lion / int_382a6399	comment	The Hero Dies: Muku-muku and Buru-buru both end up killed by a group of policemen after reuniting with each other. Maybe.
The Kindly Lion / int_382a6399	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Kindly Lion / int_3866ab91	type	Deceased Parents Are the Best
The Kindly Lion / int_3866ab91	comment	Deceased Parents Are the Best: Buru-buru is an orphaned lion who lost his parents. It's implied that his mother passed away after giving birth and his father died at an unknown point. Some of Yanase's illustrations depict his parents as angels watching over their son.◊
The Kindly Lion / int_3866ab91	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	The Kindly Lion / int_3866ab91
The Kindly Lion / int_42215dce	type	Ambiguous Ending
The Kindly Lion / int_42215dce	comment	Ambiguous Ending: Despite Buru-buru and Muku-muku getting shot by policemen, the female narrator states that Buru-buru and Muku-muku somehow survived and says that "He took Muku-muku on his back, and went running all the way to the end of the world." while we are shown bloody footprints made by Buru-buru in the snow. The narrator also states that Buru-buru and his mother were last seen around the center of the woods and suddenly disappeared. The original book and short ends with Buru-buru running with his mother in the sky◊ so fast that they turn into a shooting star and land on the moon.
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The Kindly Lion / int_4e3d253b	type	Downer Ending
The Kindly Lion / int_4e3d253b	comment	Downer Ending: When Buru-buru reunites with his adopted mother after years of separation, they get shot by a group of policemen. However, both versions end on an ambiguous note, hinting that the two managed to survive and ran as far away as possible.
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The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	The Kindly Lion / int_4e3d253b
The Kindly Lion / int_55180ce	type	Snow Means Death
The Kindly Lion / int_55180ce	comment	Snow Means Death: Seconds after Buru-buru and his mother are gunned down, snow flakes begin falling onto the ground and around their bodies.
The Kindly Lion / int_55180ce	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Kindly Lion / int_5dcb6101	type	Parental Love Song
The Kindly Lion / int_5dcb6101	comment	Parental Love Song: "Muku-muku's Lullaby" which she sings to Buku-buku as she's carrying him on her back while rocking him back and forth.◊
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The Kindly Lion / int_665136e6	type	Animals Lack Attributes
The Kindly Lion / int_665136e6	comment	Animals Lack Attributes: Buru-Buru is shown drinking milk from his mother. However, the only time Muku-muku is drawn with teats is during scenes where she's walking with her newly adopted son as a cub. Buru-Buru is also drawn with an anus during a montage of him acting more like a dog instead of a lion.
The Kindly Lion / int_665136e6	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Kindly Lion / int_81a1960f	type	Silence Is Golden
The Kindly Lion / int_81a1960f	comment	Silence is Golden: The short is mainly told by two narrators and through songs performed by Japanese music group "100s". The characters are never given any dialogue, with the exception of Muku-muku training her newly adopted son how to behave like a dog.
The Kindly Lion / int_81a1960f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Kindly Lion / int_81a1960f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	The Kindly Lion / int_81a1960f
The Kindly Lion / int_86c63f9	type	Female Feline, Male Mutt
The Kindly Lion / int_86c63f9	comment	Female Feline, Male Mutt: Inverted with Muku-muku who is a female dog compared to Buru-buru who is a male lion.
The Kindly Lion / int_86c63f9	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	The Kindly Lion / int_86c63f9
The Kindly Lion / int_87bc48e5	type	Eye-Obscuring Hat
The Kindly Lion / int_87bc48e5	comment	Eye-Obscuring Hat: The eyes of the group of policemen are obscured by their helmets.
The Kindly Lion / int_87bc48e5	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Kindly Lion / int_8ace85ef	type	Audience Surrogate
The Kindly Lion / int_8ace85ef	comment	Audience Surrogate: The child narrator asking questions to the female narrator is sharing the same thoughts and questions as the audience watching the film.
The Kindly Lion / int_8ace85ef	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Kindly Lion / int_8e3b5b4d	type	Minimalist Cast
The Kindly Lion / int_8e3b5b4d	comment	Minimalist Cast: In the original book, Buru-buru and Muku-muku are the only main characters of the story. While humans and animals are seen in the short, they are only background characters and don't interfere with the story that much. The exception is the unnamed policeman who appear in both versions.
The Kindly Lion / int_8e3b5b4d	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	The Kindly Lion / int_8e3b5b4d
The Kindly Lion / int_912b24c4	type	Art Shift
The Kindly Lion / int_912b24c4	comment	Art Shift: The art style for the short would switch between traditional hand-drawn art style, to Yanase's traditional water color illustration style, and finally an oil painting style. The oil art style is notably used during the closing credits for the film.
The Kindly Lion / int_912b24c4	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	The Kindly Lion / int_912b24c4
The Kindly Lion / int_a2ff4e6f	type	Single Tear
The Kindly Lion / int_a2ff4e6f	comment	Single Tear: After Muku-muku gets tired of running behind a truck that's taking away her adopted son. She is seen shedding a single tear from her eye knowing she will never see her son again until years later as she's on the edge of dying.
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The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	The Kindly Lion / int_a2ff4e6f
The Kindly Lion / int_a30c287	type	Good Parents
The Kindly Lion / int_a30c287	comment	Good Parents: Muku-muku is a very sweet and lovable mother who truly cares about her adopted son. She even comforts him over not looking like a dog.
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The Kindly Lion / int_a4414a05	type	Adaptation Dye-Job
The Kindly Lion / int_a4414a05	comment	Adaptation Dye-Job: In the original book, Muku-muku's fur color was brown◊ but was changed to white in this film. She's also depicted with white fur in the 2003 flash adaptation by Storygate Picturebooks with Yanase doing newer designs for this version. In the original book Buru-buru's mane was orange colored,◊ while it's brown or yellow in this short. His design from the 1970 animated short would even be used in Storygate Picturebooks flash adaptation.
The Kindly Lion / int_a4414a05	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Kindly Lion / int_a4c37cbe	type	Mood Whiplash
The Kindly Lion / int_a4c37cbe	comment	Mood Whiplash: As Buru-buru and Muku-muku are having a very heartfelt moment and are seen dancing with each other. The child narrator says that "Buru-buru and Muku-muku lived a happy and peaceful life", but the female narrator says "Actually" and tells the child that one day Buru-buru was moved to a different zoo and gets separated with his adopted mother in the process.
The Kindly Lion / int_a4c37cbe	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Kindly Lion / int_a68421bb	type	Animated Adaptation
The Kindly Lion / int_a68421bb	comment	Animated Adaptation: This is the first animated adaptation of Takashi Yanase's children's books.
The Kindly Lion / int_a68421bb	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	The Kindly Lion / int_a68421bb
The Kindly Lion / int_ad646bba	type	Old Dog
The Kindly Lion / int_ad646bba	comment	Old Dog: Due to the different aging rate between a lion and a dog, Muku-muku becomes an old dog by the time Buru-Buru grows up to become an adult lion◊. She's notably skinnier, slower paced, relaxed, and has wrinkles around her face.
The Kindly Lion / int_ad646bba	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Kindly Lion / int_bb36c953	type	Sliding Scale of Animal Cast
The Kindly Lion / int_bb36c953	comment	Sliding Scale of Animal Cast: Type 2, Animal Cast With Humans as Living Props: only 12 humans are seen in the entire film, with the exception of 8 unnamed policeman and an unnamed female trapeze performer. The humans characters (with the exception of the policeman) are mainly used as background props and don't interfere with the story.
The Kindly Lion / int_bb36c953	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Kindly Lion / int_c3c18143	type	Hope Spot
The Kindly Lion / int_c3c18143	comment	Hope Spot: As Buru-buru is running as fast as he can to locate his mother, a group of policeman are chasing after him and preparing to kill him. When he finally finds Muku-muku, who is on death's door, he and his mother share a hug after being separated for a long period of time. Unfortunately, Buru-buru and Muku-muku are unaware that a group of policeman are seconds away from killing him and his mother.
The Kindly Lion / int_c3c18143	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Kindly Lion / int_d0d77609	type	Death by Childbirth
The Kindly Lion / int_d0d77609	comment	Death By Child Birth: Implied to be how Buru-buru's mother died after giving birth to Buru-buru.
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The Kindly Lion / int_dda99fa8	type	Despair Event Horizon
The Kindly Lion / int_dda99fa8	comment	Despair Event Horizon: Midway through the story, Buru-buru (now fully grown up) getting separated from his mother by getting sent to a circus. Muku-muku is seen running behind the car carrying her adopted son but loses energy due to her old age. The last time Buru-buru will remember his mother is her shedding a single tear as the car gets further away from her.
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The Kindly Lion / int_e034faef	type	Limited Animation
The Kindly Lion / int_e034faef	comment	Limited Animation: Most of the animation consists of looping walk cycles from Buru-buru and Muku-muku. This includes both characters dancing with each other, expressing how much they love one another.
The Kindly Lion / int_e034faef	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Kindly Lion / int_e49c0cbd	type	Interspecies Adoption
The Kindly Lion / int_e49c0cbd	comment	Interspecies Adoption: Muku-muku (a female dog) adopts an orphaned lion (Buru-buru).
The Kindly Lion / int_e49c0cbd	featureApplicability	1.0
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The Kindly Lion / int_f3fd818b	type	Dark Reprise
The Kindly Lion / int_f3fd818b	comment	Dark Reprise: A somber variation of "Muku-muku's Lullaby" is heard as Buru-buru is sleeping and hears his mother's lullaby. At this point, he's mostly forgotten his life with his mother until that point. This causes him to wake up in sadness and motivates him to break out of the cage to see his mother again. After Buru-buru and his mother get gunned down by policeman, a mournful variation of Muku-muku's Lullaby is played as we see Buru-buru and Muku-muku's dead bodies.
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The Kindly Lion / int_f6624c30	type	Together in Death
The Kindly Lion / int_f6624c30	comment	Together in Death: A non-romantic example. Buru-buru and his mother end up gunned down by the end of the story. However, both characters are seen hugging each other before getting gunned down. After both get killed, we see Buru-buru's lifeless body lying on the ground while still holding on to his mother.
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The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	Ambiguous Ending / int_59e25aa2
The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	Animated Musical / int_59e25aa2
The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	Art-Style Dissonance / int_59e25aa2
The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	Canine Fiction / int_59e25aa2
The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	Children's Literature / int_59e25aa2
The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	Domestic-Only Cartoon / int_59e25aa2
The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	Feline Fiction / int_59e25aa2
The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	Female Feline, Male Mutt / int_59e25aa2
The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	Kodomomuke / int_59e25aa2
The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	Minimalist Cast / int_59e25aa2
The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	Old Dog / int_59e25aa2
The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	Parental Love Song / int_59e25aa2
The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	Popular with Furries / int_59e25aa2
The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	Self-Adaptation / int_59e25aa2
The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	Short Film / int_59e25aa2
The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	Sliding Scale of Animal Cast / int_59e25aa2
The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	Snow Means Death / int_59e25aa2
The Kindly Lion	hasFeature	The Hero Dies / int_59e25aa2

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