Leo the Lion (2005 film)

Leo the Lion is a 2005 Italian-American independent computer-animated adventure comedy film directed by Mario Cambi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Pierstefano Marangoni. It stars Daniel Amerman, John Cygan and Matthew Mercer. The film follows Leo, a lion who exhibits a vegetarian diet which causes him to be an outcast among his pride, so he sets off on a journey to find the "Heart of the Jungle", a place that Leo's deceased mother to him to go to, with his friend Uncle Lope and a couple of elephant cubs tagging along with him.

Leo the Lion
Directed byMario Cambi
Written by
  • Mario Cambi
  • Pierstefano Marangoni
Story byMario Cambi
Starring
Production
companies
Distributed byNetflix
Release dates
  • June 17, 2005 (2005-06-17) (Italy)
  • 2013 (2013) (United States)
Running time
77 minutes
CountriesItaly
United States
Languages
  • Italian
  • English

Produced by Dujass Film, the film was originally released on June 17, 2005, under its original title, The Story of Leo (Italian: La Storia Di Leo). Sometime around 2013, an English-dub of the film was released onto Netflix by The Weinstein Company. The film gained notoriety for its poor quality and scathing reception by viewers, and has occasionally been named as one of the worst animated films ever made.[1][2]

Plot

Leo, who is a vegetarian, struggles to fit in his pride. While hunting for zebras with the other lions, Leo's mother dies by falling over a waterfall on the day he goes for his first hunt. After that traumatic experience, he develops a fear of water. Being bullied by the other lions, he leaves them and starts living in a tree. One day he meets a female elephant, Savannah and helps her deliver her twin baby elephants. It is later mentioned that her husband, Eli Phant, was killed by humans. However, it is revealed that he was actually knocked out by Maximus Elefante and is taken to a zoo. After the delivery, the little calves consider him to be their father and follow him constantly. When Leo decides to find the "Heart of the Jungle", a place Leo's mother once told him about before she died, he is accompanied by the elephants and Uncle Lope, a gazelle. They meet many other young animals on their quest, such as a young zebra. After having lots of adventures, they eventually find the Heart of the Jungle, which is also the home of a female chameleon. The latter allows to two orphans, a leopard, and a monkey, to stay in her place. On the way back, Maximus, who was following the company, finds the two baby elephants, kidnaps them and later claims he saved them from Leo, the "evil" lion. Maximus then tries to marry Savannah, but Leo turns up at the last moment and stops the wedding. Suddenly, a helicopter appears, shoots Maximus and is defeated. The movie finishes by showing Leo talking to his grandchildren, two elephant/lion hybrids.

Cast

References
  1. "Leo the Lion". Common Sense Media. 14 January 2016. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
  2. "The Nightmare World of Leo the Lion, Netflix's Worst Movie". Intelligencer. August 2016. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
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