| Leo the Lion | |
| Director: | Mario Cambi |
| Producer: | Veronica Salvi |
| Story: | Mario Cambi |
| Music: | Alessandro Molinari |
| Editing: | Claudio Di Mauro |
| Studio: | Dujass Film |
| Runtime: | 75 minutes |
| Country: | Italy |
| Language: | Italian |
Leo the Lion (Italian: La Storia Di Leo) is a 2005 Italian animated adventure musical film directed by Mario Cambi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Pierstefano Marangoni. It stars Neri Marcorè, Leo Gullotta and Carlo Conti. The film follows Leo, a lion who exhibits a vegetarian diet which causes him to be an outcast among his pride.
Produced by Dujass Film, the film was originally released on June 17, 2005 in Italy. In the United States, an English-dub of the film was released onto Netflix by The Weinstein Company on July 18, 2013.[1]
In the African savannas, Leo 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 Savannah the elephant 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 a white elephant named Maximus Elefante and then 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 the antelope. 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 chameleon. The latter allows to three orphans, a leopard cub and a duo of monkeys, 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 and captures Maximus. The movie finishes by showing Leo talking to his children, two elephant/lion hybrids.
Common Sense Media gave the movie one star out of five, calling it a "horrible Pixar rip-off with terrible songs, annoying voices, subpar animation, and a poorly executed story line".[2]