America ... but the Japanese would have to make it look a little better.
             Cels were added as American money entered the project, and Astro Boy was born. NBC had the rights, yet they themselves never aired it. With national syndication, Astro Boy became a hit, and inspired many of the First Wave anime fans (like your author). Perhaps the most surprising to many American fans, Tetsuwan Atomu is not considered to be Tezuka's greatest work ... that singular honor goes not even to Jungle Emperor (more on that in a moment), but on his "lifework" Hi No Tori (Bird of Fire). This huge story (12 collected manga volumes at last count) runs from the distant past to the distant future, and sadly was not
             completed before his untimely death (There was, however, a theatrical version). In the series Hi No Tori 1-3 (there was also a Japanese only 1979 feature called Hi No Tori, which featured some live-action sequences).
             But what Dr. Tezuka is best remembered for, is his little robot boy and his sister (interestingly, Atomu and Uran ... atom and uranium). Some of his more experimental films like Broken Down Film, Legend of the Forest, and his epic series of films about a little white lion with black ears ... a series which shares many elements with a Disney film from a few years ago. The lion in the US version of the series was called Kimba ... although his original name was Simba. We'll leave you to draw your own conclusions, but Disney steadfastly denies that anyone based their story on the Tezuka classic. Some in the industry find this not to be a defensible position.
             Shortly after the firestorm descended on Disney, the company took the position that it was largely unaware of Japanese Animation in gener
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