Africa, mid-20th century: In the face of the encroachment of mankind, a white lion, Caesar, seeks to give all wild animals a safe haven, free from fear. And, to a very large degree, he is successful. His mistake is to liberate the cattle from nearby villages.

A professional hunter, Viper Snakely, known as Ham Egg in the original Japanese, is called in to stop these raids. He avoids directly attacking Caesar — instead, Snakely records the sounds of Caesar and uses that as bait to trap his mate, Snowene, who then becomes bait in a trap for Caesar. Caesar is killed, and the pregnant Snowene is shipped overseas, destined for a zoo.

Kimba is born on the ship. Snowene teaches him his father's ideals. As a huge storm approaches, she urges Kimba out to leave through the bars of her cage. The storm wrecks the ship, leaving Kimba floundering in the ocean. The fish help him to survive and learn to swim. As he begins to despair, the stars in the sky form his mother, and she encourages him with loving guidance. Guided by butterflies, Kimba makes it back to land.

Kimba lands far from his ancestral home and is found and cared for by some people. Kimba learns the advantages of human culture, and he makes up his mind that when he returns to his wild home he will bring civilized culture to the jungle and stand for peace like his father.

The show follows Kimba's life after he returns to the wild (still a young cub) and shows his learning and growing during the next year. One thing Kimba soon learns is that true peace will require communication and mutual understanding between the animals and humans.