I've finally gotten around to ordering the manga, and while I can't read japanese, I assume I'll at least be able to get some sense of the original storyline (I also have a few friends who are Japanese, so maybe I can get some assistance...) So I hope shortly I can say something more about Tezuka's original story, but that aside, I am amazed at how the series shifts back and forth between relatively innocuous (sp?) stories that seem geared toward little kids, and other episodes which feel more like animal versions of Grave of Fire Flies.
'Too Many Elephants' for instance not only features the destruction of an entire heard of elephants, but even when that is done, Tanaka (sp?) continues to try to machine gun down a mother and baby elephant she missed. Remorseless destruction comes up quite often, far more so than I'm sure NBC was quite comfortable with, though somehow they gloss over it.
I feel like what really sets Kimba apart so often isn't just that Kimba must demostrate strong moral character, but that this is never an easy choice. While other heroic cartoons also feature moralistic characters, Kimba is somehow different in part because he is unique--if he fails, his vision and his father's vsion fails forever. Even in western version it is impossible to escape the weight of Tezuka's original themes!
It is a real pity the manga still isn't available in English (nor do there seem to be any interested publishers). The best sense of what Tezuka had in mind is can probably be had from the Jungle Emperor Leo movie, but this is like reading the final chapter of a novel, and does miss quite a bit of what makes Kimba great. While I still wrestle with the dub at times (even though the voice acting itself is great), and the concessions that had to be made, there is nonetheless something very special about the original Kimba series.
The part where Lune directs the elephants is is in volume 2 near the end. 
