Yup. The Lion King was ripped off of Osamu Tezuka's Kimba the White Lion.
Looks like Disney is at it again.
Osama Tetsuka's first copied work was Tetsuwan Atom, but the U.S. animator made enough superficial changes so it couldn't stick. With Lion King, however, the resemblance was almost as blatant as with Atlantis. I'd love to see Disney get hauled into court over this one and sued big time.
The Japanese, however, are not much into laws or lawsuits. It was amazing how fast the Japanese website mirror of the source went up today. My daughter, who is an internet and anime junkie pointed it out.