# Ancient Web: A Kimba Fan Connected Christian the Lion to a Viral Video Craig Andersen's 2002 Kimba fan page retold Christian the lion's reunion and connected the viral wildlife story to an anime character's ideal of bridging humans and animals. 2026-10-04 :: Switchboard Tech Services ![Ancient Web: A Kimba Fan Connected Christian the Lion to a Viral Video](https://switchboardtechservices.com/static/images/defaults/articles.webp) Part of the [Ancient Web Collection](https://switchboardtechservices.com/articles/ancient-web-collection/). The famous video of a lion recognizing two former human caretakers has an unusual home on the old Web: a page devoted to **Kimba the White Lion**. [Visit the Christian the Lion fan essay](https://kimbawlion.kimba.biz/christian.htm) The author, **Craig Andersen**, says the page first appeared in **early 2002** and was updated on **June 6, 2011**. It was originally part of a fan website about *Kimba*, an animated lion whose fictional upbringing among humans becomes important to the series' view of relations between animals and people. Andersen saw a real-life parallel in **Christian**, the lion bought by **Anthony Bourke and John Rendall** in London in the late 1960s. Christian eventually went to Africa, where conservationist **George Adamson** helped him adjust to life outside the city. The story became the subject of a documentary and books. ## The fan site gave the reunion a different meaning The page embeds links to Christian's much-shared reunion video and discusses the moment when Bourke and Rendall visited him after time apart. Andersen's interpretation is that the bond between humans and a large wild animal endured; he uses it to explore the fictional Kimba's hope of building understanding between species. That is a striking example of fan writing going somewhere unexpected. A Japanese cartoon leads to a real conservation story, which leads to questions about human obligations to wildlife. The site's opening banner claims to have been the **first Web page** to present Christian's story and to have introduced the viral clip. Its publication date is visible, but the larger claim of being first is **not independently established** here. It is best read as a piece of the webmaster's recollection rather than a proven origin story for the video's later circulation. The essay includes contemporary media traces as well. It mentions a **March 18, 2009** *Today* show appearance by Bourke and Rendall and directs readers to organizations involved in Christian's conservation legacy. The layout is unmistakable personal-Web fandom: colorful photographs, a movie still, hand-written commentary, charity links, an embedded video, and occasional references to the author's original television enthusiasm. This is not a comprehensive historical account of the lion or a scientific study of animal behavior. It preserves what an enthusiastic viewer believed the story meant, before and during its transformation into an Internet phenomenon. [Read Andersen's original Kimba-and-Christian comparison](https://kimbawlion.kimba.biz/christian.htm). Part of the [Ancient Web Collection](https://switchboardtechservices.com/articles/ancient-web-collection/). - Categories: [Ancient Web](https://switchboardtechservices.com/articles/categories/ancient-web/) - Tags: [#ancientweb](https://switchboardtechservices.com/articles/tags/ancientweb/), [#webhistory](https://switchboardtechservices.com/articles/tags/webhistory/), [#kimba](https://switchboardtechservices.com/articles/tags/kimba/), [#animefandom](https://switchboardtechservices.com/articles/tags/animefandom/), [#christianthelion](https://switchboardtechservices.com/articles/tags/christianthelion/) [Articles RSS](https://switchboardtechservices.com/feeds/articles.xml "Subscribe using an RSS reader") --- Canonical URL: https://switchboardtechservices.com/articles/ancient-web-kimba-fan-connected-christian-the-lion-to-a-viral-video/ Language: en-us Content type: article Author: Switchboard Tech Services Published: 2026-10-04T19:33:27+00:00 Modified: 2026-10-18T21:03:41.537883+00:00