Tarzan Review
by Jon Turner (floydelta AT aol DOT com)June 19th, 1999
TARZAN
Movie Review by Jon Turner
Reviewed/Posted 6/18/99
Rating: **** out of *****
When I first heard that Disney's next animated feature was going to be TARZAN, I was almost horrified. I was worried that Disney was going to make another HERCULES (Sorry, JERK-ULES). That effort was too overloaded with comedy (and the hero was too boastful and pompous to be considered a sympathetic hero), and, after viewing it to this day, I find it a disgrace for Disney animation.
When I saw the trailers, I was thinking "Hmm... This isn't bad at all. This just might have potential."
When I bought the soundtrack, I was really quite surprised at how different it sounded from most Disney features. I have never really heard of Phil Collins, nor have I heard of Mark Mancina, so I was wondering, how would these two make this Disney flick spin? I was pleasantly surprised: The music is top-notch. Phil Collins' songs are terrific, percussion-heavy pieces of work that seem to break the formula for typical Disney songs. The score from Mark Mancina was also neat; it reminded me a bit of THE LION KING, but it was more original. So, the soundtrack wasn't bad at all, considering it was by two people I am not familiar with. This film could be good... but will it be?
When I finally went to see it (on opening day, as I tend to do with most Disney animated features), my question was answered, in a complete turnabout of expectations for me: Disney's TARZAN is surprisingly decent.
The story starts out with Tarzan's parents surviving a shipwreck and finding a home on an island where apes live in peace. However, one day, a vicious leopard, Sabor, attacks and kills Tarzan's parents, leaving him (at this time, a baby) alone-until Kala of the Apes rescues him.
Kala wants to raise the child as her own (she lost hers previously to Sabor), but her mate, Kerchak is not too sure. "It's not our kind," he says. He agrees, though, to let her take care of little Tarzan, but "that doesn't make him my son."
Tarzan grows up, vowing to be "the best ape ever", but no matter how hard he tries or what he does (at the guidance of his hilarious ape friend, Terk), he just can't convince Kerchak that he is one of the apes, even when he defeats Sabor in a battle.
One day, a new animal shows up: humans. This is where Jane comes into the picture. She is on an expedition with her father (Professor Porter), and a despicable hunter (Clayton) searching for gorillas. Tarzan rescues her when she is chased by baboons, and soon they get to know each other.
Even though Tarzan falls in love with Jane, this causes things to go wrong. Clayton tricks Tarzan into taking him, Jane, and Porter to see the apes, who are convinced that he has betrayed them. Worse, Clayton has plotted to send the gorillas to London for money. Will Tarzan find out which family he belongs to and save the apes?
I'm not gonna tell you, sorry. You're gonna have to see for yourself. And see it you should; the animation is, as always, top notch, particularly when Tarzan goes soaring through the trees (read that, skateboarding). The DEEP CANVAS computer generated effect adds an authentic feeling to the jungle which Tarzan lives in. In fact, it seems similar to the computer imagery/cel animation combination in rival Disney animted films, such as Fox's ANASTASIA and Dreamworks' PRINCE OF EGYPT. Could it be that Disney was actually taking ideas from their rivals?
The casting is fairly good. Tony Goldwyn is emotionally believeable as Tarzan (and to my relief, the animators have succeeded in not making him another Hercules. Nicely done), and Glenn Close is wonderful as Kala (She has a beautiful singing voice, too, by the way). Lance Henrikson as Kerchak somewhat reminds me of Robby Benson's Beast voice, which makes him all the more ferocious and gripping. Minnie Driver had me a little worried at first as the voice of Jane. I thought she had the most annoying voice in the whole film (when I first saw the trailers), but when I saw the film, I didn't have a problem with her. I take back my insult on Driver. It's nice to hear Nigel Hawthorne do another voice for a Disney animated feature (He was Fflewdurr Flamm in Disney's most underrated classic, THE BLACK CAULDRON); he is funny and delightful as Professor Porter. On the villiany side of the voices, Brian Blessed (the guy who did Boss Nass in STAR WARS: EPISODE I-THE PHANTOM MENACE) brings a pompous, and later on vicious, voice to the sinister Clayton. He might not be the strongest character in the film (he's just a plain bad guy, nothing else), but Blessed's vocal work contributes greatly.
But if there is any voice that I think steals the whole show, it should be Rosie O'Donnell, who is hilariously funny as Terk. She also has a fiesty attitude ("I'm gonna kill ya!" she says, more than once). I almost sung along with her during one of the film's best moments, where the apes make a mess of the human's camp, via song, er, scatting "Shoo-be-doo, da-be-dah". I can see why she wanted to have a rock song for the film, she's a good singer.
Not that she was the only funny character in the film, though. Wayne Knight (who played Stan in SPACE JAM) gives a whimsically funny style to Tantor, an elephant who is especially worried about stepping into "un-sanitary" water. (Thankfully, there is no real sound of flatuence-That would have killed the picture).
The songs, as I said before, are decent, mostly sung by Collins. This sets a new standard for Disney animated films because for the first time, the characters do NOT sing. I tolerate musical numbers from characters a lot more than some other guys would, but I found this to be a nice change of pace.
The story does have elements of comedy in it, but they also load it with strong dramatic touches, which makes this film far better than the unbelieveably uninspired HERCULES.
If there is anything disappointing about TARZAN, it might be the omission of the 'N Sync version of "Trashing The Camp" from the film. I heard it on the soundtrack, and wondered where it was going to be. I was upset that it wasn't, because I had thought of taking a few friends of mine who like 'N Sync to see TARZAN. Oh, well...
Overall, I was enthralled with TARZAN. I wouldn't hold it high the way I do with MULAN or THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (my all-time favorite Disney classics), but this film deserves a high place among Disney's greatest achievements. I give a nod to Disney for following up their spectacular ***** masterpiece, MULAN, with this great animated adaption of Egar Rice Burrough's TARZAN.
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
