Tarzan Review
by Stephen Sills (sills AT pipeline DOT com)June 27th, 1999
Tarzan
A review by Stephen Sills
Disney's recent animated efforts have become nearly identical in plot and indistinguishable in theme. They all follow the same basic formula: rich, gun-toting white guys = bad; cute animals, strong-willed women, and weird freaks = good. Let it be known that the company's most recent foray into the animated market, "Tarzan," is no exception. It's certianly a typical Disney movie, although it's probably one of their better efforts in recent years. Despite its problems (and they are certianly legion), "Tarzan" manages, ultimately, to be a passably entertaining time at the movies.
The film opens with a brief sequence that sets up the backstory. With the accompaniment of a mind-numbingly annoying, quasi-African song blaring over the soundtrack, we see Tarzan's parents barely escape a harrowing shipwreck with their newborn son and make their way to a tropical island. Once there, they build a "Swiss Family Robinson"-esque hut. The parts of the sequence dealing with Tarzan's parents are intercut with shots of Tarzan's future family, the gorillas, leading their daily life. During one of the gorilla-related moments, we see a baby gorilla get killed and his mother's reaction. By the end of the sequence, Tarzan's parents are also dead, having been killed by an evil tiger that looks suspiciously like Kahn from "The Jungle Book."
The mother gorilla, Kala (voice of Glenn Close), discovers the hut. While scouring through it, she finds baby Tarzan hidden under a blanket. Still grief-stricken over the loss of her child, she views Tarzan as a potential replacement.
The leader of her Tribe, Kerchak (voice of Lance Henriksen), thinks otherwise. He views Tarzan as a threat, and orders Kala to leave him in the jungle to let him fend for himself. Kala's strong maternal instincts ultimately prevail, however, and Kerchak reluctantly decides to let Tarzan stay.
We are then "treated" to yet another annoying musical sequence, scored with what sounds like the same song from earlier in the movie. The sequence culminates with baby Tarzan growing into boyhood. The movie lingers in that stage of Tarzan's life for a while, showing us the inevitable conflicts that a boy child would have when raised among gorillas. Tarzan is viewed as different and strange by his playmates (a clumsy, obvious stab at racism that is typical of Disney). Kerchak still views Tarzan as an outsider, and is suspicious of his every move. His status isn't helped any by a botched attempt to impress his friends by stealing a hair from an elephant. The plan backfires when he causes a stampede that nearly wipes out the entire tribe.
Finally, after another sequence scored with what sounds like the same song, Tarzan grows into adulthood. He is generally accepted now, although Kerchak still doesn't like him much. His relatively care-free existence is challenged when he discovers a small group of humans trudging through the jungle. The group consists of Professor Porter (voice of Nigel Howthorne), a kindly old gentleman who only wants to study the gorillas, his beautiful daughter, Jane (voice of Minnie Driver), who wants to do the same, and their guide, Clayton (voice of Brian Blessed), this movie's obligatory gun-toting, and hence evil, white male. Having never seen the female of his species, Tarzan obviously finds himself attracted to Jane.
Tarzan studies them from a distance until Jane finds herself being chased through the jungle by a band of monkeys. Tarzan swoops down via a vine and rescues her, taking her on a wild ride though the trees. Shaken up by the experience, Jane returns to the small group's camp and tells her companions about her adventure. Inevitably, they dismisss her experience, citing Tarzan as merely a fantasy. They change their respective minds, however, when Tarzan shows up at their camp.
As Tarzan spends more and more time with his fellow humans, he finds himself to be increasingly attracted to Jane, and the human lifestyle in general. He must decide between his love for Jane and the only family that he has known throughout his entire life up to that point.
The themes in "Tarzan" are certianly not new to Disney movies. As aforementioned, all of the politically correct stereotypes are there, and Tarzan's delimma is reminiscent of "The Jungle Book" and "Pocahontas." These movies have become continual repititions of the same themes under different contexts. Furthermore, the film's climax seems incredibly contrived and serves merly to satisfy a Disney convention.
I was also a bit disturbed by the erotic overtones in this movie. There are some unavoidable, implied, sexual themes when you have a half-naked ape man running around in the jungle; themes, I think, that are a bit too mature for the target audience. The attraction between Tarzan and Jane was very erotic, far more so than most Disney movies. One scene in particular, where Tarzan studies Jane, went a bit too far in my opinioin. Since Tarzan can barely communicate with Jane, the only possible attraction is physical. Tarzan is even referred to as Jane's "fantasy" at one point.
Still, "Tarzan" has a couple of very good points, the most notable of which is the knock-out animation. Much like "A Bug's Life," this movie looks so good that it's worth watching along those lines (I was actually more visually entrhalled during "Tarzan" than I was during "The Phantom Menace"). The story, while contrived and inherintly politically correct, works and is entertaining when looked at within the light of a children's movie. Despite my mostly negative sounding review, I have to admit that "Tarzan" is leaps and bounds ahead of Disney's last animated effort, "Mulan." It's certianly not up to par with the likes or "Peter Pan" or "Robin Hood," but it's still mildly entertaining, enough so to garner a limited recommendation from me.
*** out of ****
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