Review: Tarzan

A shipwrecked family end up in the African jungle, and after his parents are killed by a leopard, a young baby is orphaned. Found by a maternal ape named Kala (voiced by Glenn Close) the human baby is adopted and raised among the apes, though never quite accepted as one of them by most. Called Tarzan (and voiced as an adult by Tony Goldwyn), one day he comes across a young human lady about to be pounced on by wild baboons. Tarzan saves the woman, named Jane (voiced by Minnie Driver), who teaches Tarzan to speak English. She’s here on expedition with her professor father (voiced by the late Nigel Hawthorne), who has come to study the gorillas. However, also joining them is the pompous big game hunter Clayton (voiced by Brian Blessed), who dupes the all-too trusting Tarzan into revealing the whereabouts of his ape (adopted) brethren. Lance Henriksen voices Tarzan’s emotionally distant ape father Kerchak, whilst Rosie O’Donnell voices Tarzan’s best monkey pal Terk, and Wayne Knight is the voice of Tantor the rather nervy elephant, another of Tarzan’s animal companions.

Not among the most well-known of recent Disney animated efforts, but this 1999 adventure story from directors Chris Buck (the later “Frozen”) and Kevin Lima (“Enchanted”) is surprisingly entertaining. Although it occasionally reminds one of “The Jungle Book” meets “The Lion King” with an anti-hunting message out of “Bambi”, you could also say that it’s like “Pocahontas”, except it’s not a boring, hokey piece of crap. OK, so I just wanted to take another cheap shot at “Pocahontas”, but damn it that film deserves it, because when Disney put their mind to it, they can come up with really enjoyable entertainments for young and old.

Some will resist the obvious Kipling influence on the story here, but it honestly didn’t bother me (it’s still largely faithful to the Edgar Rice Burroughs story), nor did the usual Disney inclusion of comedic sidekicks, though Rosie O’Donnell is certainly an acquired taste. The animation here is much better than in several of the previous Disney animated films like the frankly ugly “Pocahontas” and “Hercules”, and certainly the later “Treasure Planet”. For the most part, it’s an extremely pretty film. The blend of CG animation and more traditional animation works far more seamlessly here than in “Treasure Planet”, and although adult Tarzan looks too much like Jughead on steroids and with a mullet, he still looks good. In fact, this is what “Hercules” (both the character and film overall) should’ve looked like. I also thought baby Tarzan was adorable (his eyes are a bit too big, though), and indeed Disney do pretty well with the scenes depicting his Mowgli-esque early years.  In fact, the only flaw in the animation for me was the character design for Jane. Her angular-looking character with an upturned nose didn’t look appealing to me at all. That said, the normally irritating and awful Minnie Driver does surprisingly terrific voice acting as Jane by way of Emma Thompson. In fact, she’s much better than the rather unimpressive Tony Goldwyn in the title role. Goldwyn is miscast in a role that requires a deeper and more muscular-sounding voice like a Vin Diesel. The best thing about the character is actually his movement, he becomes a knuckle-dragging ape-like creature in movement, which is fascinating. Glenn Close and Lance Henriksen are both good in voicing Tarzan’s adopted parents, but I actually had to look their identities up. That may not be a bad thing, though. I’ve never considered Glenn Close remotely warm or maternal, but she certainly is here. Best of all is the immediately scene-stealing, booming voice of Brian Blessed (who also provides the Tarzan yell, further pointing to Goldwyn’s miscasting) as the pompous hunter. I enjoyed Wayne Knight’s work as elephant Tantor, but I swear at one point someone else voices the role for a moment. It’s an unmistakably different voice, and you’ll pick up on it right away. I also have to make mention of the film’s depiction of baboons as ravenous and vicious creatures, as opposed to the more measured gorillas. That was an interesting distinction. Phil Collins is an acquired taste, but in my view a pretty good fit for a Disney animated flick. The songs aren’t memorable, but at least it’s not the Goo Goo Dolls like in “Treasure Planet”.

This is enjoyable, Saturday matinee adventure stuff wrapped up in a Disney animated bow that is pretty as hell. The combination proves to be a success, if not quite on the level of “The Jungle Book” (Either the animated version or the more recent superlative Jon Favreau live-action/CGI version). The screenplay is by Tab Murphy, Bob Tzudiker & Noni White, who all previously worked on another slightly underrated Disney animated film, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”.

Rating: B-