Plot: A shipwrecked family decides to make a home in a tree in the middle of the African jungles. But the parents of the infant boy are killed by a leopard named Sabor, around the same time as the child of two gorillas is also killed by the leopard. Naturally, the ape mother, Kala, comes across the infant boy and takes him in as her son and names him Tarzan.
Tarzan grows up and becomes more ape than man, though he seems unable to win his new father's trust. Tarzan protects his family from many various dangers, until the most dangerous animal in the world comes to Africa: Humans! The humans, a professor, his daughter Jane, and a hunter named Clayton, have come to Africa in search of gorillas. Tarzan begins to mingle with the humans and even decides to take them to the nesting grounds. But after the meeting ends in disaster, Tarzan must decide whether to become a man and leave with Jane for England, or remain in the jungle with his friends.
What's Wrong?: The Phil Collins songs don't really irk me. It is the fact that none of the characters are the ones singing the lyrics. At least with The Lion King, it's the characters singing the songs (for the most part). If not, then they got a Zulu choir to sing. Phil's voice and songs are pretty out of place in a story that took place about a hundred years ago.
Clayton is a pretty predictable villain. In a story that could have had a wide variety of characters be the villains, why did Disney choose to follow the Ratcliffe approach than something like Scar or Ursula? If I had it my way, I wouldn't even have a villain. The main conflict in the movie should be inside Tarzan. It doesn't have to even involve Clayton. It would be the internal struggle for him, whether he should be a human or an ape.
As with the previous three films, the film's supporting cast isn't that memorable or funny. Rosie O'Donnell isn't very funny, nor is the bumbling Professor (who is basically the Sultan with liposuction). None of the other characters are memorable.
What's Good?: The two leading ladies in this movie more than make up for the rest of the film's weaknesses. Glenn Close's portrayal as Kala is one of the best parental performances since Mufasa, and she has her own definitive personality and is one of the first truly definitive non-evil mothers since Bambi's mom.
As for Jane, Minnie Driver is able to give Jane the attitude of a Damsel in Distress done right. She is still able to convey a personality despite being far from her natural comfort zone. And while she does seem willing to throw herself into Tarzan's arms, she does in fact hold her own in a fight.
The animation is stunning. No one had ever thought of visualizing Tarzan as tree surfing. Most picture Tarzan as the vine swinger. But animators made the surfing and swinging swift and yet still amazing to watch.
Overall: Tarzan is the last of the truly brilliant films to come from Disney. While films like Tangled and Wreck It Ralph were really good films, the quality of these films are not and will never be as good as the films of the 90's. Let's face it: we were spoiled. We got to live and grow and raise our kids in the greatest decade of all time. Everything from TV cartoons, to Animated films, to just movies in general were fantastic. We were able to witness the success of the four greatest 2D animated films of all time and these films will exist in pop culture forever. We may and probably won't ever see an era like this ever again.
Report Card
Hero: B+
Heroine: A-
Villain: C-
Side Characters: B-
Songs: B-
Musical Score: B+
Animation: A+
Special Effects: A+
Themes: A
Story: A-
Final Grade: A-
If a villain is getting a low grade, then it may imply that he was good in the movie. I have already added this movie to the list and I will watch it with my kids once all the shows by Andrew Yeatman are over. The vacation is about to start and I don’t want my kids to get bored because of anything.
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