A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

The Evaluation System Reviews by Title Reviews by Date

Reviews from Video Reviews of the Classics Personal Background

Title: Tarzan

Date Viewed: 6/20/99

Voices:

Glen Close

Minnie Driver

Tony Goldwyn

Lance Henriksen

Wayne Knight

Rosie O'Donnell

Music: Phil Collins

Directors: Kevin Lima & Chris Buck

Score: +

The Review: Disney animation. Adapted freely from the novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs and from many earlier films in the genre.

The Tarzan story itself has reached cultural canon stature; most of us know or learn the elements early. This Tarzan starts with shipwreck and takes about a third of the movie to progress into adulthood and his first encounter with other humans. The advantage of animation is that plot elements about gorilla family structure and nurturing can be included easily, and it doesn't take months of private trainers to get the actor into shape.

The second movie of the season to use silverback gorillas and their wild habitat as critical background (see also Instinct), the primatology is at least of the same quality. Gratefully, the soundtrack provides a running English translation not only for the gorillas, but the other supporting characters -- which include a wise-cracking Rosie O'Donnell as one of Tarzan's age cohorts and self-acclaimed best friend, a very quiet Lance Henriksen as his surrogate father, and Wayne Knight as a young elephant who sees piranha everywhere. The baboons have no voice-over, so we must guess their message, a task made easy by their paranoid characterization. However, when they finally appear on-screen, the humans are generally caricature; Jane (Minnie Driver) is the exception, albeit marginally.

The animation is of high quality. The background scenes are rich and detailed, with an excellent depth of field for the rainforest and multiple planes of motion. The character design and artistry of Tarzan is interesting and fun to watch. As an adult, he is incredibly (can we say "testing the bounds of suspension of disbelief"?) well-built and agile, complete with the silverback posture and knuckle-walking gait at times, and at others he nearly surfs (!) through the forest. As with Pocahontas, his hair is almost a character in its own right, although hers was much more kempt and attractive.

Perhaps I am imagining it, but to my eyes, in a number of poses in the middle of the movie there is a bit of homage not only to Greystoke (1984), but also to that movie's title character as played by Christopher Lambert. Facial expressions and tone are well crafted to mimic, if indeed this was intentional. If so, this contributes to the "in jokes" that make this movie a feast for adults as well as their offspring.

The score and the songs (many by Phil Collins) are excellent and mood-matched. Yes, there are the stereotype Disney themes buried in the lyrics (found in such animation for several decades), but they work and appeal to children of all ages.

Back to the chronological list of reviews