Tarzan (1999)


Let's return once again to the Disney Renaissance with Tarzan.

The Movie:

 Tarzan is 37th movie in the Disney Animated Canon and the final movie of the Disney Renaissance.  The movie was well-received and Disney's biggest hit since The Lion King.  Tarzan's popularity led to a spin-off TV series, a direct-to-DVD midquel, and a short-lived Broadway musical.  While still a 2D animated film, Tarzan notably used an innovative new computer system called Deep Canvas to create complex 3D backgrounds.

Tarzan is based on the novel Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs.  The story begins with a shipwreck stranding the baby Tarzan and his parents in the jungles of Africa.  When his parents are killed by the leopard Sabor, Tarzan is rescued by the gorilla Kala, who raises him as her son.  As he grows up with his friends Terk (a fellow gorilla) and Tantor (an elephant), Tarzan struggles to gain the approval Kerchak, the leader of the gorillas.  Tarzan's world changes when he encounters Jane, who has come with her father and the guide Clayton to find gorillas.

Tarzan is a movie that I really enjoy.  It takes all the traditional elements of the story and puts them together in a very exciting package.  There's a nice mix of action, humor, and drama.  The animation of the title character is amazing, especially when he is swinging on vines or surfing through tree branches.  For the most part the movie looks really good, though some of the CGI does show its age in a few places.

The soundtrack is what really ties the movie together.  Unlike the other musicals of the Disney Renaissance, most of the songs in Tarzan are sung over the action.  The songs are sung by Phil Collins, who also wrote them, and there's not a single weak one in the bunch.  "Two Worlds," "Son of Man," and "Strangers Like Me" are all great and serve to provide insight into Tarzan's thoughts and motivations.  "Trashin' the Camp" is one of the songs performed by the characters, the gorillas led by Terk, and it's a fun scat song with plenty of found percussion sounds, a la Stomp.  (I recommend finding the version on the soundtrack CD with Phil Collins and NSYNC as well.)  But the highlight track is the Oscar-winning "You'll Be in My Heart," one of my all-time favorite Disney songs and one that has a lot of personal meaning for me.  It is first sung in the movie as a lullaby by Kala, transitioning to Phil's singing, and the full-blown Phil version is played over the credits.  Mark Mancina, who did Moana, also did the score for this movie, and it doesn't disappoint, making use of a wide variety of percussion instruments.

Presence in the Parks:

 Well, if you want to find Tarzan, your best bet is to head to California.  In 1999, in a cross-promotion of the movie, the Swiss Family Treehouse in Disneyland became Tarzan's Treehouse, and it's still that today.  A version of the attraction can also be found in Hong Kong.

As for Florida, there used to be a show called Tarzan Rocks! at the Theater in the Wild at Animal Kingdom.  The show, which ran from 1999 to 2006 before being replaced with Nemo, featured a variety of acrobatics and skating tricks set to the music of the movie.

Tarzan at times has also been a meetable character at Animal Kingdom, though he is currently not there.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Muppets (2011)

Image
Let's take a look a Disney owned franchise we haven't discussed yet, with The Muppets. The Movie: The Muppets is the first movie featuring the title characters since Disney acquired the franchise in 2004.  The characters of the Muppets were first created by Jim Henson in the 1950s, and they appeared on various TV shows including Sesame Street starting in 1969 and The Muppet Show from 1976 to 1981.  They also made their first movie appearance in The Muppet Movie in 1979.  The movie The Muppets in 2011 was the first Muppet film since 1999.  The movie was strongly pushed by Jason Segel, who starred in and co-wrote the script for the movie.  The Muppets was met with critical acclaim.  It was considered a modest box-office success despite being the highest grossing of any Muppet movie. The Muppets stars Jason Segel as Gary, who along with his brother Walter, a muppet, grew up in Smalltown as fans of the Muppets.  Gary is taking a trip to Los Angele...
Read more

Big Hero 6 (2014)

Image
For our awesome movie of today, we turn to Disney's superhero movie, Big Hero 6. The Movie: Big Hero 6 is the 54th movie in the Disney Animated Canon.  The movie came about after Disney's acquisition of Marvel, in which they scoured the later's library for little known characters, and the result was Disney's first comic book superhero movie.  Big Hero 6 performed well at the box-office and was well-received by critics and audiences.  It won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, the second Disney movie to do so (after Frozen the previous year). Big Hero 6 is based on characters from the comic book created by Man of Action and published by Marvel, but the movie does not tie-in into any other Marvel film and draws only a little from the comic's mythology.  The movie features Hiro Hamada, a 14-year-old tech genius and high school graduate living in the fictional city of San Fransokyo with his older brother Tadashi and their aunt.  Tadashi wants Hiro to find ...
Read more

Introduction

Image
Countdown to Disney: Introduction Welcome!  Allow me to give an explanation for this blog. 1. Over the past 35 years, I have been to Walt Disney World 9 times.  This summer will feature my 10th trip.  Therefore, I provide a prospective of someone who is a visitor, but also of someone who is familiar with the park. 2. On my last trip to WDW, in May 2015, I did a countdown, listed on my Facebook page, in which I watched a Disney movie each day.  I tried to include recent movies and movies that would have a relevance to my trip. 3. I decided that since I will be visiting once again this summer, I will do another countdown.  However, this time, given my experience, I will provide two things. 4. The first thing will be a review of each movie.  I didn't provide any reviews before, but this time, I will make sure to provide my thoughts on each film. 5.  The second thing I will include is a guide to the connection to the park.  Last time, I ma...
Read more