Tarzan (Animated) (Collector's Edition) (DVD)

...be aware that the original Tarzan was a book and not just a film made by Disney so here is a little background history on Tarzan before we get to this fantastic version.

Edgar Rice Burroughs was 37 when All-Story Magazine published the story of Tarzan of the Apes in 1912 and the hardback version appeared on the shelves in 1914.

The first person to play Tarzan on screen was in 1918 starring Elmo Lincoln but the person ...
...time as Tarzan. His tarzan yell is famous still and in my opinion no one has ever played such a convincing role since his efforts.

Tarzan tells the story of a boy raised in the jungle by apes when his parents are killed in a plane crash. Then many years later Jane arrives in the jungle on an expedition and the two meet and form a strong bond. There is then a personal struggle for Tarzan as he tries to fight the feelings he has for ... more

Some people will not be aware that the original Tarzan was a book and not just a film made by Disney so here is a little background history on Tarzan before we get to this fantastic version.

Edgar Rice Burroughs was 37 when All-Story Magazine published the story of Tarzan of the Apes in 1912 and the hardback version appeared on the shelves in 1914.

The first person to play Tarzan on screen was in 1918 starring Elmo Lincoln but the person who I remember playing Tarzan best was Johnny Weismuller who went on to star in 12 films as the jungle man brought up by the apes. A fantastic swimmer (he won 5 olympic golds) he filmed all the action including the famous fighting alligator scenes which watching now it is so obvious to see they weren't real but I remember holding my breath as a child every Saturday afternoon when they were always screened, to see if he would escape again and again. Of course there was also the lovable Cheetah the chimp who gave the main humour of the films and their were actually 8 chimps who played this role during Weismuller's time as Tarzan. His tarzan yell is famous still and in my opinion no one has ever played such a convincing role since his efforts.

Tarzan tells the story of a boy raised in the jungle by apes when his parents are killed in a plane crash. Then many years later Jane arrives in the jungle on an expedition and the two meet and form a strong bond. There is then a personal struggle for Tarzan as he tries to fight the feelings he has for this other human being and he realises perhaps for the first time that there is a whole other world out there and questions whether his place is really with his 'family' of apes.

Of course there have been many Tarzan films since then but it wasn't until 1999 that Disney decided to make an animated version of this famous story. This was done because it was a popular simple story and they felt that they could bring the true essence of Tarzan to life through the original descriptions in the book which live actors were unable to do. For instance the exact way Tarzan moves and the stance he takes could not be done by a human very naturally - after all this is about a man who has spent his life making ape-like movements and no actor, no matter how good can replicate this properly. This of course is all possible here with clever animation which this film shows wonderfully. The animal side of things couldn't always be done either on live action, no matter how good the animal trainer is. The way the apes interact with each other and Tarzan is very realistic on this production where on other films it looks staged and the personalities and loyalty of the apes are brought to life as only Disney can do.

Tarzan himself is voiced by Tony Goldwyn who has been in films such as Kiss the Girls and The Last Samurai and Minnie Driver, who played Carlotta in the film version of Phantom of the Opera last year voices this version of Jane Porter.

There are 3 main gorillas in this film. The first is Kala, the caring mother who has raised Tarzan since he was a baby. She is voiced by Glenn Close whose voice surprisingly fits the character very well - somewhat different to the bunny boiler image she once had in Fatal Attraction. Even though the child is not her own she is very protective and there is a very special bond between them. Kerchak is the father figure and the top dog of the apes and is voiced by Lance Henrikson. Terk the cheerful, mischevious little gorilla is Tarzans best friend and is voiced by the wonderful Rosie O'Donnell.

This adaptation starts slightly differently to the original story and features a couple with their baby escaping from a sinking boat and being washed up on an island. They make their home in a treehouse and at the same time you are shown the similarities between the gorillas and human behaviour as they both care for their young. Unfortunately Kala's child is taken by Sabor the leopard and when she hears a crying she goes off to investigate and finds baby Tarzan alone in the treehouse where his parents have also been killed by the leopard. Determined to save this baby she uses her maternal instincts to escape the leopard and immediately decides to keep him for her own much to the dismay of the other gorillas. Kerchak reluctantly agrees and the new family is formed even though he doesn't really approve.

There are some wonderful sequences between mother and new son as they bond and we see some great scenes as Tarzan goes from baby to boy and then to man. To be accepted by the other gorilla children he agrees to get an elephant hair and this lead him to meet Tantor a young elephant who is a bit of a scaredy cat and whose worries about cleanliness drive her mother to distraction. The meeting is one of the most funny bits of the film as the young calf convinces her family that Tarzan is a piranah but the experience means that they become firm friends and builds a foundation for lots of fun along the way as they all grow up and Tarzan does everything to try to make Kerchak proud of him.

Most of this film does see Tarzan as the man rather than the boy and this in turn brings more conflicts and tests on his character as the plot unfolds and his first big test comes in the way of gunshots when he encounters other humans for the first time.
These come in the form of Clayton, a vicious hunter voiced by Brian Blessed hired by Jane Porter and her father to protect them on their expedition to find out more about gorillas although he is more interested in capturing them.

Tarzan is enthralled by Jane instantly who loves to sketch pictures of animals along the way and rescues her as she gets herself into trouble and the adventure in the vines really hots up. An instant spark is formed when Tarzan realises they share the same body parts i.e. hands and a heart and they go on to try to communicate although this is not exactly easy to begin with. This is a very touching moment in the film when the first realisation takes place that he has found a companion who looks more like himself than the gorillas in his family.

As this film develops we see lots of fun in the trashing the camp scenes with some fantastic music performed by Phil Collins and the amazement from Tarzan as Jane teaches him all about the outside world and he soaks up all the new information she has to give him. This is mingled with the sadness of Kala as she realises she is gradually losing her son. There is also the ulterior motives of Clayton who tries all sorts of tricks to get what he wants and he plays with Tarzan's emotions to do this.

I don't want to give too much of the story away though so I'll leave it there with the thought that there is emotion of every kind in this film and with every smile and laugh there is also a tear and conflict which makes this Disney version one of their best ever achievments. Unlike a lot of their work this story isn't just a lovely fairy tale but a real struggle is shown to take place inside Tarzan as he tries to find out who he really is and what makes him so different from his gorilla family. Secrets hidden by Kala all the years as he is growing up have to eventually come out and her pain as he discovers the truth about his past is something she hoped to put off for eternity.

Will his love for Jane and the fascination of the outside world take him away forever or are his bonds too strong to cut? Watch and find out for yourself.

The bonus features on this collector's edition only add to the beauty of this 2 disc box set. On the first disc as well as the film itself which lasts just under 1 1/2 hours there is a brilliant commentary feature by Producer, Bonnie Arnold (who also produced on Toy Story) and Directors Kevin Lima (director of Goofy Movies & 102 Dalmatians )and Chris Buck (an animator on many Disney films in including The Fox and the Hound and The Little Mermaid).

Children will love the read along story book on this disc which has 2 possibilities - you can read the story yourself or have it read to you. As well as this you can test your knowledge of the film with the Interactive Trivia Game where you have a choice of 3 answers and try to get the Tarzan roar to signal you have picked correctly. There is also a sneek peek at the Dinosaur Film - obviously this has been out quite a while now too but it is a lovely feature.

This dvd is also interactive with your pc and you can play the demo version of the Tarzan game as well as using the links to find out more about Tarzan and Disney on their websites.

Disc 2 comes fully packed with great extras and I will try to do them justice by my descriptions - however this is not easy as they are superbly done and I could not possibly describe everything in them in one review. So here goes.

The History and Development of Tarzan is the first feature on here and goes into great details about the character who is well known to us all by his amazing call of the jungle and the beating of his chest. We start this feature with a presentation on the transformation from the author Burroughs to Disney and find out how things have changed from the original stories before moving on to witness some of the early presentation reels. There is then an opportunity to witness the research trip that was made in order to make this film as realistic as possible and the history of the production ends this section.

We then have a feature dedicated to The Music of Tarzan which I already mentioned is done by Phil Collins. As well as the actual making of the music there are looks into how Tarzan goes International and the music videos for 'You'll Be In My Heart' and 'Strangers Like Me'. The studio sessions with Phil Collins and N Sync are also shown, when they perform the Trashing the Camp track, as is original Phil Collins Song Demo. There are some really fantastic tracks on this soundtrack and the background music is poignant and exciting in all the right places throughout the film. Phil Collins pours his soul into the songs and Mark Mancina does an excellent job of composing. It is no real surprise that Tarzan has been turned into a Broadway production with the quality of the music involved in the film.

The next section on this bonus disc is looking into the characters of the film along with the voice talents who help to bring them to life so well. There are great portrayals of all the main characters as well as some of the lesser known ones.

The Story and Editorial section shows how the story was built and the orginal treatment. There is also a great storyboard to film comparison feature and some abandoned sequences not shown in the final cut.

The Animation Production section is brilliant and we see all the stages that happens to bring a Disney production like this to life with the Concept Art, Color Keys, Layouts and Backgrounds and the Deep Canvas effect. What I find fascinating about this is that is shows not only what is involved in development of the character movement and personalities but also the way the background detail has to be just perfect. There is also a look into the Intercontinental Filmmaking process and the Production Progression where you can use the angle key on your remote to move through various stages of the production.

Finally we have the Publicity section where we see in detail the Poster/Ad campaign and the various trailers for the film itself and even these are interesting to watch again as it is so long since I had seen these.

This is a fully packed 2nd disc and there is every detail imaginable on it - lots of things which you maybe miss the first time of watching can be picked up the 2nd or 3rd time.

This can be said of the film too as there is always some new detail in the background you spot every time you watch it. There are also a couple of continuity errors I have spotted - one being the sequence where Tarzan rescues Jane - watch and see how the picture she has drawn of the monkey is tucked into her skirt at the start and end of the sequence but vanishes in the middle. Another is the scratch marks on Tarzan's face which he gets while fighting Sabor which mysterious heal up at the end of the fight None of this spoils the film though and I feel it helps to make it more endearing.

The version we have is a region 1 so there may be some extras on this one that region 2 doesn't have. The region 2 equivelent is called the special edition and you can pick this up for around £15.

I can't praise this film enough and I know my review can't possibly do it the justice it deserves so you'll just have to watch it for yourself and enjoy the experience of Disney music and animation at it's best.
 

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