Tarzan

The biggest thing I was worried about was that the movie was going to fall out of the holder. It's a very good movie case. The movie case as well as the movie came in excellent condition!

I don't know if I'll ever get over this movie - at least I hope not. I didn't see it in theaters, and I put off renting or buying it because I've always been a big Tarzan fan, and I thought, "What can they possibly add to the story that hasn't already been done? And why an animated version?" But, boy, was I wrong! This movie is incredible; but you'll only get how incredible it is if you dig into how it came to be. That story is fleshed out in all the extras loaded on the Collector's Edition DVD. Did you know the Tarzan character was animated in Paris, while the rest of the film was being animated in Burbank, California? Supervising animator Glen Keane (arguably the top animator in the field) was living in Paris with his family when directors Kevin Lima and Chris Buck approached him with the offer to supervise the animation of the adult Tarzan. (Every character has a different supervising animator.) One of his stipulations for coming on board was that he be able to stay in Paris and work with the Disney Animation Studio there. Meanwhile, back in Burbank, an entirely different team of animators was working on the rest of the film. The two studios used a computer system called "Scene Machine" to correspond with each other and coordinate characters in the same scene over the 6,000-mile distance. Another innovation that came out of this film was a process called "Deep Canvas." Keane wanted Tarzan to be able to glide through the jungle environment in extreme sport style, much like his son surfed a wave or skateboarded. To do that, the jungle would have to look 3-D. The difficulty came in making a three-dimensional environment blend with characters that were two-dimensional. Art Director Dan St. Pierre and Computer Graphics Supervisor Eric Daniels solved that problem when Daniels' software development team came up with "Deep Canvas." That effect was one of the things that most attracted me to this film. I had never seen backgrounds like that before. They're marvelous. Other aspects of the film that are fascinating are why the producers thought animation would be a better medium for telling Edgar Rice Burroughs' story than live action; why they chose Phil Collins, someone who wasn't voicing one of the characters, to write and perform the songs (one of which won the Oscar - "You'll Be in My Heart"); why they chose to keep Tarzan in the jungle rather than sending him off to London, as Burroughs' did; why Tarzan doesn't talk "ape talk," as he does in most other Tarzan movies; why they made him move the way he does; etc. The way Tarzan moves - with freedom and joy, imitating the behaviors of different animals - has a lot to do with the philosophy behind the production. The producers wanted to be as true to Burroughs' vision of Tarzan as possible: a man who could do everything like the animals he imitated; but still be intelligent, introspective, desiring to know where he came from, why he was different, where he belonged. There's a strong theme of family in the film, and what constitutes a real family: should we have stronger ties to our birth family (in Tarzan's case, people he has never known), or to those who raise and love us (in his case, apes)? This is symbolized when two characters place their hands together, palm-to-palm: first the boy Tarzan to his ape mother, realizing how different they are; then the adult Tarzan to Jane, realizing how similar they are. It's a powerful symbol, and one that represents how this film is a cut above most other animated films, even Disney. The voice actors bring another dimension to the film: Tony Goldwyn (Joshua, The Last Tattoo, American Rhapsody) gives both earthiness and spirituality to the adult Tarzan; Minnie Driver (Return to Me, Good Will Hunting, Phantom of the Opera) gives delightful humor and an independent spirit to Jane. My one complaint - and it's small, considering everything else - is that the DVD doesn't have as much background on the voice actors as it promises. But if you're a fan of the Tarzan stories, love Disney animation, or are interested in the art of animation in general, you need to get the Collector's Edition DVD. Also, you might be interested in The Tarzan Chronicles by Howard Green - an excellent printed version of the film's journey. Waitsel Smith

Cute movie.

Action packed a fun family movie

A childhood classic

I loved the animation, the musical score and mostly Tarzan. Tarzan can tree surf and almost fly through the air. This is what Burroughs imagined when he wrote Tarzan, but this could never be accomplished in real life. In the animated world, Tarzan almost flies. I loved his strained relationship with his ape-father Kurchak. The scene where Tarzan hands the dead leopard to Kurchak and 2 stare into each others' eyes is almost mesmerizing. Unfortunately we never get to see if Kurchak would've accepted him because that's when the humans enter the scene. I also loved the scene where Tarzan and Jane were sitting in the tree and Tarzan touched his hand to hers. For the first time he saw that there were others like him. This led to a lot of confusion for Tarzan. He wanted to protect his ape family, but at the same time, wanted Jane to stay in Africa. This leads him to endanger his ape family. The DVD is THX certified and the picture and sound definetely live up to it. It uses Dolby Digital 5.0 (minus the LFE, but if you have a subwoofer you'll get plenty of bass). The picture is done in deep canvas animation and looks as close to 3D as a non computer animation can. The only thing I hate about the DVD is you have to fast forward thru ads to get even get to the menu.

Love this movie

Tarzan is one hour and twenty-eight minutes and was released in theaters on June 18th, 1999. Tarzan is mainly about two families who have lost a loved one. Tarzan lost his parents to a rogue leopardess and Kala and Kerchak (two gorillas) loose their only son the same way. The story begins with Tarzan parents escaping a burning boat and starting a new life in the jungles of Africa. When his parents are killed by leopard, Kala finds the abandon boy and adopts him and raises him as his own son much to Kerchak disproval but tolerates the boy. Tarzan grows up to be a man and prove himself to Kerchak when he kills the leopard that is attacking the village. One day a gorilla expedition is in the jungle and Tarzan hears the shots from Clayton shotgun and goes to investigate. There he finds Clayton, Jane Porter, and Professor Archimedes Q. Porter. While Clayton and Professor Porter go looking for gorillas, Jane is sidetracked by a little monkey who stills her artwork drawings. Jane chases the little monkey but finds a group of baboons that chases her. Tarzan rescues Jane and takes her back to her camp. Tarzan eventually leaves the camp when Kerchack and the other gorillas show up. Tarzan returns the next day stays in the camp off and on to be taught and studied by Jane and Professor Porter. Finally on the last day of the expedition Clayton tricks Tarzan into taking the group to see the gorillas. Later that evening, Kala takes Tarzan to the home where she found him so he can have some closure in his life. Tarzan decides to head back to England with Jane and Professor Porter but when he gets on the boat he finds that it was all a trick to get him to reveal where the gorillas are hiding so Clayton can capture and sell them. With the help of his friends Tantor (an elephant) and Terk (a gorilla) they rescue Tarzan and Tarzan heads to the jungle to rescue the gorillas and save his family. It is in this scene that we hear the famous Tarzan yell. In the end Kerchack is killed by Clayton shotgun while trying to save Tarzan and Clayton dies accidently by hanging when Tarzan traps him in the vines. Clayton is the first Disney villain to die by hanging. Some facts about this movie are quite interesting. This is the 48th Tarzan movie and the only one word Tarzan movie. This was the first Disney movie to open at #1 since Pocahontas did it in 1995. Also this was the last movie of Disney's Renaissance era. The movie won an Academy and Golden Globe Award in the category of Best Music, Original Song for the song You'll Be In My Heart by Phil Collins. It also won a Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack Album. In the end Tarzan gets an AAAAA+++++. DVD FEATURES Chapter Selection Bonus Material A. Trivia Game B. Read Along C. Sneak Peek at Disney's Dinosaur D. Strangers Like Me Music Video with Phil Collins E. Trashin the Camp: Behind the scenes studio session with 'N Sync and Phil Collins F. Theatrical Trailer G. Preview Trailer a. An Extremely Goofy Movie b. The Fox and the Hound c. Toy Story 2 H. DVD-ROM Features Set Up A. Spoken Languages B. Captions and Subtitles C. Return to Film Play VHS FEATURES Movie Previews A. An Extremely Goofy Movie B. Toy Story 2 C. The Little Mermaid II Return to the Sea D. Geppetto E. Dinosaur Music Videos A. Strangers Like Me Music Video with Phil Collins B. Trashin the Camp: Behind the scenes studio session with 'N Sync and Phil Collins